[SOLVED] acme active24 dns plugin error (json_decode: command not found)

[Petr.114]

Hello, I noticed today that the Active24 DNS plugin on PBS 4.1.6 now supports the new Active24 API (since version 1.7.1 of libproxmox-acme-plugins).

So I decided to try it right away so that I wouldn’t need a dedicated acme.sh utility. However, I ended up with the error: json_decode: command not found.

2026-04-20T12:03:01+02:00: Placing ACME order
2026-04-20T12:03:02+02:00: Order URL: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/order/xyxyxyxy/xyxyxyxy
2026-04-20T12:03:02+02:00: Getting authorization details from 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/authz/xyxyxyxy/xyxyxyxyxy'
2026-04-20T12:03:02+02:00: The validation for host.domain.com is pending
2026-04-20T12:03:02+02:00: Setting up validation plugin
2026-04-20T12:03:03+02:00: /usr/share/proxmox-acme/dnsapi/dns_active24.sh: line 153: _json_decode: command not found

2026-04-20T12:03:03+02:00: [Mon Apr 20 12:03:03 CEST 2026] Adding txt record

2026-04-20T12:03:04+02:00: [Mon Apr 20 12:03:04 CEST 2026] Add txt record error.

2026-04-20T12:03:04+02:00: [Mon Apr 20 12:03:04 CEST 2026] Error add txt for domain:_acme-challenge.host.domain.com

2026-04-20T12:03:04+02:00: Sleeping 300 seconds to wait for TXT record propagation
2026-04-20T12:08:04+02:00: skipping disabled matcher 'default-matcher'
2026-04-20T12:08:04+02:00: TASK ERROR: '/usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme setup' exited with error (1)

I expect the same issue to occur in the latest PVE 9 release. Our environment is currently running PVE 8, so I’m unable to test it there at the moment.

 

[shanv]

Hi, Could you please share the output for the following command?


head /usr/share/proxmox-acme/dnsapi/dns_active24.sh

 

[Petr.114]

Here it is

$ head /usr/share/proxmox-acme/dnsapi/dns_active24.sh
#!/usr/bin/env sh
# shellcheck disable=SC2034
dns_active24_info='Active24.cz
Site: Active24.cz
Docs: github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh/wiki/dnsapi#dns_active24
Options:
Active24_ApiKey API Key. Called "Identifier" in the Active24 Admin
Active24_ApiSecret API Secret. Called "Secret key" in the Active24 Admin
Issues: github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh/issues/2059

 

[shanv]

Thanks! Please send the output for the same as well:

cat /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme | grep "_json_decode"

 

[Petr.114]

There is no output for command cat /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme | grep "_json_decode"

 

[shanv]

There is no output for command cat /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme | grep "_json_decode"

Thanks! So the issue could be because of that. Could you please add the following function inside the /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme script and try ordering again?

 

[Petr.114]

Thank you for the guide. I can confirm that the certificate order now works as expected.

2026-04-21T14:22:46+02:00: Placing ACME order
2026-04-21T14:22:48+02:00: Order URL: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/order/xyxyxyxy/xyxyxyxy
2026-04-21T14:22:48+02:00: Getting authorization details from 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/authz/xyxyxyxy/xyxyxyxy'
2026-04-21T14:22:48+02:00: The validation for host.domain.com is pending
2026-04-21T14:22:48+02:00: Setting up validation plugin
2026-04-21T14:22:51+02:00: [Tue Apr 21 14:22:51 CEST 2026] Adding txt record

2026-04-21T14:22:51+02:00: [Tue Apr 21 14:22:51 CEST 2026] Added, OK

2026-04-21T14:22:51+02:00: Sleeping 300 seconds to wait for TXT record propagation
2026-04-21T14:27:51+02:00: Triggering validation
2026-04-21T14:27:52+02:00: Sleeping for 5 seconds
2026-04-21T14:28:00+02:00: [Tue Apr 21 14:28:00 CEST 2026] Removed txt record.

2026-04-21T14:28:00+02:00: All domains validated
2026-04-21T14:28:00+02:00: Creating CSR
2026-04-21T14:28:00+02:00: order is ready, finalizing
2026-04-21T14:28:06+02:00: valid
2026-04-21T14:28:06+02:00: Downloading certificate
2026-04-21T14:28:07+02:00: TASK OK

 

[Petr.114]

I have marked the thread as solved. Hopefully, this change will soon be included in the package that contains the /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme script.

Once again, thank you for your assistance.

 

[shanv]

Thank you for the guide. I can confirm that the certificate order now works as expected.

I have marked the thread as solved. Hopefully, this change will soon be included in the package that contains the /usr/share/proxmox-acme/proxmox-acme script.

Once again, thank you for your assistance.

Hi, Thanks for resolving the thread. The fix is already in the mailling list.