Error during file indexing: ClassNotFoundException: org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Encodable

Issue

• When indexing files, the process fails (terminates abruptly) and the following information is printed in the logs: org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Encodable cannot be found by com.liferay.shared.dependencies.pdfbox_1.0.2:

  WARN [liferay/background_task-5][IndexerWriterImpl:188] Error reindexing all com.liferay.document.library.kernel.model.DLFileEntry for company: 99999
  com.liferay.portal.kernel.exception.SystemException: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/bouncycastle/asn1/ASN1Encodable
    ...
  Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/bouncycastle/asn1/ASN1Encodable
    ...
  Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Encodable cannot be found by com.liferay.shared.dependencies.pdfbox_1.0.2
    ...

Environment

• Liferay DXP 2023.Q4.0

Resolution

• First, try to locate the conflicting file. For example, you can enable logging for com.liferay.document.library.internal.search.spi.model.index.contributor.DLFileEntryModelDocumentContributor, which will print messages each time a file is indexed.
• Ideally, the file should be shared with the support team through a ticket so the issue can be reproduced easily.
• If for security reasons this is not possible, try to find an alternative test file that produces the same error.
• Be aware that, otherwise, the support team will be limited in their ability to resolve the case.

Workaround

• You can add the file extension to dl.file.indexing.ignore.extensions property to prevent it from being indexed.
• If it's a common extension like .pdf, you can change its extension (e.g., my-file.pdf.noindex), add the .noindex extension to the mentioned property and upload the file again with its new extension.

Additional Information

• Bouncy Castle – Open-source cryptographic APIs