Invalid Message - The message could not be parsed. is an odd error message for a jamf recon when you’re using Jamf Cloud, because if you Google that error message, there are only two results:

• FYI – Invalid Message – The message could not be parsed.
• Devices not updating inventory (Invalid Message – The message could not be parsed)

The first is for on-premise Jamf and involves fixing a distribution point setting. The second tries to get some diagnostic data but then doesn’t actually give a solution.

But what if you get that message, and you’re using Jamf Cloud, not on-premise Jamf?

Well, I’ll tell you now what won’t fix it: unenrolling, deleting the device from Jamf, and re-enrolling; checking the distribution point in Jamf Cloud; using a mobile hotspot to bypass router issues.

What may fix it? Creating a brand new account and copying over only files and not settings.

There’s obviously some kind of corrupted Jamf-related files that don’t get fixed by running jamf recon again, because it’s definitely not network-related. Could possibly be something in ~/Library/Caches/ or somewhere else? Didn’t really have the luxury of trying to dig around and delete one thing at a time to figure out where the actual corruption happened. Maybe there’s something in the home directory Jamf has trouble collecting information about?

But if you’re reading this, using Jamf Cloud, and running into a Mac experiencing this error with jamf recon, definitely consider creating a new local account.