403 Forbidden error in xAPI Content page on HostGator and similar hosts

Estimated reading time: 1 min

HostGator and a few similar hosts don’t allow passing URL’s in URL as a parameter which is required as per xAPI spec for both the LMS and LRS. Hence for GrassBlade xAPI Companion and GrassBlade LRS to work correctly you would need this to be disabled by the host.

How to check and confirm that you are facing this issue:

To confirm that you are facing this issue go to the:

  1. http://www.yourdomain.com/?test=http://google.com
  2. http://www.yourdomain.com/?test=google.com

(make sure you change the domain to your actual domain.)

If you see a 403 Forbidden error, or see an unexpected page in URL 1 but not in URL 2 you will need to do this:

If your host is HostGator:

You need to go to HostGator Support and request mod_security for
[*] Rule ID: 1234234
[*] Times Hit: 13
[*] URLS Affected: /
[*] Description: JITP:1234234-RFI-REQUEST_FILENAME=google.com

If you have another host:

Send them this message:

We need to fix mod_security for our domain,

  1. http://www.yourdomain.com/?test=http://google.com
  2. http://www.yourdomain.com/?test=google.com

Above URL #1 gives an error, but #2 works fine, which points to a mod_security restriction.

(make sure you change the domain to your actual domain.)

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