J Troubleshooting Oracle Application Server

J.3.1.1 Resetting the Administrator (ias_admin) Password

To manage an instance of Oracle Application Server, you must log in to the Application Server Control Console using the current Administrator (ias_admin) password.

Problem

If you forget or do not know the ias_admin password, then you cannot monitor or administer the application server or its components with the Application Server Control Console.

Solution

Reset the ias_admin password using the following procedure while you are logged in as the user who installed the Oracle Application Server instance:

1. Stop the Application Server Control.

   On UNIX systems, enter the following command in the Oracle home of the application server instance:

   ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl stop iasconsole
   
   

   On Windows systems, use the Services control panel to stop the Application Server Control service.

2. Locate and open the following file in a text editor:

   ORACLE_HOME/sysman/j2ee/config/jazn-data.xml
   
   

3. Locate the line that defines the credentials property for the ias_admin user.

   The following example shows the section of jazn-data.xml with the encrypted credentials entry in boldface type:

   <realm>
     <name>enterprise-manager</name>
       <users> 
         <user> 
           <name>ias_admin</name> 
             <credentials>{903}buG0lUsQqTq0nQjdaKQRECL1kbs192mP</credentials>
         </user> 
   .
   .
   
   

4. Replace the existing encrypted password with the new password.

   Be sure to prefix the password with an exclamation point (!). For example:

   <credentials>!mynewpassword123</credentials>
   
   

   The password for the ias_admin user should conform to following guidelines:

   • The minimum length is five alphanumeric characters.

   • At least one of the characters must be a number.

   • Passwords must be shorter than 30 characters.

   • Passwords can contain only alphanumeric characters from your database character set, the underscore (_), the dollar sign ($), and the number sign (#).

   • Passwords must begin with an alphabetic character. It cannot begin with a number, the underscore (_), the dollar sign ($), or the number sign (#).

   
   

   See Also: "The ias_admin User and Restrictions on its Password" in the Oracle Application Server Installation Guide

   
   

5. Start the Application Server Control.

   After the restart, the Application Server Control will use your new Administrator (ias_admin) password, which will be stored in encrypted format within the jazn-data.xml file.

   
   

   See Also: Section A.1.1, "Starting and Stopping the Application Server Control Console on UNIX"

   
   

J.3.1.2 Unavailable Metric and Chart Data in the Application Server Control Console

The performance metrics for a particular component show up as "Unavailable" in the Application Server Control Console.

Similarly, instead of a chart, one of the following messages (or a similar message) appears on the component Home page:

• The underlying data for the CPU usage graph is not yet available

• The underlying data for the Memory usage graph is not yet available

This problem often occurs immediately after the component is started.

Problem

Some metric data must be collected multiple times before the data can be displayed in the Application Server Control Console.

Solution

Verify that the component is up and running. If the component is down, restart the component.

If the component is up and running, wait at least five minutes to allow the necessary metrics to initialize, and then click the Refresh Data icon to refresh the data on the page.

J.3.1.3 Application Server Status Is Down When Server Components Are Up

From the Oracle Application Server Home page, you can quickly review the status of individual application server components, as well as the status of the overall application server instance itself.

Problem

Sometimes the Application Server Control Console indicates that the application server instance is down when components of the application server are up and running.

Solution

An Oracle Application Server instance is considered down when any one of its enabled components is down. For example, if one of your OC4J instances is down, the application server is considered down, even if the other components, such as Oracle HTTP Server, are up and running.

You can fix this problem by disabling components that are not in use. When a component is disabled, its status does not affect the status of the Application Server target. You can always enable the component at a later time.

To disable a component, click Enable/Disable Components on the Application Server Home page. Use the resulting page to determine which components you want to enable or disable for this application server instance.

J.3.1.4 Errors When Starting Application Server Control

Before you can perform application server administrative tasks with Enterprise Manager, you must start Application Server Control.

Problem

When you attempt to start Application Server Control—or when the Enterprise Manager configuration assistant in the installation procedure attempts to start Application Server Control—an error occurs and the necessary processes are not started.

Solution

Problems starting Application Server Control are often caused by port conflicts on the host computer. In other words, a specific port number that the Application Server Control requires is in use by another application on the machine.

The first step in troubleshooting port conflicts is to identify which ports are in conflict. Some of the more common port conflicts that affect the Application Server Control include:

• The port used in the Application Server Control Console URL

• The port used by the Oracle Management Agent

• The port used by OC4J Remove Method Invocation (RMI)

You can often identify a port conflict (or other startup problem) by reviewing the log files associated with these technologies or components. Table J-1 describes some of these component log files, which are installed in the sysman/log directory of the Oracle Application Server home directory.

