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SharePoint 2016: RSS Viewer Web Part issue

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Issue:

We have an issue with RSS Viewer web part where we are trying to use the http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss on a SharePoint site within RSS web parts. We encountered an error** "an unexpected error occurred processing your request. Check the logs for details and correct the problem."** 

Troubleshooting:

The following steps were used to troubleshoot the issue:

  • Our server uses a proxy address to connect the internet to the servers. Updated the web.config files on all Web front ends with proper proxy settings (configured the default proxy tag in web.config). But we still have the same issue.

  • Cleared the cache on the all servers but no luck.

  • Browsed the RSS feed site on the server and can get the result without any issue.

  • Reset IIS on all servers but no luck.

  • No error in the event log but can see entries in the USL logs.

    Cannot find site lookup info for request Uri http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss.

    Possibly the host name 'www.cnn.com' is invalid and it's could not be found. The exception is System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (0x80004005): No such host is known at System.Net.Dns.GetAddrInfo(String name) at System.Net.Dns.InternalGetHostByName(String hostName, Boolean includeIPv6) at System.Net.Dns.GetHostAddresses(String hostNameOrAddress) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.CommonUtility.IsIntranetAddress(String hostName)

    RssWebPart: Exception handed to HandleRuntimeException.HandleException System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (0x80004005): No such host is known atSystem.Net.Dns.GetAddrInfo(String name) at System.Net.Dns.InternalGetHostByName(String hostName, Boolean includeIPv6) at System.Net.Dns.GetHostAddresses(String hostNameOrAddress) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.CommonUtility.IsIntranetAddress(String hostName) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPWebRequest.PreventIntranetCalls(Uri requestUri, SPContext context, String sharePointMarkValue, String appContextLoggingValue) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPWebRequest.SafeCreate(Uri requestUri, SPContext context, Type callingType, String callingInstanceTag) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.XmlUrlDataSource.FetchData(String requestUrl) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.BaseXmlDataSource.Execute(String request) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.BaseXmlDataSource.GetXmlDocument() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SingleDataSource.GetXPathNavigatorInternal() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SingleDataSource.GetXPathNavigator() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.DataFormWebPart.GetXPathNavigator(String viewPath) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.DataFormWebPart.PrepareAndPerformTransform(Boolean bDeferExecuteTransform)

At this point was convinced that for some reason the SharePoint is unable to either read the proxy or use the proxy to reach the internet. For this, we create a test application, which reads the proxy settings from the web.config file using IIS site. That works as expected. At this time, we decide to open a premier case with MSFT and get the solution. MSFT ran a couple of traces and diag tools. They found that RSS request is being verified by a DNS lookup in spite of the fact that proxy information is read (normally when a URI is determined to be external it is just sent directly to the proxy and the proxy determines the destination). Since we don’t have DNS resolution of the internet address and we do not use any host file entry it failed.

Solutions:

It's a workaround rather than a solution (because solution should be using the proxy settings in web.config).  As per the recommendation, we have to enable the intranet calls property. (By default this property is set as true.)

# This command will set the disable intranet-calls value to false.
 
 Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.sharepoint.powershell
 
 $farm = Get-SPFarm
 
 $farm.Properties.DisableIntranetCalls = $false
 
 $farm.Properties.DisableIntranetCallsFromApps = $false
 
 $farm.Update()

Explanation:

There is a code change in SharePoint 2013 & 2016. SharePoint uses a .NET call to get more information about the address and it failed because our network configuration doesn’t allow the DNS resolution of the internet address as well as we are not using host file entries.

System.Net.Dns.GetHostAddresses(System.String)

So if DisableIntranetCalls is set to true (the default), then use above .NET call to confirm the DNS. However, if DisableIntranetCalls is set to false then SharePoint will not make this call and uses other code to reach the site.

Applies to

  • SharePoint 2013 & SharePoint 2016