Okta Login Screen Displays "There was an unexpected internal error. Please try again."
Last Updated:
Okta Integration Network
Administration
Okta Classic Engine
Okta Identity Engine
Overview
The Okta login flow fails when the Okta tenant URL contains a trailing period or other punctuation, which generates an unexpected internal error. Remove the trailing punctuation from the URL to resolve the issue. When this occurs, Okta displays the following error message on the sign-in page.
There was an unexpected Internal Error. Please try again.
Applies To
- Okta Identity Engine (OIE)
- Okta Classic Engine
- Okta Sign-in Page
Cause
Several conditions cause Okta to generate the unexpected internal error during authentication:
- Incorrect Okta Login Page URL: The URL may contain a period at the end: https://<subdomain>.okta.com.
- Custom Sign-In Page Misconfigurations: Syntax errors or unsupported code in the custom HTML, CSS, or JavaScript of the Okta Sign-In Widget prevent the page from loading correctly.
- Identity Provider (IdP) Routing Rules: Misconfigured IdP routing rules or active routing rules that reference inactive Identity Providers cause the authentication flow to fail.
- Expired State Tokens: Delays during the login process cause the authentication state token to expire. Okta generates an internal error when processing an expired token.
- Browser Cache and Cookies: Corrupted or stale browser data can interfere with Okta session establishment.
- Network Restrictions: Firewalls or web proxies block required Okta domains or API endpoints, preventing the sign-in widget from communicating with Okta.
Solution
How is the unexpected internal error resolved?
Inspect the Okta tenant URL and remove any trailing punctuation to resolve the error.
- Inspect the Okta tenant URL for any trailing periods or punctuation.
- Remove the period or punctuation from the end of the URL.
- Reload the Okta sign-in page.
What resolves additional unexpected internal errors?
Revert the custom sign-in page, verify routing rules, refresh the state token, clear browser data, and check network configurations to resolve the error.
- Custom Sign-In Page: Revert the custom sign-in page to the default configuration to determine whether custom code is causing the error.
- IdP Routing Rules: Verify that active routing rules reference active and correctly configured Identity Providers.
- State Tokens: Refresh the sign-in page to generate a new state token.
- Browser Data: Clear the browser cache and cookies, or attempt the login using an incognito window.
- Network Configuration: Configure firewalls and proxies to allow traffic to all required Okta domains.
