Excel Connector error 5103

[paddyb1]

I've been trying to use the Excel Connector for the last two weeks to manage the data in our organisation, but I'm having a problem where I get the following error in Excel which is preventing me from using this tool:

Error Generated by request::An internal server error has occured while processing your request.
Url:https://www.salesforce.com/services/Soap/c/13.0

ExceptionCode : 5103

The first couple of times I tried to use Excel Connector it worked fine. However I then started seeing this error every time I tried to use it - the error appears after I put in my password in Excel Connector and click Login.

We are on Salesforce Professional. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the toolkit and connector, but it hasn't made a difference. I'm using Excel 2010 32-bit on Windows 7 64-bit.

I can log in to Salesforce in my browser on the same computer.

I've checked that IE is not in Offline Mode, and verified that Excel can actually connect to the internet (pinged a URL using VBA script).

I've tried disabling my antivirus (MSE) and windows firewall.

I've tried changing the server url as suggested by this thread (had to modify registry keys to do this as that field was not editable in the connector.

None of these resolutions worked.

Has anyone experienced and managed to resolve this, or can anyone suggest any other possible resolutions?

[Michael Duhan]

I am having the exact same problem.  I am able to see the successful login in my user profile, however when I run a query it throws this same error.

I am on an unlimited license, Windows 7 64bit, Excel 2010 64bit.  I have not been able to determine the error, but it appears to be URL based from the error name.  The only difference from your error code to mine is that the URL for mine includes the 16 digit SF ID for our company's instance of Salesforce.

I do not know how to resolve this, but I am trying solutions and hopefully will find something.

[tomc1227]

I too am seeing this exact same error message in Excel 2010 with Salesforce Professional Edition.  If anyone has any insight, please post!

[NeilJW]

I was receiving the same error this morning. I was able to get around it by selecting fewer columns to query. I'm not sure if the issue was a column that had data that Excel connector couldn't return or if I had just selected too many columns. Hope this helps someone.

[tomc1227]

Number of columns isn't the problem for me -- I can't even log in when starting from a blank workbook.

[LizaMu]

I am periodically getting the same error (well, same text but exception code: 500, not 5103) - it just started today (12/21) and I use this tool nearly every day.

Some things I've tried:

-changing the server URL at login. Personally, I get the error pretty consistently at 6.0, less often at 16.0, but haven't gotten it yet at 13.0

-using "Query Selected Rows" and custom formulas (=sfemail(email) for example) seems fine, but Query Table Data fails pretty consistently unless I'm returning a small number of records

-logging out and back in to the same server URL after getting the error doesn't do much

-checked my system overview to make sure I wasn't butting up against any limits (I'm not)

I've also noticed that everything I do from the connector is slower than normal. I'll be watching this error closely... paddyb1, sorry to not have a solution but know that there are others on the hunt for one!.

[superfish]

I'm having the exact same problem.  I'm getting it when I set a query parameter that uses a Date field from a custom object.  I've tried logging into the connector using all kinds of versions (6.0, 9.0, 13.0, etc.) and I'm getting the same error message.  The error goes away when I remove the date filter.

[IJW]

Same issue w/ updating records. Only work around seems to be to use the Data Loader.

[aprilrcampbell · Accepted solution]

I had the same problem.  First make sure you are not locked out of SFDC (since you tried to log in so many times), and if not, then try adding your token the end of your password.  This worked for me.

[paddyb1]

Problem still occuring, however the above post prompted me to try again.

I got the same error, but on checking the login history in Salesforce I see an entry with the status "Failed: API security token required". Lo and behold, I try the Connector again, this time entering my security token and it works!

I am fairly sure that I tried this before without success. Also I am fairly sure that I remember being prompted by the Connector to enter my security token at some point previously. I recently added our office IP as a Trusted IP in Salesforce. It could be that this turned off the prompt for the security token in Connector, but Salesforce still requires it to be entered.

In any case, if you are getting the 5103 error message, try appending your security token to your password in Connector when logging in. Hopefully this continues to work for me!