Purging the Domain Cache

A proven technique for resolving problem application server environments is to purge the application server domain cache located in PS_CFG_HOME\appserv\domain_name\CACHE.

Important:

You should purge the cache only after due consideration, and after consultation with PeopleSoft support or consultants.

Keep the following in mind:

  • You cannot purge shared file cache.

  • You can purge the cache regardless of whether the application server domain is running; there's no need to shut it down and reboot. However, the procedure is less disruptive and runs more quickly if the domain is shut down or its activity level is low.

  • Purging the cache can take five minutes or more on a large or busy domain, depending on the domain configuration.

  • If database cache is enabled, the database cache will be purged. If the database cache is purged, it affects all domains using that cache. The database cache is shared across all domains that use the same byte-order (little-endian or big-endian).

To purge the domain cache:

  1. On the PeopleSoft Domain Administration menu, select Purge Cache.

    If the cache is currently empty, the purge operation is cancelled, and the PeopleSoft Domain Administration menu reappears.

    If the cache is not empty, the following prompt appears:

    Enter log comments about this purge, if any (maximum 256 characters):

  2. Enter any information (up to 256 characters) that you want recorded explaining the circumstances of this cache purge operation, and press Enter. Your comments will be saved to a purge log file.

    The following prompt appears:

    Do you wish to archive the contents of the current cache? (y/n) [n] :

  3. Enter y to archive the cache contents, or n to delete them permanently. The default response is n.

    If you enter y, the following prompt appears: 

    Cache contents will be archived to 
PS_CFG_HOME\appserv\domain_name\Archive\CACHE_mmddyy_hhmm_ss.
Hit Enter to continue or provide a new location:

    Note:

    At runtime, PS_CFG_HOME and domain_name are replaced with values appropriate to your system, and mmddyy_hhmm_ss represents the date and time of the cache purge operation.

  4. (If you chose to archive the cache contents) Enter a different archive location if desired, and press Enter.

    If the location you enter is rejected, the following message appears, and you're prompted to continue:

    Failed to archive cache to location.

    Note:

    Continuing this procedure with an invalid location will purge the cache without archiving.

    The default location is a unique directory name. Keep in mind that the location you enter might have been rejected for the following reasons:

    • The directory can't be created due to an invalid drive or network mount.

    • The directory can't be created due to insufficient user privileges.

    • The directory has insufficient space for the cache files.

  5. When prompted to continue, enter y to continue the purge operation, or n to cancel the operation and return to the PeopleSoft Domain Administration menu.

    Note:

    Archiving the cache increases the time required to complete the purge, because the cache files must be copied to the archive location.

If the application server domain is running, you might see INFO: messages related to version, patch level, serial number and so on. These are normal and don't require any action. When the cache is successfully purged, the following message appears:

Purge Cache operation completed successfully.

You may notice that the cache directory is non-empty. Cache files have been
invalidated and will be refreshed from the database.

If the cache was archived, you'll also see the following:

You may also have noticed a number of Sharing Violation messages during the 
Cache Purge. 
These messages are no cause for alarm and are expected as part of the 
cache archival.

If the application server domain is running, an entry is written to the application server log file to indicate that the cache has been purged.

The purge log file is saved (including any comments you entered in step 2) as PS_CFG_HOME\appserv\domain_name\LOGS\PurgeCache_mmddyy_hhmm_ss.log.

Note:

At runtime, PS_CFG_HOME and domain_name are replaced with values appropriate to your system, and mmddyy_hhmm_ss represents the date and time of the cache purge operation.

Following is an example of the purge log file contents:

Date:02/17/10 11:47
User Explanation: Processes appeared to take a long time to recycle.
Cache Contents archived to C:\ptservers\appserv\QEDMO\Archive\CACHE_021710_1147_01