After you identify a port conflict, you can modify the Application Server Control port number (if the port number can be reassigned).

J.3.1.5 Problems Connecting to an Application Server Instance from Farm or Cluster Page

From the Oracle Application Server Farm home page, you can view a list of the individual application server instances and OracleAS Cluster that are part of the Farm. To navigate to the Application Server Home home page for an instance, click the name of the application server target on the Farm home page. Similarly, the Cluster page provides a list of the application server instances that belong to the selected OracleAS Cluster.

Problem

When you click the name of the application server instance on the Farm home page, you receive one of the following errors in your Web browser:

• In your Netscape browser:

  There was no response. The server could be down or is not responding.
  
  

• In your Internet Explorer browser:

  The page cannot be displayed.
  

Solution

This error is most often displayed when the Application Server Control for the instance you selected is not running.

To fix the problem, you must start the Application Server Control for the instance you want to manage:

1. Log on to the host where the application server instance resides.

   Be sure to log in as the user who installed the Oracle Application Server instance.

2. Start the Application Server Control.

   On UNIX systems, use the following command to start the Application Server Control:

   ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl start iasconsole
   
   

   On Windows systems, use the Services control panel to start the Application Server Control service.

J.3.1.6 Application Server Home Page Indicates That the Farm Is Unavailable

OracleAS Farm is a set of Oracle Application Server instances that share a common repository. If the instance you are managing is part of an OracleAS Farm, the Application Server Control Console URL displays the Farm page. The Farm page lists the application servers and OracleAS Cluster that are part of the Farm.

Problem

Sometimes the Application Server Control Console URL does not display the Farm page. Instead, Enterprise Manager displays the Application Server Home page. In the General section of the page, the Farm field indicates that the Farm is "Unavailable." Alternatively, the Farm field indicates that the "Infrastructure database is unavailable."

Solution

In most cases you can solve this problem by making sure that the OracleAS Metadata Repository database or Farm repository database is up and running. You can verify the status of the database by using one of two methods:

• Display the Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control Console for the Infrastructure Oracle home. The Database Control Console provides you with a Web-based user interface for monitoring and administering the Infrastructure database. From the Database Control Console, you can obtain the status of the database.

  
  

  See Also: Section 2.5, "Managing the OracleAS Metadata Repository Database with Database Control"

  
  

• Use SQL*Plus to connect to the database and verify that it is up and running.

If the database is down, start the database and then navigate to the Application Server Control Console URL.

If the OracleAS Metadata Repository database is up and running, make sure the Oracle Internet Directory component of your OracleAS Identity Management installation is also available. Display the Application Server Control Console for the OracleAS Identity Management installation and check to be sure the Oracle Internet Directory component is up and running.

If both the OracleAS Metadata Repository database and Oracle Internet Directory are up and running, the problem may be related to port conflicts, which can affect the Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN). Check the OPMN log files to identify the potential port conflict.

If you identify a port conflict, modify the port number (if the port number can be reassigned).

J.3.1.7 Error Connecting to the Directory Server

If your application server instance is part of an OracleAS Farm, some components of your application server instance may require access to the Identity Management components. Specifically, they may need access to Oracle Internet Directory.

Problem

When you log in to the Application Server Control Console, the following error message appears:

Unable to Connect to Directory Server:javax.naming.CommunicationException

Solution

This problem is caused when the Oracle Internet Directory component is down or unavailable. Verify that Oracle Internet Directory is up and running and start it if necessary.

For example, log in to the Identity Management host and enter the following command in the Infrastructure Oracle home to start the Oracle Internet Directory:

opmnctl startproc ias-component=OID

J.3.1.8 Browser Displays "SMISession has been invalidated" Error

Using Application Server Control, you can manage Oracle Application Server from a browser. As a result, you can manage your application server instances remotely as long as you have access to the network. In addition, multiple administrators can manage your application server instances.

Problem

In some cases, you may see the following error message displayed in your browser window:

The SMISession has been invalidated. Resolution: Please close the current SMISession, start another one and reapply the actions

Solution

To resolve this issue, click the Refresh Data icon located to the right of the time stamp, or close and reopen the browser to start a new session. This error can be the result of multiple users performing conflicting configuration actions on a single Enterprise Manager Application Server Control at the same time.

J.3.1.9 Memory Errors Generated by the Oracle Management Agent

Oracle Application Server includes a version of the Oracle Management Agent that gathers monitoring data for the Application Server Control Console.

