# Upgrade to Chef 11: Unsupported \`json\_class\` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [October 29, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618 "2013-10-29T17:31:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Steffen\_Gebert1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Steffen\_Gebert1](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steffen_Gebert1)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618/1 "2013-10-29T17:31:07Z")

</div>

Hi,

I've been again trying to upgrade our Chef server to 11.

`knife upload` fails with

> ERROR: JSON::ParserError: Unsupported `json_class` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'

When I remove all the .json files from user/, the upload succeeds.

`knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
interface using the old password.

After resetting my password through the API, I'm able to login.  
We don't have that many users, so it might be possible that everybody  
does this, however it feels not very convenient and the way to go.

Anybody with an idea, what the error might mean?

Thanks  
Steffen

--

My users/\*.json look like this:

{  
"name": "sgebert",  
"admin": true,  
"salt": "Fri Oct 28 02:04:18 +0400 2011ynFd1JvDHPpqcws75wpUrmaqvGjVQM",  
"password": "76ac14fc1724d99d3XXXXXXXXX94e38df2e51c5",  
"\_rev": "2-698379d8ab300744dad1811111111b07",  
"\_id": "2ab2aef5-3220-472f-bd3b-85555550ec0f"  
}

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ranjib](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/ranjib/32/1040_2.png) [@Ranjib](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Ranjib)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618/2 "2013-10-29T17:37:00Z")

</div>

you have to update the chef-client , theres a json related bug which is  
causing this (something related to gem dependencies ). we have reported  
bugs against this in [tickets.opscode.com](http://tickets.opscode.com) (search that site and u'll get  
more info on the fixes).

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:31 AM, Steffen Gebert [st+gmane@st-g.de](mailto:st+gmane@st-g.de) wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I've been again trying to upgrade our Chef server to 11.
> 
> `knife upload` fails with
> 
> > ERROR: JSON::ParserError: Unsupported `json_class` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'
> 
> When I remove all the .json files from user/, the upload succeeds.
> 
> `knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
> interface using the old password.
> 
> After resetting my password through the API, I'm able to login.  
> We don't have that many users, so it might be possible that everybody  
> does this, however it feels not very convenient and the way to go.
> 
> Anybody with an idea, what the error might mean?
> 
> Thanks  
> Steffen
> 
> --
> 
> My users/\*.json look like this:
> 
> {  
> "name": "sgebert",  
> "admin": true,  
> "salt": "Fri Oct 28 02:04:18 +0400 2011ynFd1JvDHPpqcws75wpUrmaqvGjVQM",  
> "password": "76ac14fc1724d99d3XXXXXXXXX94e38df2e51c5",  
> "\_rev": "2-698379d8ab300744dad1811111111b07",  
> "\_id": "2ab2aef5-3220-472f-bd3b-85555550ec0f"  
> }

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Seth\_Falcon\_01](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/seth_falcon_01/32/429_2.png) [@Seth\_Falcon\_01](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Seth_Falcon_01)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618/3 "2013-10-29T17:39:19Z")

</div>

Hi there,

[st+gmane@st-g.de](mailto:st+gmane@st-g.de) writes:

> I've been again trying to upgrade our Chef server to 11.
> 
> `knife upload` fails with
> 
> > ERROR: JSON::ParserError: Unsupported `json_class` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'
> 
> When I remove all the .json files from user/, the upload succeeds.

What version of knife are you running? As a start, I'd recommend making  
sure you are either on the latest patch release of Chef 10.x or (if  
possible) upgrade to Chef 11.x for your workstation.

> `knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
> interface using the old password.

That part is expected. User (hashed) passwords are not transfered via  
the knife download/upload upgrade path.

- seth

--  
Seth Falcon | Development Lead | Opscode | @sfalcon

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steffen\_Gebert1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Steffen\_Gebert1](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steffen_Gebert1)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618/4 "2013-10-29T17:51:29Z")

</div>

Thanks for your quick reply, Ranjib!

