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UCSB SSO Portals Not Working or Giving HTTP 500 Errors

UCSB SSO Portals Not Working or Giving HTTP 500 Errors

Modern browsers like Chrome and Firefox cache webpages so sites you visit often will load faster. This can unfortunately cause issues when said pages get major updates as the cached version does not match the saved version, causing the site to note load properly.

An HTTP 500 Internal Server Error is a generic server-side message indicating the website's server encountered an unexpected condition and cannot fulfill your request. The issue originates on the website's end, not with your computer, browser, or internet connection. That being said, often retrying the connection in a fresh manner can solve the error, especially if the server side error is occurring because it is getting unexpected inputs from the client.

HTTP_500_Error.png
This Knowlege Base is loading correctly, this is a picture of an error message, not an actual error.

 Short Term Resolution Instructions

For Google Chrome

  1. click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner

  2. click History

  3. Click Open History Page

  4. click Delete Browsing Data

  5. Click More from the top tab menu then click All Time

  6. Click Delete from this device

For Mozilla Firefox

  1. click the top right box of three parallel lines

  2. click History

  3. click Clear recent history

  4. Set the when drop down menu to Everything

  5. Click Clear

For Microsoft Edge

  1. Click the three dots in the upper-right corner.

  2. Select Settings.

  3. Click Privacy, search, and services on the left-hand menu.

  4. Scroll down to the Clear browsing data section and click Choose what to clear

  5. the Time range drop-down, select All time.

  6. Check the box for Browsing history.

  7. Click the Clear now button

 Long Term Resolution Instructions

Unfortunately this is a recurring error that happens after major updates. If you want to get a secure connection with a fresh page, not a cached page, each time, the best solution is to tell your browser to not cache the webpage.

Some websites unfortunately need cookies to work the way they were designed so simply blocking all cookies is not possible for said websites. For those websites it is worth noting that it is also possible to tell browsers to clear history when you close them, thus letting websites use cookies on your current session, but clearing said cookies and cache out after you are done using the website.

For Google Chrome

  1. To automatically wipe login sessions for specific websites every time you close them:

    1. Click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner and select Settings. 

    2. Click Privacy and security on the left menu, then select Third-party cookies (or Site Settings > Cookies and site data depending on your version).

    3. Scroll down to the Customized behaviors section.

    4. Next to “Sites that are always allowed to use cookies”, look for "Sites allowed to use cookies only for the duration of your session" or "Clear cookies when you close windows". Click Add.

    5. Type the website domain (e.g., [*.]example.com to include all subdomains) and click Add.

  2. Note: To clear your current general cache, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, uncheck "Passwords", check "Cached images and files", and hit Clear data.

For Mozilla Firefox

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and select Settings (or Preferences, in some cases).

  2. If you want to simply block cookies/cache for a specific website

    1. Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the Cookies and Site Data section.

    2. Click Manage Exceptions…. The Exceptions - Cookies and Site Data dialog box will open.

    3. Type in the exact address of the site you want to block.

    4. Click Block.

    5. Click Save Changes to finish.

  3. If you want to instead allow cookies/cache but clear those on exit

    1. Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the History section.

    2. From the drop down menu select Use Custom Settings for History

    3. Select the checkbox that says Clear history when Firefox closes

    4. Click the Settings... button next to it.

    5. In the pop-up window, check Cache (and uncheck any other items you don't want to clear).

    6. Click OK to save

  4. More detailed instructions are posted by Mozilla at: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-websites-storing-cookies-site-data-firefox

For Microsoft Edge

  1. To force Edge to drop logins for specific sites upon closing the browser tab: 

    1. Click the three dots in the top-right corner and choose Settings.

    2. Select Privacy, search, and services from the left-hand sidebar.

    3. Under the Clear browsing data header, click on Choose what to clear every time you close the browser.

    4. Turn on the toggle for Cookies and other site data.

    5. Click the Add button next to Don't clear if you want to save certain sites, or look for the Cookies and site data exceptions list under Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies and site data to explicitly block specific sites from saving persistent data. 

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