Hi Pierre,
Thank you for the quick reply.
Here is the content of my users.xml file, as requested.
---
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<tenants>
<groups/>
<users>
<user>
<identifier>b64b7120-1d20-4b10-9cd8-f53a0502167b</identifier>
<identity>admin-user</identity>
</user>
</users>
</tenants>
---
I appreciate your help in looking into this.
Thank you.
Best Regards,
Dana
________________________________
From: Pierre Villard <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 1, 2025 5:59 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [NIFI-2.5.0] Persistent startup error: Element 'user' must have no
character or element information item
Hi Dana,
Can you share the (redacted if needed) content of users.xml file?
Thanks,
Pierre
Le ven. 1 août 2025 à 12:39, [email protected]
<[email protected]> a écrit :
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm trying to set up a new instance of Apache NiFi 2.5.0 with security
> enabled for a new project.
>
> I have been running into a persistent startup error and am looking for some
> guidance.
>
> Environment Details
>
> NiFi Version: 2.5.0
> Java : openjdk version "21.0.7"
> OS : Windows 10 Home
>
> The Problem Description
>
> The application fails to start with the following error:
> 2025-08-01 16:53:11,024 ERROR [main] o.s.web.context.ContextLoader Context
> initialization failed
> org.springframework.beans.factory.UnsatisfiedDependencyException: ... Caused
> by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating
> bean with name 'authorizer': FactoryBean threw exception on object creation
> ... Caused by:
> org.apache.nifi.authorization.exception.AuthorizerCreationException:
> jakarta.xml.bind.UnmarshalException - with linked exception:
> [org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; systemId:
> file:/C:/nifi-2.5.0-bin/nifi-2.5.0/./conf/users.xml; lineNumber: 8;
> columnNumber: 16; cvc-complex-type.2.1: Element 'user' must have no character
> or element information item [children], because the type's content type is
> empty.] ...
>
> Based on standard troubleshooting, here is a list of the steps I have already
> taken:
>
> 1. Configured security files (authorizers.xml, users.xml) and verified the
> configuration multiple times.
>
> 2. Confirmed the 'Initial Admin Identity' is correctly set in both the access
> policy provider and the managed authorizer blocks.
>
> 3. Ensured the 'User Group Provider' property is correctly defined in all
> relevant sections of authorizers.xml.
>
> 4. Corrected the 'nifi.security.user.authorizer' property in nifi.properties
> to point to 'managed-authorizer'.
>
> 5. Confirmed the users.xml file has the correct structure (groups before
> users, valid tags, etc.) and contains the admin user definition.
>
> 6. Recreated users.xml from scratch using a clean text editor and from the
> command line to rule out hidden character or formatting issues.
>
> 7. Performed a complete and clean reinstallation of NiFi 2.5.0, deleting all
> old files and re-applying the configuration.
>
> 8. Confirmed that the user running NiFi has Full Control permissions over the
> NiFi installation directory.
>
> Despite all these steps, the error persists.
>
> This is an unusual issue, and I'm at a loss for what to try next. Could
> someone please provide some guidance on what might be causing this error, or
> if there's something I've missed?
>
> Thank you for your time and expertise.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Dana