Problem

The Management Agent generates "out of memory" errors while collecting application server metrics.

Solution

Use the following procedure to increase the amount of memory available to the Management Agent Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The default value is 64 MB:

1. Use a text editor to open the following configuration file in the application server Oracle home:

   (UNIX) $ORACLE_HOME/sysman/config/emd.properties
   (Windows) %ORACLE_HOME%\sysman\config\emd.properties
   
   

2. Locate the following entry in the emd.properties file:

   agentJavaDefines=-Doracle.dms.refresh.wait.time=1000
   
   

3. Add the following qualifier to the agentJavaDefines property to increase the available memory to 128 MB:

   -Xmx128M
   
   

4. Restart the Application Server Control.

   
   

   See Also: Section A.1.1, "Starting and Stopping the Application Server Control Console on UNIX"

   
   

J.3.1.10 Administration Tasks Performed Using the Command Line Are Not Reflected in Application Server Control Console

Application Server Control is the preferred management tool for most of your Oracle Application Server management tasks. However, you can still accomplish your management tasks using various command line tools.

Problem

If you use command-line tools to make administration or configuration changes to an Oracle Application Server instance (for example, if you use the dmctl applyarchiveto command), the changes are not reflected in the Application Server Control Console until after the Application Server Control cache is cleared.

Solution

To clear the cache, click the Refresh Data icon, which is located to the right of the time stamp, or close and reopen the browser to start a new session.

J.3.1.11 SSL Timeout Issues with Microsoft Internet Explorer Browsers

You can use the emctl secure iasconsole command to configure the Application Server Control so it uses HTTPS secure communications.

However, after you configure security for the Application Server Control, you may get intermittent problems when using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or a later release.

Problem

Microsoft Internet Explorer has known issues with trying to reuse SSL connections after they have timed out. Due to this limitation, users connecting to Application Server Control using Internet Explorer, may see intermittent errors. Some examples of the errors include the following:

• 500 Internal Server Error when deploying a J2EE application

• Error: Processing already completed after responding to a confirmation message

• The graphics in the HTML version of Topology Viewers do not appear

Solution

To work around these SSL timeout errors, you can upgrade all browsers to use the correct Microsoft patches. For information about the Internet Explorer problem, its workarounds, and links to updates to Internet Explorer 6.0 and later, see the following:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=831167

J.3.1.12 Session Has Expired Message When Using Multiple Browser Windows

Browser displays a message saying that the Session has expired.

Problem

Opening multiple browser windows to view different Application Server Control Consoles on the same host may cause the browser to post a Session has expired message if you switch between the browser windows. For example, you are viewing one Application Server Control Console located at:

http://mgmthost1.acme.com:1156/

You then open another browser to view an Application Server Control Console located at:

http://mgmthost1.acme.com:18100

As you switch between the two browser windows, you might receive a Session expired message. This condition can occur with either Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer.

Solution

To avoid this problem, start a new browser instance from the desktop and close any new windows opened from the original browser session. If you are using Netscape 7, you will need to create a new Netscape Profile for any additional browser windows.

J.3.1.13 Topology Viewer Applet Not Loading

You can specify whether you want to use the HTML Only version of the Topology Viewer or the Java applet version. To use the Java applet version, you must have the correct Java Plug-in support and proxy settings.

Problem 1

The Java applet version of the Topology version requires Java Plug-in release 1.4 or later. Typically, your browser will prompt you to download the required version of Java Plug-in. However, in some browsers, you may not be prompted to download the plug-in, or you may be directed to an invalid URL. Without the correct plug-in support, the Topology Viewer applet does not load.

Solution 1

You must manually download and install the plug-in from http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/.

Problem 2

If the Topology Viewer applet does not load, then look in the Java Plug-in Console for errors. Typically, the cause of these errors is the Java Plug-in could not access the proxy server.

You can start the Java Plug-in Console in one of three ways:

• Windows system tray

  Right-click the Java Console icon from the system tray, and select Open Console.

• Microsoft Internet Explorer

  From the Tools menu, select Sun Java Console.

• Netscape

  From the Tools menu, select Web Development > Java Console.

Solution 2

Configure the proxy settings to automatically detect settings and disable the use of the automatic configuration script. The details of this configuration varies from browser to browser.

J.3.1.14 No Propagation Between Grid Control and Application Server Control When Creating a New OC4J Instance

You can use Grid Control to discover Oracle Application Server instances.

