Self-hosted Post-Install "Unexpected error has occurred" Upon Uploading License and Login

[bnonni]

Steps To Reproduce

1. Deploy Bitwarden via 1-click Digital Ocean droplet
2. ssh into the droplet and run the install script all the way to completion
3. Visit the custom domain and create an account
4. Enable 2FA verification (passkey and code auth app)
5. Purchase a premium license and download the JSON file
6. Upload it to your self-hosted Bitwarden server
7. Error message displays "An error has occurred. An unexpected error has occurred."
8. Open a new browser and try to login to your self-hosted instance. Same error now occurs.

Expected Result

Should successfully enable 2FA and allow a premium license to be uploaded.

Actual Result

"An error has occurred. An unexpected error has occurred." Unable to login.

Screenshots or Videos

Additional Context

Please let me know which docker logs to provide for debugging.

Build Version

2025.5.1

Environment

Self-Hosted

Environment Details

Digital Ocean 1-Click Droplet: https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/bitwarden
Version 2025.5.1
OS Ubuntu 22.04

Issue Tracking Info

• I understand that work is tracked outside of Github. A PR will be linked to this issue should one be opened to address it, but Bitwarden doesn't use fields like "assigned", "milestone", or "project" to track progress.

[bnonni]

Quick follow up here. After stopping and restarting bitwarden using

/root/bitwarden.sh stop
/root/bitwarden.sh restart

Everything is working! 🤦‍♂ "Have you tried turning it off and on again??" Classic. Closing issue.