# ISSUE with upgrade to 4.8.19+4: workaround is here **URL:** \ **Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine\ **Created:** [July 25, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186 "2022-07-25T21:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/rose_power-wowza_com/32/431_2.png) [@Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://community.wowza.com/u/Rose_Power-Wowza_Com)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/1 "2022-07-25T21:32:58Z")
After updating from version 4.8.18+1 to 4.8.19+4, there is an issue with being able to login to Wowza. Our development team is working on a resolution for the issue. **In the meantime, here is the workaround:** The workaround at this point if you want to continue using **cleartext** is to change the **AuthenticationMethod** to **Basic** in Server.xml file. This file is located under conf/ directly such as: /WowzaStreamingEngine-4.8.19/conf/Server.xml ```auto basiccleartext ``` **Note** : After editing, a restart of the Wowza Streaming Engine software is required for the change to take effect and then you should be able to login via Wowza Streaming Engine Manager. ---
**Author:** ![Alessandro\_Carpita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Alessandro\_Carpita](https://community.wowza.com/u/Alessandro_Carpita)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:44am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/2 "2022-07-26T08:44:22Z")
Hi, i just posted this: [Cannot access anymore REST API interface through PHP with authentication](http://community.wowza.com/t/cannot-access-anymore-rest-api-interface-through-php-with-authentication/95191). It seems related to this thread, but oddly I could always login through Wowza Streaming Engine Manager even with digest authentication, cleartext or sha256 password encoding, just changing admin.password accordingly. I can’t access REST API interface anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/rose_power-wowza_com/32/431_2.png) [@Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://community.wowza.com/u/Rose_Power-Wowza_Com)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/3 "2022-07-26T16:39:53Z")
You reset the streaming engine after making any changes? This is all the info I have for now so please send a support ticket- we’ll test it for you and see what’s going on: Cleartext is not compatible with Digest Authentication In Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.19, SHA-256 compatibility is added to update the security standards. This affects the ability to support Cleartext with Digest authentication out of the box. Solution If you use Digest with Cleartext and receive a failure to log in message, update your password encoding scheme to use SHA-256 in the [install-dir]/conf/Server.xml file and restart Wowza Streaming Engine to log in. Options are: **1. (Best to be more secure): Configure SHA-256 as shown in this article:** [https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-change-the-authentication-method-for-the-wowza-streaming-engine-rest-api#use-digest-authentication2](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-change-the-authentication-method-for-the-wowza-streaming-engine-rest-api#use-digest-authentication2) \*\*2. (Less secure as it has the password in plain-text): Configure plaintext password option using the below properties options located in [install-dir/conf/Server.xml]:\*\* ``` basic ``` `cleartext **Author:** ![Alessandro\_Carpita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Alessandro\_Carpita](https://community.wowza.com/u/Alessandro_Carpita)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 7:08am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/4 "2022-07-27T07:08:27Z") Hello Rose, thank you for your reply. If by reset you mean restart yes, I restarted WSE after every change. I tried both options you suggested: in both scenarios I can regularly login through WSE Manager but I can’t access the API REST interface through PHP library (result is always [“message”]=\> string(40) “The request requires user authentication” [“code”]=\> string(3) “401” [“success”]=\> bool(false) [“wowzaServer”]=\> string(8) “4.8.19+4”) ---
**Author:** ![Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/rose_power-wowza_com/32/431_2.png) [@Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://community.wowza.com/u/Rose_Power-Wowza_Com)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/5 "2022-07-27T18:02:06Z")
Sorry to hear that. We’d need full access to you files and configuration to be able to troubleshoot, can you please send in a ticket? Thanks. > **[Open a Support Ticket](https://www.wowza.com/support/open-ticket)** > > Open a Wowza suppor ticket so our technical support engineers worldwide can help you succeed with your Wowza software and services. ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Punknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Christian\_Punknown](https://community.wowza.com/u/Christian_Punknown)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:08am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/6 "2025-02-14T07:08:32Z")
Argh… We have installed Wowza 4.9.2 (latest) and seems like we CAN’T connect to us Wowza anymore!! That’s a big FAIL! We have set digest and cleartext! What is the last working solution for this ? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Alex\_C](https://community.wowza.com/u/Alex_C)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/issue-with-upgrade-to-4-8-19-4-workaround-is-here/95186/7 "2025-04-30T12:06:05Z")
Hi Christian, Sorry for the late response on this question from you. But the are certain combinations of authentication and password encoding that work, that Wowza Engine started enforcing in later versions. This is outlined here: > **[Change the authentication method for the Wowza Streami](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-change-the-authentication-method-for-the-wowza-streaming-engine-rest-api#about-api-authentication0)** > > Configure the authentication method to use for Wowza Streaming Engine REST API requests. | Authentication method | Password encoding method | | --- | --- | | _basic_ | plaintext, bcrypt | | _digest_ | md5, sha256 | | _digestfile_ | md5, sha256 | | _remotehttp_ | N/A | | _none_ | N/A | Hope this helps. Alex C.