Problem

If Grid Control release 10.1.0.2 or 10.1.0.3 is used to discover a release 9.0.4 or 10.1.2 Oracle Application Server instance, configuration changes, such as enabling or disabling components and creating or deleting OC4J instances in the Oracle Application Server instance will not be propagated to the central Management Agent and the Grid Control Console.

Solution

In order to propagate these changes to the Grid Control Console, remove the Oracle Application Server and its components from Grid Control with the following steps. When you remove the components from Grid Control, any collected data in the Management Repository will be deleted.

1. Click the Targets tab, and then All Targets subtab.

2. Select the Application Server instance, and click Remove.

3. Select the BC4J component for the Application Server instance, and click Remove.

4. Ensure that all targets have been deleted:

   1. Click the Management System tab.

   2. In the Management Services and Repository Overview page, in the General section, click the link Deleted Targets.

Once the targets are deleted, perform the following steps in the Application Server Control:

1. Navigate to the Application Server Home page for the Oracle Application Server instance.

2. From the Application Server Home page, click the Infrastructure tab.

3. In the Grid Control Management section, click Configure.

4. In the Configure Grid Control page, select the appropriate Management Service, and then click OK.

   The Oracle Application Server and its components will now appear in the Grid Control Console. You can now enable or disable components and create or delete OC4J instances in the Oracle Application Server.

J.3.1.15 Problems Viewing Metrics When Configured for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

When you use Application Server Control Console to monitor targets, such as an instance of OracleAS Portal, running in an environment configured for SSL, some performance metrics may not display.

To correct this problem you must allow the Application Server Control to recognize the Certificate Authority that was used by the Web site you are monitoring to support HTTPS. You must add the Certificate of that Certificate Authority to the list of Certificate Authorities recognized by the Application Server Control.

J.3.1.16 Problems Displaying the Date Selection Window When Searching the Log Repository

Problem

If you are searching the Log Repository for log entries that occurred during a specific time frame, you might have problems displaying the pop-up date selection window.

Solution

This problem can be caused by customizations that you made to Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. For example, if you installed third-party pop-up blocking software, the browser may not be able to display the date selection window.

To work around this problem, deinstall or disable the browser customizations. Alternatively, enter the date directly into the date field, using the following date format: MM/DD/YY.

J.3.2.1 Problems Using the OC4J Security Page

You use the OC4J Security page in the Application Server Control Console to configure various security settings for your deployed J2EE applications.

Problem 1

After making changes on the OC4J Security page, the changes do not seem to affect the deployed application.

Solution 1

After you make changes on the OC4J Security page, you must restart the OC4J instance in order for the changes to take effect. For example, if you add the user admin user and the administrators group as described in Section J.3.2.2, you must restart the OC4J instance to complete the procedure.

Problem 2

OC4J security employs a user manager to authenticate and authorize users and groups that attempt to access a J2EE application. One of the user managers that can be used to designate the users and groups for an application is the JAZN user manager.

With Application Server Control, you can specify that the JAZN user manager be associated with an application. Using the Deploy Application: User Manager page of the Application Server Control Console, you can specify that the application use either a JAZN XML configuration or a JAZN LDAP configuration.

When you use Application Server Control Console to specify an XML-based JAZN configuration, the following line is entered into the orion-application.xml file:

<jazn provider="XML" location="./jazn-data.xml" />

When you use Application Server Control Console to specify an LDAP-based JAZN configuration, the following line is entered in the orion-application.xml file:

<jazn provider="LDAP" default-realm="sample_subrealm" />

Some applications may prefer to specify a JAZN configuration by providing a path to a jazn.xml file, but Enterprise Manager does NOT support this type of JAZN configuration. This type of JAZN configuration would be specified as follows in the orion-application.xml file:

<jazn config="jazn.xml"/>

If you manually specify this type of JAZN configuration in the orion-application.xml file, you will either be unable to use the Application Server Control Console OC4J Security page or you will experience problems even after apparently using the page successfully.

Solution 2

Do not manually configure JAZN by providing a path to the jazn.xml file.

For more information about user managers specifying users and groups for a J2EE application, see Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE Security Guide.

J.3.2.2 Lookup Error When Deploying an OC4J Application

From the Application Server Control Console, you can deploy J2EE applications to Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE (OC4J).

Problem

When you are attempting to deploy an OC4J application using the Application Server Control Console, you may receive the following error:

Deployment failed: Nested exception
Root Cause: Lookup error: javax.naming.NoPermissionException: Not allowed to
look up java:comp/ServerAdministrator, check the namespace-access tag setting
in orion-application.xml for details; 

Solution

This error may appear if the user manager for the OC4J default application does not include the user admin and the group administrators.

