You are an IBM Connections admin and you would like to know how to fix your problems and open tickets?
We will talk about some troubleshooting basics and other useful things to ensure that you have enough skills to get your Connections running smoothly.
There are many areas where you need different debugging skills. We will cover backend like DB2, TDI, SSO and some IBM integrations like Docs, CCM, Cognos or Forms Experience Builder. Of course we will cover Connections itself, too.
You will also get some helpful best practises which will help you within your daily work.
3. Christoph Stoettner
• Senior Consultant at panagenda
• IBM Notes / Domino since 1999
• IBM Connections since version 2.5 /
2009
• Many years of experience in:
• Migrations
• Administration and installation
• Performance analysis
• Joined panagenda in 2015 focusing in:
• IBM Connections deployment and optimization
• IBM Connections monitoring
• Husband of one & father of two,
Bavarian
@stoeps
linkedin.com/in/christophstoettner
www.stoeps.de
christophstoettner
+49 173 8588719
christoph.stoettner@panagenda.com
4. Nico Meisenzahl
• Consultant at panagenda
• IBM Notes / Domino since 2008
• IBM Connections since version 3.0
/ 2010
• Many years of experience in:
• Consulting
• Migrations & Administration
• Joined panagenda in 2016
focusing in:
• IBM Connections Consulting
• ICS deployment & optimization
@nmeisenzahl
linkedin.com/in/nicomeisenzahl
meisenzahl.org
nico.meisenzahl
+49 170 7355081
nico.meisenzahl@panagenda.com
7. Reproduce the error
• Reproducible and/or periodically?
• A sequence error?
• Client-side or server-side problem?
• Analyze the root cause
8. Be aware of the big picture
• Client-side problems
• Debug in different Browsers (IE, FF, Chrome)
• Do NOT use a server IE
• Server-side: IBM Connections is based on
many components
• debug on “high level” first
• get an overview which backend service is causing
the error
9. Configuration changes
• Changes in…
• Connections configuration
• Backend (WebSphere, Database, HTTP)
• Firewall or network
• OS, hardware or VM
Tip: Even the smallest configuration change can
have big consequences!
10. Analyze log files and browser
• Analyse log files
• Atom.io, Notepad++ or less/tail
• Baretail or tail –f
• ELK stack
• Tools for client-side problems
• Firebug or Developer-Tools
• BurpSuite or Fiddler
11. Analyze root cause
• Find a hint inside the log
• Network timeout or DNS
• SQL errors
• LDAP errors
• Syntax errors in configuration files „xxx-
config.xml“
• Error stack
Tip: In a clustered environment, start and
analyze only one Node (if possible)
12. Find support
• Knowledge Center http://goo.gl/HFzTmv
• Troubleshooting Tips https://goo.gl/mU1EQ9
• IBM Connections Forum http://goo.gl/CVvQCU
• Community Blogs and/or Chats
• Fix Central
• PMR
17. Analyze WAS log files
• Time stap: 24h time stamp with milli-seconds
• Thread id: eight character hexadecimal value
• Short name: typically java class name
• Event type: one character only (E, W, I,…)
• Message identifier: String based on component
• Message: Some information
18. WAS Event types
• F - Fatal message
• E - Error message
• W - Warning message
• A - Audit message
• I - Informational message
• C - Configuration message
• D - Detail message
• O - Messages that are written directly to System.out
by an application
• R - Messages that are written directly to System.err by
an application
• Z - Place holder to indicate type was not recognized
19. WAS Message identifier
• Prefix by Application or Server (CLFRW)
• Specific application code (0042)
• Event Type (I)
20. Read trace stack
• First line displays key information
• “Caused by” displays root cause
21. Environment information
• First log lines on server startup
• WebSphere version
• OS version, Process id
• Installation path
22. Enable tracing
• Enable tracing using
ISC
• Runtime or configuration
only
• Define tracing based
on
• App prefix / error stack
• Must gather (PMR)
25. Recreate Search Index
• SearchService.startBackgroundIndex()
• Crawls seedlists
• Extracts the file content
• Create index
Tip: Use „all_configured“ to index all apps
26. CLFRW0394E: Search indexing of
services ...
• Search index not ready
• interruption at index creation
• CLFRW0283E: Search has encountered a problem while
crawling
• CLFRW0027E: Error Indexing component <app> for
search
• INDEX.READY file not present
• Recreate and enable tracing
28. EJPVJ9284E: Unable to get the groups
from the directory for the user…
• User was not able to access Connections
anymore
• WAS LDAP bind user had no read access
to one of the groups the user was member
42. FileNet urls
• http://<fqdn>/FileNet/Engine
• Server status, version, sonata/waltz version
• http://<fqdn>/P8CE/Health
• Health checks for authentication, stores and
database
• http://<fqdn>/dm
• FNCS version and configuration
56. Thank you very much for your attention!
panagenda GmbH – Make Your Data Work for You
Lahnstr. 17 ● 64646 Heppenheim (Germany)
Skype: christophstoettner ● Cell: +49 173 8588719
E-Mail: christoph.stoettner@panagenda.com
Christoph Stoettner
Senior Consultant
panagenda GmbH – Make Your Data Work for You
Lahnstr. 17 ● 64646 Heppenheim (Germany)
Skype: nico.meisenzahl ● Cell: +49 170 7355081
E-Mail: nico.meisenzahl@panagenda.com
Nico Meisenzahl
Consultant