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Can't download file: filename contains unsupported characters

It usually appears in a cross-platform synchronization and appears on Windows Agents. Basically means what it says - the peer that is supposed to download the files cannot do it because the file system does not support some of the symbols in the filename.11.png

On some occasions the warning itself might not give a hint at what exactly unsupported character is present - the filename on warning text looks correct, like on the example below.

1.png

and also looks correctly in FILES tab for the agent, even though has status 'Bad name'2.png

It will require to check the file on source Agent so as find the true filename that is causing the problem.

One of the ways to discover all the files mentioned in the error message, in case there are more than two, is to search through the logs on the agent in the Job run (Job Run -> Logs). Check the trailing space in "AwesomeFile " event. 3.png

However, even this is not the true cause. In our example the file itself originates on OS X Agent. In Finder the files looks like it has "?" symbol at the end: 4.png

If that was for the question mark, the warning message in the Management Console would have mentioned the question mark. However, the true reason is that is has a line feed symbol. It can be discovered using Terminal app with command mv (use Tab key to autocomplete the filename):

5.png

File events must be enabled

Your event log level should be set to "All" to ensure you receive file events.

There are two ways to fix it. Either will require to restart a Consolidation or Distribution job; or run folder scan on this agent for Sync job.

  1. Rename the file on source. If possible, remove all the invalid symbols in its name.
  2. Edit the Agent Profile and set parameter "Resolve filename system conflicts" to Yes. In this case the Windows Agent will replace the symbols with underscore (_) or create filename conflicts. The agent will also publish these events into the event log12.png

Conflict resolution cost

Conflict resolution forces Agent to do few additional calls to read true filenames on disk. This may result serious performance degradation if you are synchronizing millions of files or your disk provides low amount of IOPS.

Error code SE_FS_INVALID_FILENAME