To view or define the users and groups for the default application user manager:

1. Navigate to the OC4J home page for the OC4J instance you used to deploy your application.

2. Click Applications to display the list of application deployed in the selected OC4J instance.

3. Click the Default Application Name, which appears at the top of the Applications page.

   Enterprise Manager displays the OC4J Application home page for the default application.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Security.

   Enterprise Manager displays the Security page, which lists the Groups and Users.

J.3.2.3 Redeploying WAR Applications with Application Server Control

On the OC4J Applications Page in the Application Server Control Console, you can deploy EAR files (applications with a file type of .ear) and deploy WAR files (web applications with a file type of .war).

To deploy a WAR file using the Application Server Control Console, click Deploy War file on the OC4J Applications Page.

The first time you deploy a WAR file, Enterprise Manager launches a deployment tool that automatically wraps the WAR application into a J2EE application (.ear file) before deploying it. The .ear file that Enterprise Manager creates to deploy your WAR file contains an application.xml file that describes the application modules. The .ear file is given an application name that you supply when you step through the deployment tool. After the WAR application is deployed, the name of the new application (.ear file) appears in the Deployed Applications table.

Problem

After you have deployed a WAR file using the Application Server Control Console, it cannot be redeployed by selecting the application (.ear file) on the OC4J Applications Page and clicking Redeploy.

Solution

To redeploy a WAR file using Application Server Control Console, you must undeploy the application first, then deploy it again by following these steps:

1. In the Deployed Applications table on the OC4J Applications Page, select the application (.ear file) in which the WAR file was wrapped and deployed.

2. Click Undeploy.

3. Click Deploy War file. In the deployment tool, specify the same application name as you specified the first time for the application (.ear file) in which the WAR file was wrapped and deployed.

After the WAR application is deployed, the name of the web application (.ear file) appears in the Deployed Applications table.

J.3.2.4 Deployment Performance in Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator 7.0

Problem

If you attempt to deploy an OC4J application while using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape 7.0, the file upload may take an extremely long time (for example, 10 minutes for a 45 MB .ear file as compared to 15 seconds with Netscape 7.1).

Solution

If you are using Netscape Navigator, upgrade to Netscape 7.1.

If you are using Internet Explorer, refer to the following Microsoft knowledge base article, which addresses this problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329781

J.3.2.5 Problems Deploying Large OC4J Applications

Problem

When attempting to deploy a large application (greater than 50 MB EAR or WAR file), the default configuration of the Distributed Configuration Management (DCM) Daemon is insufficient. Attempting to deploy such a large application results in an "Out Of Memory" error.

Solution

Use the Application Server Control Console to increase the memory for the DCM Daemon component:

1. Navigate to the Application Server home page in the Application Server Control Console.

2. Click Process Management to edit the opmn.xml file.

3. Locate the java-parameters <data> tag in the DCM Daemon configuration section of the file:

   <ias-component id="dcm-daemon" status="enabled" id-matching="true">  <process-type id="dcm-daemon" module-id="DCMDaemon">     <process-set id="dcm" numprocs="1">        <module-data>           <category id="start-parameters">              <data id="java-parameters" value="-Xmx256m -Xrs
    -Doracle.ias.sysmgmt.logging.loglevel=ERROR
    -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
    -Djava.io.tmpdir=&quot;$TMP&quot;"/>
                 .
                 .
                 .
   </ias-component>
   
   

4. Replace the string -Xmx256m with the string -Xmx512m.

   For example:

   <data id="java-parameters" value="-Xmx512m
   
   

   This new value increases the memory assigned to the DCM Daemon from 256 MB to 512 MB.

5. Click Apply to save your changes.

6. Open a terminal window (UNIX) or a DOS Command window (Windows) use the following commands to reload the OPMN configuration file, restart DCM, and restart the Application Server Control.

   On UNIX systems:

   ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl reload
   ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl restart ias-component="dcm-daemon"
   ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl restart iasconsole
   
   

   On Windows systems:

   ORACLE_HOME\opmn\bin\opmnctl reload
   ORACLE_HOME\opmn\bin\opmnctl restart ias-component="dcm-daemon"
   ORACLE_HOME\bin\emctl restart iasconsole
   
   

7. Try deploying the application again.

J.3.2.6 Troubleshooting OC4J Out of Memory Errors

Problem

Depending upon the size and number of applications you deploy to your OC4J instance, you might experience "out of memory" errors.

Solution

Adjust the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) heap size for your OC4J processes.