Etherpad error when updating

[nebulon]

In /app/data/data/ there should be a installed_plugins.json Maybe you can copy that file and remove one-by one to see which one causes the issue? After removing one and saving that file, the app has to be restarted.

[sponch]

Hi and thanks.
1 is my old installation that produces the error 2. a new clean install
can't find differences besides the version numbers ...

{"plugins":[{"name":"ep_align","version":"0.3.97"},{"name":"ep_comments_page","version":"1.0.35"},{"name":"ep_embedded_hyperlinks2","version":"1.2.4"},{"name":"ep_font_color","version":"0.0.87"},{"name":"ep_headings2","version":"0.2.64"},{"name":"ep_markdown","version":"0.1.78"},{"name":"ep_openid_connect","version":"3.0.7"},{"name":"ep_user_displayname","version":"1.0.7"},{"name":"ep_stable_authorid","version":"1.0.3"},{"name":"ep_guest","version":"1.0.34"},{"name":"ep_etherpad-lite","version":"2.1.1"}]}

{"plugins":[{"name":"ep_align","version":"0.3.97"},{"name":"ep_embedded_hyperlinks2","version":"1.2.4"},{"name":"ep_font_color","version":"0.0.88"},{"name":"ep_headings2","version":"0.2.65"},{"name":"ep_markdown","version":"1.0.1"},{"name":"ep_openid_connect","version":"3.0.7"},{"name":"ep_user_displayname","version":"1.0.7"},{"name":"ep_stable_authorid","version":"1.0.3"},{"name":"ep_guest","version":"1.0.35"},{"name":"ep_comments_page","version":"1.0.38"},{"name":"ep_etherpad-lite","version":"2.2.6"}]}

[nebulon]

The version difference may just be the issue then, as plugins may only be compatible with specific versions. Maybe you can try to use the versions from the working one on the other.

[james]

@sponch was this ever resolved?

[sponch]

New Updates new problems...as I couldn't remove the problems above I reinstalled the app from ground. No custom plugins. This worked finde (with each update) until the newest 4.4.0 / 4.4.1
Ap can't start. There are no custom plugins installed only these (see screenshot) without any update information. Had to go back to 4.3.x

same problem on 3 cloudron instances.
any ideas??

[james]

Hello @sponch
I've installed Etherpad version 4.3.3 and update to version 4.4.0 and 4.4.1 without issues.
Could you please give me more details on your setup?
Cloudron Version, if you have done some configuration inside Etherpad and so on.

[sponch]

Hi, v8.3.2
no modifications besides:
requireAuthentication: false,
and changes to "defaultPadText"
(as said 3 different Cloudrons, same problem)

[james]

Hello @sponch
Can you please check the logs on startup when it fails to start?
And maybe provide the log file?

[sponch]

