Avi SE Command Error: 'Invalid Character h After Object Key:Value Pair

Products

• VMware Avi Load Balancer

Issue/Introduction

While executing the CLI command show serviceengine on the Avi Controller, the following error was encountered:

[admin:##-##-##-##]: > show  serviceengine
{"error" : "invalid character 'h' after object key:value pair"}

 

Environment

vCenter

Cause

The show serviceengine command internally triggers API calls to the Django backend service via NGINX, which routes the request through localhost:8080.
In Avi Controller version 30.x, access to this internal HTTP port (8080) is restricted by default for security reasons.

The key setting controlling this behavior is: "Enable HTTP Access to System"

• If this option is disabled, the internal HTTP port 8080 is not exposed, even for local requests.
• As a result, when the CLI attempts to execute the show serviceengine command, it receives an unexpected or malformed response (such as an HTTP error or redirect page).
• This malformed response breaks the expected JSON structure, leading to the parsing error:

Resolution

Navigate to administration > system-settings and enable "Enable HTTP Access to System" and "Redirect HTTP to HTTPS" 

Additional Information

This is targeted to fix in 31.2.1