$ knife -v  
Chef: 11.6.2

> you have to update the chef-client , theres a json related bug which is  
> causing this (something related to gem dependencies ). we have reported  
> bugs against this in [tickets.opscode.com](http://tickets.opscode.com) (search that site and u'll get  
> more info on the fixes).

[https://tickets.opscode.com/browse/CHEF-4515](https://tickets.opscode.com/browse/CHEF-4515) ? Sounds different, but  
valid for my case. I probably didn't understand all the implications of  
the already existing admin user in [1].  
Still wondering why google didn't show this to me.

Seems like upload is working now 🙂

Thanks  
Steffen

[1] [Turn it to 11: Upgrading From Chef 10 - Chef Blog | Chef](http://www.opscode.com/blog/2013/03/12/5106/)

On 29/10/13 18:37, Ranjib Dey wrote:

> you have to update the chef-client , theres a json related bug which is  
> causing this (something related to gem dependencies ). we have reported  
> bugs against this in [tickets.opscode.com](http://tickets.opscode.com) (search that site and u'll get  
> more info on the fixes).
> 
> On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:31 AM, Steffen Gebert [st+gmane@st-g.de](mailto:st+gmane@st-g.de) wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I've been again trying to upgrade our Chef server to 11.
> > 
> > `knife upload` fails with
> > 
> > > ERROR: JSON::ParserError: Unsupported `json_class` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'
> > 
> > When I remove all the .json files from user/, the upload succeeds.
> > 
> > `knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
> > interface using the old password.
> > 
> > After resetting my password through the API, I'm able to login.  
> > We don't have that many users, so it might be possible that everybody  
> > does this, however it feels not very convenient and the way to go.
> > 
> > Anybody with an idea, what the error might mean?
> > 
> > Thanks  
> > Steffen
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > My users/\*.json look like this:
> > 
> > {  
> > "name": "sgebert",  
> > "admin": true,  
> > "salt": "Fri Oct 28 02:04:18 +0400 2011ynFd1JvDHPpqcws75wpUrmaqvGjVQM",  
> > "password": "76ac14fc1724d99d3XXXXXXXXX94e38df2e51c5",  
> > "\_rev": "2-698379d8ab300744dad1811111111b07",  
> > "\_id": "2ab2aef5-3220-472f-bd3b-85555550ec0f"  
> > }

T

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steffen\_Gebert1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Steffen\_Gebert1](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steffen_Gebert1)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/upgrade-to-chef-11-unsupported-json-class-type-chef-webuiuser/4618/5 "2013-10-29T17:55:13Z")

</div>

Hi Seth,

thanks for your quick reply.

I'm running 11.6.2.

> > `knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
> > interface using the old password.
> 
> That part is expected. User (hashed) passwords are not transferred via  
> the knife download/upload upgrade path.

That's _very_ interesting information. So unimportant that it's not  
mentioned in the guide?

I should then ask everyone of our users to do a `knife user edit <myself>` and add the "password": "mypass" line?

Thanks  
Steffen

On 29/10/13 18:39, Seth Falcon wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> [st+gmane@st-g.de](mailto:st+gmane@st-g.de) writes:
> 
> > I've been again trying to upgrade our Chef server to 11.
> > 
> > `knife upload` fails with
> > 
> > > ERROR: JSON::ParserError: Unsupported `json_class` type 'Chef::WebUIUser'
> > 
> > When I remove all the .json files from user/, the upload succeeds.
> 
> What version of knife are you running? As a start, I'd recommend making  
> sure you are either on the latest patch release of Chef 10.x or (if  
> possible) upgrade to Chef 11.x for your workstation.
> 
> > `knife user list` also shows them to me, but I can't login to the web  
> > interface using the old password.
> 
> That part is expected. User (hashed) passwords are not transfered via  
> the knife download/upload upgrade path.
> 
> - seth