Article version: Enterprise Server 2.14

This version of GitHub Enterprise will be discontinued on This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2019-07-12. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Page build failed: Invalid YAML in data file

If one or more files in the _data folder of your GitHub Enterprise Pages site contains invalid YAML, your GitHub Enterprise Pages site will not build.

If your GitHub Enterprise Pages site fails to build because of YAML parsing errors, you'll get an email that looks like this:

Subject: Page build failed

The page build failed with the following error:

There was a YAML syntax error on line `line_number` column `column_number` in `filename`: `syntax_error`.

You will only receive an email if outbound email support is enabled on your Enterprise instance. For more information, contact your site administrator.

Troubleshooting YAML parsing errors

Tip: We strongly recommend running Jekyll locally so you can easily debug and fix build errors before pushing to your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. To learn more about troubleshooting options, see "Troubleshooting GitHub Pages builds."

Check the YAML files in your _data folder for the following:

Tip: You can use a tool like YAML Lint to help diagnose and fix YAML errors.

Once you've fixed any YAML errors, you will need to commit your changes and push to your GitHub Pages repository again to trigger another build on the server.

For more help with Jekyll data files, see the Jekyll documentation.

Ask a human

Can't find what you're looking for?

Contact us