com.google.gdata.util.AuthenticationException: Error connecting with login URI

Question

I have written a Java application which I am launching with the following command:

java -jar MyApp.jar

The application uses Google's GData Java libraries to edit a Google Spreadsheet. When I run this application from my Mac, it runs fine. However, I need to run it on my dedicated server. When I upload it there and try to run it, I receive the following error:

$ java -jar MyApp.jar
com.google.gdata.util.AuthenticationException: Error connecting with login URI
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleAuthTokenFactory.getAuthToken(GoogleAuthTokenFactory.java:489)
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleAuthTokenFactory.setUserCredentials(GoogleAuthTokenFactory.java:346)
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleService.setUserCredentials(GoogleService.java:362)
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleService.setUserCredentials(GoogleService.java:317)
    at org.graalcenter.stats.bot.GraalStatBot.main(GraalStatBot.java:42)
Caused by: javax.net.ssl.SSLException: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
    at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Alerts.java:208)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1611)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1574)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.handleException(SSLSocketImpl.java:1557)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1150)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1127)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(HttpsClient.java:423)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:185)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getOutputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:850)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getOutputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:250)
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleAuthTokenFactory.makePostRequest(GoogleAuthTokenFactory.java:551)
    at com.google.gdata.client.GoogleAuthTokenFactory.getAuthToken(GoogleAuthTokenFactory.java:487)
    ... 4 more
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
    at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:75)
    at sun.security.validator.Validator.getInstance(Validator.java:178)
    at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.getValidator(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:129)
    at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:225)
    at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:270)
    at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.serverCertificate(ClientHandshaker.java:973)
    at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.processMessage(ClientHandshaker.java:142)
    at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.processLoop(Handshaker.java:533)
    at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.process_record(Handshaker.java:471)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(SSLSocketImpl.java:904)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1116)
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1143)
    ... 11 more
Caused by: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
    at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.setTrustAnchors(PKIXParameters.java:200)
    at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.(PKIXParameters.java:120)
    at java.security.cert.PKIXBuilderParameters.(PKIXBuilderParameters.java:104)
    at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:73)
    ... 22 more

This is the code that is causing the error:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        FeedURLFactory factory = FeedURLFactory.getDefault();
        SpreadsheetService service = new SpreadsheetService("my-app");

        try {
            service.setUserCredentials(USER_NAME, USER_PASSWORD, ACCOUNT_TYPE);
        } catch (AuthenticationException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
            System.exit(0);
        }
    }

I have tried Googling the error and it suggests that it is often caused by a proxy; however, I am not behind a proxy on my dedicated server. Other Java applications I have written work fine with the network.

Any ideas how to fix this? All help is appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

You are getting the error most likely because your trust store file which holds SSL certificates is missing on your server, or contains something invalid.

Try this out:

• On the server: find / -name jssecacerts
• On the server: find / -name cacerts
• Take a note at the path these files reside in. Move these files somewhere, ie. to /tmp/
• Copy your truststore file from the imac (probably /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_22-b04-307.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts ) to your server, to the path you saw earlier
• Retry your application

Also you could inspect files on both computers with the keytool utility (see the JSSE Reference Guide for more information) and compare them for differences.