Hello everyone, I'm trying to set up a new instance of Apache NiFi 2.5.0 with security enabled for a new project.
I have been running into a persistent startup error and am looking for some guidance. Environment Details NiFi Version: 2.5.0 Java : openjdk version "21.0.7" OS : Windows 10 Home The Problem Description The application fails to start with the following error: 2025-08-01 16:53:11,024 ERROR [main] o.s.web.context.ContextLoader Context initialization failed org.springframework.beans.factory.UnsatisfiedDependencyException: ... Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'authorizer': FactoryBean threw exception on object creation ... Caused by: org.apache.nifi.authorization.exception.AuthorizerCreationException: jakarta.xml.bind.UnmarshalException - with linked exception: [org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; systemId: file:/C:/nifi-2.5.0-bin/nifi-2.5.0/./conf/users.xml; lineNumber: 8; columnNumber: 16; cvc-complex-type.2.1: Element 'user' must have no character or element information item [children], because the type's content type is empty.] ... Based on standard troubleshooting, here is a list of the steps I have already taken: 1. Configured security files (authorizers.xml, users.xml) and verified the configuration multiple times. 2. Confirmed the 'Initial Admin Identity' is correctly set in both the access policy provider and the managed authorizer blocks. 3. Ensured the 'User Group Provider' property is correctly defined in all relevant sections of authorizers.xml. 4. Corrected the 'nifi.security.user.authorizer' property in nifi.properties to point to 'managed-authorizer'. 5. Confirmed the users.xml file has the correct structure (groups before users, valid tags, etc.) and contains the admin user definition. 6. Recreated users.xml from scratch using a clean text editor and from the command line to rule out hidden character or formatting issues. 7. Performed a complete and clean reinstallation of NiFi 2.5.0, deleting all old files and re-applying the configuration. 8. Confirmed that the user running NiFi has Full Control permissions over the NiFi installation directory. Despite all these steps, the error persists. This is an unusual issue, and I'm at a loss for what to try next. Could someone please provide some guidance on what might be causing this error, or if there's something I've missed? Thank you for your time and expertise. Best Regards, Dana
