PayPal Payment Advanced User authentication failed - paypal

Question

I am working on a site that's using PayPal Payment Advanced.
I've went through the documentation and have tried several methods for getting the initial token.
Below is my code:
Dim collection As New NameValueCollection()
collection.Add("PARTNER", "PayPal")
collection.Add("VENDOR", "*Vendor ID*")
collection.Add("USER", "*Transaction ID*")
collection.Add("PASSWORD", "*The USER Password*")
collection.Add("TRXTYPE", "S")
collection.Add("AMT", "0.01")
collection.Add("CREATESECURETOKEN", "Y")
collection.Add("SECURETOKENID", Guid.NewGuid().ToString().Replace("-", ""))
Dim wc As New WebClient()
Dim response As Byte() = wc.UploadValues("https://pilot-payflowpro.paypal.com", "POST", collection)
Dim text As String = ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(response)
The result is always
something like.....
RESULT=1&SECURETOKENID=11d95bb67d924cb2b8d9b4df81dfd586&RESPMSG=User authentication failed
I've tried this basic process using a simple html form with post and hidden form fields with key value pairs the result is always the same.
I can access both accounts in PayPal Manger with no issues.
Any help from anyone out there would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I found the issue, I am posting here in the hopes that someone else won't have to go through the same headache as myself.
When attempting to submit test data for PayPal payment advanced you'll need to ensure that you do have a sandbox account email associated and tied to the PayPal manager. I created a fictitious email because my actual email was already associated with another account.
So be sure to go to developer.paypal.com and select "Sandbox Accounts" --> Create Account.
After you've created the account, in the Sandbox test accounts select the new entry and select "Profile" under the Profile tab ensure PayPal Payments Pro is selected.
Now, off to PayPal manager. From here you'll want to be sure the PayPal Sandbox email address is associated. With the new account added in the developer sandbox enter the email address and select update.
Under transaction settings ensure that you have a value in "Maximum Amount per Transaction"
Lastly ensure the name value parameters are set properly. In my case it was failing on the parameter PASSWORD. It should have been PWD.
So your form should be set as in the following example.
<form method="POST" action="https://pilot-payflowpro.paypal.com:443" target="paypal">
<input type="hidden" value="PARTNER" name="PayPal" />
<input type="hidden" value="VENDOR" name="*Vendor Name*" />
<input type="hidden" value="USER" name="*User Name*" />
<input type="hidden" value="PWD" name=""User Password"" />
<!-- NOT PASSWORD -->
<input type="hidden" value="CREATESECURETOKEN" name="Y" />
<input type="hidden" value="TRXTYPE" name="S" />
<input type="hidden" value="AMT" name="1.01" />
<input type="hidden" value="SECURETOKENID" name="random guid here" />
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Or
Dim collection As New NameValueCollection()
collection.Add("Partner", "Partner Name - Usually PayPal or Verisign")
collection.Add("Vendor", "Vendor Name")
collection.Add("User", "User Name")
collection.Add("PWD", "User's Password")
collection.Add("TRXTYPE", "Transaction type, example A, S, etc")
collection.Add("AMT", "Amount")
collection.Add("CREATESECURETOKEN", "Y")
collection.Add("SECURETOKENID", Guid.NewGuid().ToString().Replace("-", ""))
Dim wc As New WebClient()
Dim response As Byte() = wc.UploadValues(txtWebAddress.Text, "POST", collection)
wc.Dispose()
Dim responsetext As String = System.Text.ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(response)
I would like to thank PayPal support for their help in resolving this issue. They were most helpful.

Answer 2

To note, from the Paypal Knowledgebase site,
Note: Although PayPal Manager allows special characters to be part of the password, avoid using them because some operating shells like DOS or UNIX treat them differently. For example, the percent sign (%) is a special character within DOS. A password such as "PaSS%word1" will truncate to "PaSS" because DOS will drop all the characters after the second "S".
I had a password containing a non alpha-numeric character, and authentication would fail in same way as OP.
https://www.paypal-knowledge.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=FAQ1223&actp=LIST

Answer 3

Are you using the API credentials? or the USER credentials?
Give a look to: https://developer.paypal.com/webapps/developer/docs/classic/express-checkout/integration-guide/ECAPICredentials/