Issues with the Woosage50Service Connecting to the Website

Issues with the Woosage50Service Connecting to the Website

Occasionally, we encounter issue when the Woosage50 Service tires to connect to the website, due to website security settings. Common causes and solutions are:

Website or host server blocks API request – This could be caused by one of the following:

  1. Site block API requests - solution is to white list the API https://[site-name]/wp-json/woosage/* (* is wildcard, which may be different, depending on security plugin)
  2. Site is password protected - some methods of protecting a site from access (e.g. during development) will also block API access. If the the site has password protection via the .htaccess file this will block the Woosage API, so must be disabled.
  3. Server blocks API - this is less common and may require investigation by your website hosting provider (see note below)

Website caches APIs – solution is cache plugin dependant (more information in this article)

Website doesn’t allow basic authentication method – solution if to set service to authenticate using OAuth 1.0 instead of passing credentials as parameters. To do this open the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Woosage50Service\Woosage50Service\appsettings.json in Notepad, or a similar txt editor, as an Administrator, locate the the WcRestOptions section and change UseOAuth1 key value to true.

Website blocks unknown user agents – solution is security plugin dependant, but add Woosage/50 as an allowed user agent. If the problems persists try changing the UserAgent key in the appsettings.json file to one of the common browser user agents, such as Mozilla/5.0, AppleWebKit/537.36, Chrome/126.0.0.0 or Safari/537.36

Local DNS override - A local DNS setting for the website address will override the IP set in the domain DNS records. To check/amend local settings:
  1. On Windows Server use Windows Administrative Tools > DNS
  2. On Windows 10/11 use Notepad (run as Administrator) to open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (no extension)
Alert
Note: Following a change to hosting services using Goole Cloud Services in December 2025 the following issue were experienced
A new ModSecurity rule was  introduced that uses derived information about the source of a website request based on a “fingerprint” (JA4) and the rule determined that Woosage is presenting as “PowerShell-like”, which is being treated as malicious.  PowerShell is part of Microsoft .Net and is a scripting tool that can be used by hackers, so Woosage was being blocked following this change.

The Woosage50Service is built using the .Net framework so we cannot change how it is being presented (the fingerprint it is derived from multiple pieces of information about the applications environment), so the solution is to request that the web host or server provider does one of the following.
  1. Disable the rule for the IP address where the Woosage50Service is installed (Allowlist by IP) – PREFERRED OPTION  
  2. Disable the rule for Woosage API endpoints [website-url]/wp-json/woosage/v1/[wildcard]   
  3. Adjust the rule to equate to “PowerShell-like JA4” ≠ “malicious”

    • Related Articles

    • Woosage50 Website Cache Issues

      Woosage50 has a REST API that the Woosage50 Service uses to transfer data to and from the website via the Woosage50 plugin and it is important that the API is not cached by your website. Websites can cache pages and other data at the server level or ...

    • Installation Issues

      Basic Installation Issues If orders are not showing in Sage or product stock is not being update on WooCommerce: Check that the Woosage Windows Service is running and has the right Log On credentials (Invalid data path message) Check if orders and ...

    • Resolving Woosag50 Remote Service Issues

      The Woosage50 plugin on the website interacts with a Windows service that runs remotely on your local network. The service, called Woosage50Service, runs in the background and acts as a bridge between Sage and your website. It runs continuously, ...

    • Sage Data Service

      According to Sage, the Data Service acts as a gateway and controls the reading and writing of data and is intended to increase the robustness of the system, improve data security, and help to optimise performance. It is installed and runs ...

    • Updating the Woosage50 Service

      To update the Woosage50 Service on the Woosage50 device with the latest version, follow the steps detailed in this article. The Woosage50 device is the PC or server that the Woosage50Service runs on and if you are unsure about the location of the ...