Trending Issue: SPSE – “The server tag is not well formed” on certain Search administration pages after March 2025 CU

- - 22 Comments

After installing the March 2025 CU (or any subsequent update) for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, certain search administration pages include incorrect ASP.NET tags leading to the following or similar error message:

An error occurred during the processing of /_admin/search/listmanagedproperties.aspx. The server tag is not well formed.

System.Web.HttpException (0x80004005): The server tag is not well formed.
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ProcessError(String message)
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ParseStringInternal(String text, Encoding fileEncoding)
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ParseString(String text, VirtualPath virtualPath, Encoding fileEncoding)
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ParseString(String text, VirtualPath virtualPath, Encoding fileEncoding)
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ParseFile(String physicalPath, VirtualPath virtualPath)
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.ParseInternal()
     at System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.Parse()
...

The following search administration related files are affected:

  • /_admin/search/Category.aspx
  • /_admin/search/CrawledProperty.aspx
  • /_admin/search/ListCategories.aspx
  • /_admin/search/ListCrawledProperties.aspx
  • /_admin/search/ListManagedProperties.aspx
  • /_admin/search/ManagedProperty.aspx
  • /_admin/search/ManagedPropertySearchableSettings.aspx
  • /_admin/search/SelectCrawledProperty.aspx
  • /_admin/search/SelectManagedProperty.aspx

Workaround

While waiting for a fix a workaround would be to replace these files with the same files from a server which has February 2025 CU installed.
Ensure to take a backup before performing this step.

Solution

A fix is in development and currently planned to be included in May 2025 June 2025 CU.

22 Comments


  1. Hi Stefan,

    Thanks for the warning !
    We installed this 2025 March CU in our development farm and we face this issue. Our two other sharepoint farms have the 2024 November CU isntalled.

    Is it safe to copy the mentioned aspx files from one of these farms ?
    If not, can you propose a link to download these files ?

    Thanks in advance !
    Patrick.

    Reply

    1. Hi Patrick, sorry I don’t know. November 2024 CU is quite old and these files might be different from February 2025 CU. I would suggest to install February CU on one of them or another test system before copying the files.

      Reply

      1. Thank you, Stefan,
        We will do that.
        Best regards,
        Patrick.

        Reply

  2. Hi Stefan, are these files in this location? “%commonprogramfiles%\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search”?

    Reply

  3. Hello Stephan,

    I had the same issue, but I noticed that the file list isn’t complete.
    I noticed that this CU generates blanks in the ASP.Net tags and in the html tags.
    So I created this script to list all the ASPX pages with this issue, then copy them to a temp folder.

    $pages=Get-ChildItem -Path “C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE” -Recurse | WHERE {$_.extension -eq ‘.aspx’}
    foreach($page in $pages){
    $content=Get-Content $page.FullName;
    if($content -like “*<asp : *”){
    Write-Host $page.FullName
    $path=($page.Directory.FullName).Replace(“C:\”,”E:\Temp\Before\”);
    if(!(Test-Path -PathType container $path)){
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $path;
    }
    Copy-Item ($page.FullName) -Destination $path
    }
    }

    Here’s the list of pages I got after running the script :

    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\category.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\crawledproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\listcategories.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\listcrawledproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\listmanagedproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\ADMIN\Search\managedproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\category.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\crawledproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\listcategories.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\listcrawledproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\listmanagedproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\managedproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\category.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\crawledproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\listcategories.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\listcrawledproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\listmanagedproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\managedproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_category.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_crawledproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_listcategories.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_listcrawledproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_listmanagedproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\16.0.18526.20080\SearchAdmin\ta_managedproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_category.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_crawledproperty.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_listcategories.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_listcrawledproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_listmanagedproperties.aspx
    C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SearchAdmin\ta_managedproperty.aspx

    I also noticed no update on some of the files you listed, like as ‘ManagedPropertySearchableSettings.aspx, SelectCrawledProperty.aspx, SelectManagedProperty.aspx’

    Please can you check the file list ?

    Reply

    1. Hi Toufik,
      some of the files in your list are from side-by-side installation (those with the version number).
      About the others: the fix will address all of these files.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

      Reply

  4. Hi Stefan, thank you for this notification!
    Is there a reason why there is no mention of this issue in the KB documentation?

    Reply

  5. Do we need to replace the files (February 2025 CU) in all App, Search and Web Front server?

    Reply

    1. On all WFE and rhe central admin server.

      Reply

  6. Hi Stefan,

    We have 2-Application Server, 3-Web Front End Servers and 4- Search Servers, so we need to replace on 2 Application servers and 3 Web Front end Servers?

    Thanks,
    Chandu

    Reply

    1. Hi Chandra,
      that sounds correct.
      Cheers,
      Stefan

      Reply

  7. Hi Stefan,

    we found the same issue on any site collection under site settings \ search \ schema.

    This refers to “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\template\layouts” and there is the same error with the listmanagedproperties.aspx file.

    Do you have a list of all files with the path on server which are corrupt? My worry is, that more then the known files are corrupt.

    I can´t understand, that the MS post (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/march-11-2025-update-for-sharepoint-server-subscription-edition-kb5002698-d2f72cdc-deae-4cd1-b5ef-a0381c1c4342) is not updated with this issue.

    Thanks, Henry

    Reply

  8. Hi all,

    a problem was identified during testing of the fix.
    The release of the fix has been postponed till June 2025 CU.

    Cheers,
    Stefan

    Reply

  9. Hello Stefan,

    can I also use your listed search administration related files from a SP Server which is on Patch Level CU Jan 2025 ?

    Thanks
    Andy

    Reply

  10. @Stefan

    After installing the May 2025 Cumulative Updates (CU), we are observing that the Query Logging Timer Job is continuously failing on the Search service application.
    We are seeing the following error in the logs:

    “Query logging job: Error inserting query info for application Enterprise Search Service.”

    We would like to confirm if this error is related to the recent CU installation.

    Thanks In Advance

    Reply

  11. @Stefan

    After installing the May 2025 Cumulative Updates (CU), we are observing that the Query Logging and UPS Base Service – User Profile Language Synchronization Job Timer Jobs is continuously failing.

    We are seeing the following error in the logs:
    “Query logging job: Error inserting query info for application Enterprise Search Service.”
    “Profile database does not contain partition”

    We would like to confirm if this error is related to the recent CU installation.

    Thanks In Advance

    Reply

    1. The same error appears in the logs for some customers (no impact – it appears to be related to the language synchronization Time Job of User Profile Service):

      ‘Profile database does not contain partition.’

      Reply

  12. Hello Stefan,
    We have a SPSE farm with the latest updates up to 06/25. We’re using Cloud Hybrid Search as of September last year.
    I’ve been waiting for the search admin pages issues to get fixed before attempting to re-onboard CHS with the provided powershell script.
    But just to be sure – is it really necessary to redo the whole CHS onboarding to keep functionality after 30/06?
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/hybrid/configure-cloud-hybrid-searchroadmap mentions only that the SPSE farm needs upgrading to 25H1, which we did.
    Many thanks for your feedback!

    Reply

  13. Hi Stefan,

    Is the issue fixed in June 2025 CU for SPSE?

    Reply

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