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Troubleshooting an installation or upgrade

See the following sections when analyzing problems that occur during installation of the portal:

General troubleshooting information

What operating systems does BladeLogic Portal support?

BladeLogic Portal supports a 64-bit architecture for the following operating systems:

  • Windows 2008 or later
  • Red Hat Linux 6.0 or later

What operating systems does the BladeLogic Portal database support?

BladeLogic Portal supports a 64-bit architecture for the following configurations:

Operating system

Database

Windows

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 x64

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 x64

Red Hat Linux

Oracle 11g R2 or later

What is the supported stack for using BladeLogic Portal?

Operating system

Database

Windows x64, 2008 or later

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 x64 or SQL Server 2014 x64 running on Windows x64 2008 or later

Red Hat Linux x64, 6.0 or later

Oracle 11g R2 or later running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Which version of Java is required?

The portal's installation program includes Java. To avoid conflicts, use the same version—currently Java Runtime Environment  1.8. 

 Before installation, set the JAVA_HOME environment variable so its value is the location of the JRE.

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Troubleshooting installation or upgrade issues

Syncing between the DCA Index Server and the database is failing during upgrade

During an upgrade, syncing of the DCA Index Server from the database can fail because of a failure to log into the BMC Server Automation. This can happen if the BSA web services are under a load and cannot respond within a minute.

To resolve this issue, use the bmc-config.json file to increase the value configured for the BBSA_HTTP_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT parameter. Then retry syncing of the DCA Index Server.

Remember to restart the portal server after modifying the bmc-config.json file:

  • (Windows): On the portal server, open the Services window, find and right-click the BladeLogic Portal service, and select Restart. 
  • (Linux): On the portal server, enter the following command: /etc/init.d/BladeLogic_Portal restart

The portal server displays a permission denied error during installation on a Windows OS

Invoke the installer by right-clicking Run as administrator. On Windows 2008 and later, this action grants the user elevated permissions.

The portal server displays a permission denied error when the installer is invoked on a Red Hat OS

Grant the installer execute permission. For example, run the following command:
chmod +x setup.bin

An error message says a port is in use

Take the following actions to check for port conflicts:

  • (Windows): Use portmon (a tool from the sysinternals utility) or the netstat –ao command to determine whether ports are in use by some other process.
  • (Linux) Use the netstat –ap command to determine whether ports are in use by some other process. 

Can I use a port greater than 32000?

Currently, port numbers higher than 32000 are not supported.

How much network latency is allowed between entities in a portal installation?

BMC recommends negligible latency (less than 20 ms) between the following entities:

  • Portal server and portal database
  • Portal server and BMC BladeLogic Server Automation Application Server
  • BMC BladeLogic Server Automation Application Server and BSA database
  • Portal server and BSA database

To avoid latency issues, BMC recommends that all of these components should be installed on the same LAN.

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How do I clean up after a failed installation?

  1. Execute the uninstall program:
    • (Windows): <installation_directory>/UninstallBladeLogicPortal/uninstall.exe
    • (Linux): <installation_directory>/UninstallBladeLogicPortal/uninstall.bin
  2. Delete the installation directory.
  3. Kill all portal processes from memory or reboot the server.
  4. Remove entries with the name "BMC Portal" from the product registry files:
    • (Windows): C:\windows\ProductRegistry.xml
    • (Linux):  //opt/bmc/ProductRegistry.xml

My portal installation is complete but I cannot log in

Many situations can cause this problem. Check the following sequence:

  • Make sure all entities (that is, portal database, portal server, and so forth) are installed on supported 64-bit operating systems and you are using a supported configuration for your installation stack.
  • Make sure the BMC Server Automation Application Server is running.
  • Make sure the BMC Server Automation Application Server's web services are enabled.
  • Make sure the portal server can connect to the BMC Server Automation Application Server by means of a web service. The default port for a web service connection is 9843.
  • Make sure the portal database and the schema for the database are properly configured. See Setting-up-an-Oracle-database and Setting-up-a-SQL-Server-database.
  • Make sure birectional communication between the portal database the portal server is working properly.
  • Make sure no other applications on the portal server are using standard or internal communication ports that the portal server needs.
  • Make sure the portal service is running.
  • Check the bsm.log to see if it shows any errors. The log resides at <installation_location>/BladeLogicPortal/portal/logs/bsm.log.

