This topic describes troubleshooting the installation of the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment product.
If you are looking for troubleshooting information for WebSphere Application Server products on iSeries platforms, see iSeries installation troubleshooting tips. This topic does not describe i5/OS or OS/400 systems.
Use this topic after installing your WebSphere Application Server product. The successful installation of the Network Deployment product is a two-part process:
If an installation is not successful, use this troubleshooting information to correct the problems.
Use this topic to help interpret the log files and diagnose possible problems when the installation is unsuccessful. The installer program records the following indicators of success in the logs:
See Verifying checksums of installed files for more information.
Compare the output from the installver command to the installation log files that are described in the next step.
The app_server_root/logs/install/log.txt file, the app_server_root/logs/manageprofiles/profile_name_create.log file, and the profile_root/logs/pctLog.txt file record installation and profile creation status.
If the error happens early in the installation, look for the log.txt file in the system temporary area. The installation program copies the log from the temporary area to the logs directory at the end of the installation.
During installation, a single entry in the app_server_root/logs/install/log.txt file points to the temporary log file, either %TEMP%\log.txt on Windows platforms, or /tmp/log.txt on platforms such as AIX or Linux. The installation program copies the file from the temporary directory to the app_server_root/logs/install/log.txt location at the end of the installation.
If the installation fails and the log.txt file has only this one pointer to the temporary directory, open the log.txt file in the temporary directory. The log might have clues to the installation failure.
Uninstalling creates the app_server_root/logs/uninstall/log.txt file.
Log more information when InstallShield MultiPlatform (ISMP) cannot start the installation wizard. Certain events can prevent the installer from starting the installation wizard. Such an event is not enough disc space to launch the installation wizard, for example. If your installation fails and there is no information in the installation logs, use the -log parameter to record entries for events that cause the installer program to fail to start the installation wizard. The syntax of the install command for logging such events is:
install -options fully_qualified_options_response_file_name
-silent
-log # !fully_qualified_log_file_name @ALL
Attention:
The following examples show how to use the -log parameter when creating a deployment manager profile. The command is in the app_server_root/bin/ProfileCreator directory. The name of the command varies per platform according to this pattern, pctplatform:
Log file names and locations
The following information shows the log files for all of the installable components on the product disc.
Log files for IBM HTTP Server The following table shows the installation log locations when installing IBM HTTP Server.
| Windows system log path name | Log path name on operating systems such as AIX or Linux |
|---|---|
Log files for Application Client for WebSphere Application Server The following table shows the installation log locations when installing the Application Client.
| Windows system log path name | Operating system log path name on systems such as AIX or Linux |
|---|---|
Product Log files: The following table shows the installation logs, content, and indicators of success and failure for the product:
| Log | Content | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| app_server_root /logs/install/log.txt | Logs all installation events | |
| user_data_root/profileRegistry/logs/manageprofiles/create.log |
| |
| app_server_root/logs/install/ installconfig.log |
|
Description of the profile_name_create.log file
The profile_name_create.log file is an XML file that contains a record of the events that occur during the creation of the last profile. In addition to the date tag at the beginning of the file, other tags of interest in the log files include the sequence tag, the level tag, the method tag, and the message tag:
The following stanza is an example of how an event is documented in each log file:
<record>
<date>2004-09-08T11:51:39</date>
<millis>1094658699225</millis>
<sequence>0</sequence>
<logger>com.ibm.ws.profile.WSProfile</logger>
<level>INFO</level>
<class>com.ibm.ws.profile.WSProfile</class>
<method>getRegistryFile</method>
<thread>10</thread>
<message>Returning registry file at:
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\properties\profileRegistry.xml
</message>
</record>
Log files created during the creation of the Application Server profile
In addition to the logs created within the core product files, the following logs are created in the profile_root/logs directory.
Both the Profile Management tool and the manageprofiles command create the log when creating an application server profile:
The following logs are created in the profile_root/logs/server1 directory: The following logs are created in the profile_root/logs/ffdc directory:Log files for Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server
The app_server_root/logs/instconfig.log file indicates ANT configuration problems that could prevent the product from working correctly. The log file is not present on systems such as AIX or Linux.
IBM Support sometimes queues work for customers and provides test or debugging fixes. A common location for the fixes is in the app_server_root/classes directory.
By default, the app_server_root/classes directory is picked up first in the WebSphere Application Server class path to let it override other classes.
Putting a fix in the directory lets you verify that the fix does indeed solve your problem. After verifying that the fix solves the problem, you are supposed to delete the fix from the app_server_root/classes directory to return the system to a working state.
If you do not remove such fixes from the app_server_root/classes directory, you can experience errors.
If no Java process exists or if the message does not appear, examine the same logs for any miscellaneous errors. Correct any errors and retry. You can find the SystemOut.log and SystemErr.log files in the following platform-specific directory:
If no Java process exists or if the message does not appear, examine the same logs for any miscellaneous errors. Correct any errors and try again to start the deployment manager.
Test your environment by starting your Application Server, your Web server, and using the snoop servlet with an IP address.
