Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server 2.1 Troubleshooting Guide

Seeking a Solution

After identifying the problem and formulating a preliminary hypothesis of what may be wrong, you are ready to do someinvestigation.

The following topics are addressed in this section:

Verify System Configuration

Sometimes the most obvious solutions are overlooked, and so the first step is to verify the system configuration. Refer to the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server Release Notes for the most up-to-date system requirements and dependencies.

Evaluate Messages

Messages generally include information about the attempted action, the outcome of the action, and, if applicable, the cause of jeopardy or failure.

Types of Messages

The log files contain the following general types of message entries:

Error Messages

A problem is often accompanied by an error message that prevents the application from proceeding.

Examine Log Files

A number of the Enterprise Server subsystems create log files and log their events to these files. The primary purpose of these log files is to provide troubleshooting information.

In addition to the message text, a logged message provides the following information:

Log Levels

The Enterprise Server has many log levels that can be set in the Administration GUI (FINEST, FINER, FINE, CONFIG, INFO, WARNING, SEVERE, ALERT, and FATAL). All messages are logged when the log level is set to FINEST and only serious error messages appear if the log level is set to FATAL.

Note that the more detailed log levels (FINEST, FINER, FINE) can generate high volumes of log information for certain events, which may make it appear at first glance that there is an error condition when in fact there is not.

All messages with a log level less than the default level of INFO (FINEST, FINER, FINE, and CONFIG) provide information related to debugging and must be specifically enabled. Instructions for doing this are contained in the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server Administrator's Guide.

In addition to the standard JDK log levels, the Enterprise Server has added log levels designed to map more intuitively to the Enterprise Server log file (server.log) and to tightly integrate with Solaris. The log levels ALERT and FATAL are specific to the Enterprise Server and are not implemented in the JDK1.4 logging API.


Note –

For information on the event log mechanism used in the Microsoft Windows operating environment, refer to the Windows help system index using the keywords Event Logging. If you choose to send logs to the Windows server.log file, only messages with a log level of INFO, WARNING, SEVERE, ALERT, or FATAL are logged to the Windows Event Log.


Log Options

The Administration GUI provides the following two logging options:

Client Side Logging

The Application Client Container (ACC) has its own log service and can only log to a local file. The ACC typically runs in its own process, on a different host from the Enterprise Server. It has its own logging infrastructure and its own log file. The sun-acc.xml file contains the ACC configuration. Refer to the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server Application Server Developer's Guide to Clients for more information.

Obtaining a Thread Dump

This section explains how to obtain a thread dump for Enterprise Server . By default, the server dumps a core file and restarts with the -Xrs java-option flag in the server.xml file.

On UNIX

The following procedure describes how to obtain a server thread dump on UNIX.

ProcedureTo obtain a server thread dump on UNIX

  1. Verify that the server.xml file for the affected server instance does not include the -Xrs java-option flag. Remove the -Xrs java-option flag if it exists.

  2. If the option is changed, restart the server instance.

  3. Use the ps command to determine the java and/or appservDAS processes under which the application server is running.

  4. Run the following command on the application server instance:


    kill -3 pid
    

    The kill command redirects the thread dump to the server.log file for server the instance.

On Windows

The following procedure describes how to obtain a server thread dump on Windows.

ProcedureTo obtain a server thread dump on Windows

  1. Verify that the server.xml file for your server instance does not include the -Xrs java-option flag. Remove the -Xrs java-option flag if it exists.

  2. If the option was changed, restart your Enterprise Server.

  3. Type ctrl-brk in the Enterprise Server window. The thread dump will be redirected to the server.log file for the instance.

See if the Problem has been Solved Before

A good initial step is to scan this Troubleshooting Guide to see if the problem is addressed here. If so, select the appropriate solution. Many of the solutions contain references to other documents in the Enterprise Server document collection for additional details, explanations, or examples.

Search the Product Documentation

Start by reading the Release Notes for the version of the product you are troubleshooting.

The documentation for this Enterprise Server product release is available at TBDlink.

Search the Knowledge Base

The Knowledge Base is a collection of articles on product issues that provide information helpful for troubleshooting. To access the Knowledge Base:

ProcedureTo search the Knowledge Base

  1. Go to SunSolve.

  2. Under SunSolve Collections, click the Search Collections link.

  3. Select the checkbox for the collection(s) to search.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Enter the search criteria.

  6. Click Go.

Search or Participate in the Online Forum

Browse directly in any of the online forums, or log in and register to start posting messages. The Enterprise Server online forum is available at: http://forum.java.sun.com/index.jspa

Contact Support

When necessary, gather together the information you have acquired and contact technical support at http://www.sun.com/service/contacting.