[Resolved] Download request and Workspace-to-Workspace transfer error

[Resolved] Download request and Workspace-to-Workspace transfer error

Version: 2023-01-16
Updated: 2023-01-17 

TL;DR

A portion of myDRE Workspaces were experiencing issues regarding download requests and Workspace-to-Workspace transfers due to a background change made by Microsoft. We received one ticket regarding the issue, however we believe that it impacted all myDRE Workspaces with an acronym written in capital letters. The issue has now been resolved. We apologise for any inconvenience this might have caused you.

What happened?

On 2023-01-16 at 13:47 (Amsterdam Time Zone), a local Support Team member received the first report of a user not being able to download files from the myDRE Workspace. Clicking on the Create download request button resulted in a 500 Internal Server Error regarding the data transfer API (please find a screenshot of the error message below). The local Support Team member was able to replicate the issue and assigned the ticket to the anDREa Support Team. The anDREa Support Team was also able to replicate the issue and in addition found that it also affects Workspace-to-Workspace transfers.

The error message is as follows:

Cause

Because of a change/upgrade by Microsoft, the execution of the code in the managed data transfer repository did not result in the expected behavior as was previously the case. This code has not been touched/changed for while and has been working accordingly, but broke down after a Microsoft background upgrade (most likely regarding namechecking). The exact mechanism is also used in other places of the myDRE code and it was functioning properly over there, so at this moment it is unclear why it broke down just in one place. anDREa is trying to determine the exact change/upgrade, however at this moment no communication by Microsoft can be found on any forum. Therefore, anDREa raised a support ticket to Microsoft. 

Resolution

Namechecking is part of the managed data transfer, where it checks for the Workspace name. Due to the Microsoft background update, the namechecking was not properly functioning in the managed data transfer area but it was functioning in other areas. The issue involved Workspaces with acronyms written in capital letters (e.g. dws-1xxx-TEST). The anDREa development team has added conversion to small case to the API code in all the appropriate places, even all the places where it was properly functioning to prevent further issues.

Impact

We have received one support ticket regarding this issue. However, both local Support Teams and the anDREa Support Team have replicated the issue in different tenant subscriptions. Therefore, anDREa believes that this issue impacted all users in Workspaces with an acronym written in capital letters despite the lack of support tickets.

Next steps

We have raised a support ticket to Microsoft to find out the exact change/update. However, Azure does not have a version and background updates can happen without anDREa getting alerted. The pattern seems that Microsoft pushes changes on Friday or in the weekend. anDREa has determined this as a risk and will work on mitigating measures such as an automated acceptance or production smoke test which can be executed every Monday. This will allow anDREa to detect (and fix) bugs earlier.

Event log - real time updates

2023-01-16 @ 19:26
The fix has been deployed to production. Download requests and Workspace-to-Workspace transfers should be available again.
2023-01-16 @ 18:16
A potential fix has been identified and deployed to the acceptance environment. Testing has started before moving the fix to the production environment.
2023-01-16 @ 17:09
The cause of the issue has most likely been found. Because of a change by Microsoft, the execution of the code does not result in the expected behavior as was previously the case. This code has not been changed and has been working accordingly, but broke down after the Microsoft upgrade. anDREa is trying to determine which change has been made by Microsoft and provide an appropriate fix. 
2023-01-16 @ 14:43
Issue replicated by local Support Team member and issue assigned to anDREa Support Team. anDREa is actively investigating the issue.
2023-01-16 @ 13:47
Issue first reported to the local Support Team member by a single user.

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