Oct 19 18:01:23 Etherpad start
Oct 19 18:01:23 ==========================
Oct 19 18:01:23 => Ensure /app/data/settings.json
Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_font_color current version: 0.0.89, required version: 0.0.89
Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_align current version: 10.0.2, required version: 10.0.2
**Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_comments_page current version: 1.0.38, required version: 10.0.4**
Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_headings2 current version: 0.2.68, required version: 0.2.68
Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_openid_connect current version: 3.0.13, required version: 3.0.13
Oct 19 18:01:26 => ep_stable_authorid current version: 1.0.5, required version: 1.0.5
Oct 19 18:01:26 => Ensure folder permissions
Oct 19 18:01:27 => Starting etherpad
Oct 19 18:01:27 2025-10-19T16:01:27Z
Oct 19 18:01:27 > etherpad@2.5.1 prod /run/etherpad-lite
Oct 19 18:01:27 > pnpm --filter ep_etherpad-lite run prod --settings /run/etherpad-lite/settings.json --credentials /app/data/settings.json
Oct 19 18:01:27 2025-10-19T16:01:27Z
Oct 19 18:01:27 2025-10-19T16:01:27Z
Oct 19 18:01:27 > ep_etherpad-lite@2.5.1 prod /run/etherpad-lite/src
Oct 19 18:01:27 > cross-env NODE_ENV=production node --require tsx/cjs node/server.ts --settings /run/etherpad-lite/settings.json --credentials /app/data/settings.json
Oct 19 18:01:27 2025-10-19T16:01:27Z
Oct 19 18:01:27 Using specified settings from command line
Oct 19 18:01:27 Using specified credentials from command line
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.830] [INFO] settings - settings loaded from: /run/etherpad-lite/settings.json
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.831] [INFO] settings - credentials loaded from: /app/data/settings.json
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.832] [WARN] settings - loglevel: INFO
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.832] [WARN] settings - logLayoutType: colored
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.832] [INFO] settings - Using skin "colibris" in dir: /run/etherpad-lite/src/static/skins/colibris
Oct 19 18:01:27 [2025-10-19T16:01:27.833] [INFO] settings - Random string used for versioning assets: ef86fca9
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.303] [INFO] server - Starting Etherpad...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.318] [INFO] plugins - pnpm --version: 10.18.0
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.327] [INFO] plugins - check installed plugins for migration
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.404] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_comments_page...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.404] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_embedded_hyperlinks2...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_font_color...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_user_displayname...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_stable_authorid...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_guest...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_align...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_headings2...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_markdown...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_openid_connect...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_etherpad-lite...
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.405] [INFO] plugins - Loaded 11 plugins
Oct 19 18:01:28 [2025-10-19T16:01:28.600] [INFO] APIHandler - Api key file read from: "/run/etherpad-lite/APIKEY.txt"
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.231] [INFO] server - Installed plugins: ep_comments_page@1.0.38, ep_embedded_hyperlinks2@1.2.4, ep_font_color@0.0.89, ep_user_displayname@1.0.7, ep_stable_authorid@1.0.5, e**p_guest@1.0.37, ep_align@10.0.2, ep_headings2@0.2.68, ep_markdown@1.0.2, ep_openid_connect@3.0.136:01:Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.233] [WARN] plugin:ep_guest - disabled because requireAuthentication is false
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.233] [WARN] plugin:ep_stable_authorid - disabled because requireAuthentication is false
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T129.233] [WARN] plugin:ep_user_displayname - disabled because requireAuthentication is false**
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.238] [INFO] plugin:ep_openid_connect - OpenID Connect Discovery complete.
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.238] [INFO] plugin:ep_openid_connect - Configured.
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.238] [INFO] settings - Report bugs at https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/issues
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.238] [INFO] settings - Your Etherpad version is 2.5.1 (stable)
**Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.887] [ERROR] server - Error occurred while starting Etherpad
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.887] [ERROR] server - Metrics at time of fatal error:**
Oct 19 18:01:29 {
Oct 19 18:01:29 "httpStartTime": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "memoryUsage": 343490560,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "memoryUsageHeap": 164920664,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_lockAwaits": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_lockAcquires": 2,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_lockReleases": 2,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_reads": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFailed": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFinished": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFromCache": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFromDb": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFromDbFailed": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_readsFromDbFinished": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writes": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesFailed": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesFinished": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesObsoleted": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesToDb": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesToDbFailed": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesToDbFinished": 1,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "ueberdb_writesToDbRetried": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "totalUsers": 0,
Oct 19 18:01:29 "activePads": 0
Oct 19 18:01:29 }
Oc**t 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.888] [ERROR] server - TypeError: Unexpected ? at 17, expected END: https://git.new/pathToRegexpError
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Iter.consume (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:205:11)**
Oct 19 18:01:29 at consume (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:315:10)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at parse (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:320:18)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at <anonymous> (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:503:40)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Array.map (<anonymous>)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at pathToRegexp (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:502:23)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Object.match (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp@8.2.0/node_modules/path-to-regexp/src/index.ts:461:28)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at matcher (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/router@2.2.0/node_modules/router/lib/layer.js:86:23)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at new Layer (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/router@2.2.0/node_modules/router/lib/layer.js:93:62)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Function.route (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/router@2.2.0/node_modules/router/index.js:428:17)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Function.route (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/express@5.1.0/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:257:22)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at app.<computed> [as get] (/run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/express@5.1.0/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:478:22)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at Object.exports.expressCreateServer (/run/etherpad-lite/src/plugin_packages/.versions/ep_markdown@1.0.2/express.ts:6:7)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at <anonymous> (/run/etherpad-lite/src/static/js/pluginfw/hooks.ts:273:18)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at new Promise (<anonymous>)
Oct 19 18:01:29 at callHookFnAsync (/run/etherpad-lite/src/static/js/pluginfw/hooks.ts:236:16)
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.888] [INFO] server - Exiting...
Oct 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.888] [INFO] server - Waiting for Node.js to exit...
**Oct 19 18:01:30 => Healtheck error: Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 172.18.19.27:9001
Oct 19 18:01:34 [2025-10-19T16:01:34.889] [ERROR] server - Something that should have been cleaned up during the shutdown hook (such as a timer, worker thread, or open connection) is preventing Node.js from exiting
Oct 19 18:01:34 [2025-10-19T16:01:34.889] [ERROR] server - Enable `dumpOnUncleanExit` setting to get a dump of objects preventing a clean exit
Oct 19 18:01:34 [2025-10-19T16:01:34.889] [ERROR] server - Forcing an unclean exit...**
Oct 19 18:01:34 /run/etherpad-lite/src:
Oct 19 18:01:34  ERR_PNPM_RECURSIVE_RUN_FIRST_FAIL  ep_etherpad-lite@2.5.1 prod: `cross-env NODE_ENV=production node --require tsx/cjs node/server.ts --settings /run/etherpad-lite/settings.json --credentials /app/data/settings.json`
Oct 19 18:01:34 Exit status 1
Oct 19 18:01:34  ELIFECYCLE  Command failed with exit code 1.

[james]

This line here is suspicious:

Oc**t 19 18:01:29 [2025-10-19T16:01:29.888] [ERROR] server - TypeError: Unexpected ? at 17, expected END: https://git.new/pathToRegexpError

Somehow the /run/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/path-to-regexp module is throwing an error resulting in the termination of the process.

To make sure no module is corrupted, could you:

• put the app into recovery mode
• open the web-terminal
• ensure that /run/etherpad-lite does not exist
• start the app with /app/pkg/start.sh to see if this issue persists.

[sponch]

/run/etherpad-lite does not exist
start the app with /app/pkg/start.sh to see if this issue persists.--> same error log