Use either the 2001 page or use the STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(instance_name ) command to start the IBM HTTP Server.
The HTTP Transport port is 9080 by default and must be unique for every profile. The port is associated with a virtual host named default_host, which is configured to host the installed DefaultApplication and any installed Samples. The snoop servlet is part of the DefaultApplication. Change the port to match your actual HTTP Transport port.
Either Web address should display the Snoop Servlet - Request/Client Information page.
"Could not connect to IHS Administration server error"Perform the following procedure to correct the error:
The HTTP Admin port is 9060 by default and must be unique for the administrative console of each stand-alone Application Server. The port is associated with a virtual host named admin_host, which is configured to host the administrative console, which is installed by default as a system application. Change the port to match your actual HTTP Admin port.
If you have problems accessing the administrative console after installation, check the installAdminConsole.log file for a failure indication. Clean up the system temporary directory and reinstall the administrative console using the wsadmin scripting facility.
The server starts. The administrative console starts. You can access the administrative console through the browser. The administrative console accepts your login.
Click System administration > Nodes > Add Node and follow the wizard. The default SOAP port for the Application Server is 8880. You can use localhost as the value of the Host name field, if the Application Server is on the same machine.
If you enable security, specify the -user and the -password parameters of the command.
Tool information is being logged in file
profile_root\logs\addNode.log
Begin federation of node AppServer01 with Deployment Manager at
localhost:8879.
Successfully connected to Deployment Manager Server: localhost:8879
Servers found in configuration:
Server name: server1
Stopping all server processes for node AppServer01
Creating node agent configuration for node: AppServer01
Reading configuration for node agent process: nodeagent
Adding node AppServer01 configuration to cell: AdvancedDeploymentCell
Performing configuration synchronization between node and cell.
Launching node agent process for node: AppServer01
Node agent launched. Waiting for initialization status.
Node agent initialization completed successfully. Process ID is: 3012
Node AppServer01 has been successfully federated.
The last message is an indicator of success. A second Java process
is running, which is the nodeagent process. The stdout.log file
and stderr.log file in the node_name directory
each contain relevant messages.
By default, the Java 2 SDK caches the IP address for the domain name service (DNS) naming lookup. After resolving the host name successfully, the IP address stays in the cache. By default, the cache entry remains forever.
This default IP caching mechanism can cause problems, as described in the following problem scenarios.
Problem scenario 1
Suppose the Application Server at host1.ibm.com has an initial IP address of 1.2.3.4. When a client at host2.ibm.com conducts a DNS lookup of host1.ibm.com, the client stores the 1.2.3.4 address in the cache. Subsequent DNS name lookups return the cached value, 1.2.3.4.
The cached value is not a problem until the host1.ibm.com IP address changes, to 5.6.7.8, for example. The client at host2.ibm.com does not retrieve the current IP address, but always retrieves the previous address from the cache.
If this scenario occurs, the client cannot reach host1.ibm.com unless you stop and restart the client process.
Problem scenario 2
Suppose the Application Server at host1.ibm.com has an initial IP address of 1.2.4.5. Although the IP address of the application server does not change, a network outage can record an exception code as the IP address in the cache, where it remains until the client is restarted on a working network.
For example, if the client at host2.ibm.com disconnects from the network because of an unplugged cable, the disconnected lookup of the Application Server at host1.ibm.com fails. The failure causes the IBM Developer Kit to put the special exception code entry into the IP address cache.
Subsequent DNS name lookups return the exception code, which is java.net.UnknownHostException.
IP address caching and WebSphere Application Server process discovery
If you change the IP address of a federated WebSphere Application Server node, processes running in other nodes cannot contact the changed node until you stop and restart them.
If a deployment manager process starts on a disconnected node, it cannot communicate with cell member processes until you stop and restart the deployment manager process. For example, plugging in an unplugged network cable does not restore proper addresses in the IP cache until the deployment manager process is restarted.
Using the IP address cache setting
You can always stop and restart a deployment manager process to refresh its IP address cache. However, this process might be expensive or inappropriate.
The networkaddress.cache.ttl (public, JDK1.4) and sun.net.inetaddr.ttl (private, JDK1.3) parameters control IP caching. The value is an integer that specifies the number of seconds to cache IP addresses. The default value, -1, specifies to cache forever. A value of zero (0) is a specification to never cache.
Using a zero (0) value is not recommended for normal operation. If you do not anticipate network outages or changes in IP addresses, use the cache forever setting. The never caching setting introduces the potential for DNS spoofing attacks.
For more information about the Java 2 SDK
The Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4.2 Web site and the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.5 Web site describe the private sun.net.inetaddr.ttl property, which works in both J2SE 1.4.2 (WebSphere Application Server V5.1 and V6.0) and J2SE 1.5 (WebSphere Application Server V6.1).
This procedure results in debugging errors that might occur during installation.
For current information available from IBM Support on known problems and their resolution, see the IBM Support page.
IBM Support has documents that
can save you time gathering the information that you need to resolve a problem.
Before opening a PMR, see the IBM Support page.