Why can't I access assets after importing asset groups

If you are using a version of BladeLogic Portal that was upgraded from a previous release, you may not be able to access assets from imported asset groups.

To solve this problem re-import the asset groups. See this procedure for BSA and this procedure for BNA.

I am seeing one of the following errors

Error message

What to do

TNS:listener does not currently know of service
requested in connect descriptor

Check the following items:


    • Is the SID or service properly configured and accessible from the portal server?  Note that the SID and service are two different things. Use the lsnrctl status command (as the oracle user or the database owner) and verify it shows the correct name for the SID or service. 
    • Make sure the connection string for a multinode RAC is correct.
    • Ensure the listener is up. Use the lsnrctlstart command to check. Also determine whether a firewall might be blocking connections.
    • Check the integrity of the database schema by doing the following actions:
      • Determine whether the database is properly installed and configured. See Setting-up-an-Oracle-database and Setting-up-a-SQL-Server-database.
      • When setting up the database schema, make sure you used the setup files provided with for the current portal installation.
      • Determine whether Unicode support is enabled and the database is configured for Unicode support.
      • Determine whether database users might be locked out after a certain period, such as 30 days or more.
      • Determine the password expiration policy of the database. Could the portal's database account be locked out? If so, ask your database administrator to reset any accounts that were locked out.

Take the following steps to correct this error:


    1. If the installation failed, make sure, you have followed all steps in "How do I clean up after a failed installation?"
    2. If the installation is performed on Windows, reboot the portal server.
    3. Make sure all components of the portal are installed on the same LAN as BMC Server Automation.
Bundle org.eclipse.equinox.ds_1.4.0.v20120112-1400,
[SCR] Unexpected exception occurred!
java.lang.IllegalStateException: BundleContext
is no longer valid

Make sure all components of the portal are installed on the same LAN as BMC Server Automation. Latency time between all entities should be less than 20 ms

java.io.FileNotFoundException:
C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BMCAutomationPortal\portal\.
\work\deployer\s\bsm-foundation-1\
13\0\db-impl-1.0.0.jar\lib\sqljdbc4.jar (The system cannot find the path specified)

Check the following items:

  • If the installation previously failed, ensure that you have followed all the recommended steps for cleanup after a failed install. 
  • If the installation was performed on Windows, reboot the portal server.
  • Make sure all components of the portal are installed on the same LAN as BMC Server Automation. Latency time between all entities should be less than 20 m

How do I disable an unwanted DCA Index Server?

Use this procedure to disable an unwanted DCA Index Server. 

Take one of the following actions on a machine where the DCA Index Server is installed:

  • (Windows): From the Windows Control Panel, take the following steps:
    1. Select Administrative Tools > Services. 
    2. Right-click the the DCA Index Service and select Stop. 
      If you are disabling a DCA Index Server that was installed by a standard portal installation, the service is called        BMC DCA Index Service 1.7.3 (DCAIndexService) .
      If you are disabling a stand-alone DCA Index Service, the service is called DCA Index Service.
    3. When the service is stopped, right-click it again and select Properties. 
      A properties window opens. 
    4. For Startup Type, select Disabled.
    5. Click OK.
  • (Linux): Enter the following commands:
    /etc/init.d/DCAIndexService stop
    chkconfig DCAIndexService off

The installation procedure indicates it cannot communicate with the search server

By default, BladeLogic Portal communicates with the full text search server using port 9300. In some situations, the search server can pick another port for communication. The port it picks will be within the range of 9300 to 9400. If this occurs, after installation the portal service may not start correctly or you may see a message saying the portal was unable to connect to the DCA Index Service. If such a failure occurs, you can manually specify a communication port. 

The installation fails with a message saying the Portal service cannot be started in a timely way

In addition to the installation failing, you may also observe that:

  • You cannot start the Portal service manually.
  • The <Portal_install_location>/BladelogicPortal/portal/logs/bsm.log does not hold any data. 
  • The <Portal_install_location>/BladelogicPortal/portal/logs/launcher.log may have the entries shown below:
    WARNING|6103/0|Service BladeLogic Portal|16-06-20 15:02:28|startup of java application timed out. if this is due to server overload consider increasing wrapper.startup.timeout
    INFO|wrapper|Service BladeLogic Portal|16-06-20 15:02:28|restart process due to default exit code rule
    INFO|wrapper|Service BladeLogic Portal|16-06-20 15:02:28|shutdown wrapper due to exit code rule

If you see these symptions, the failure is probably caused by a problem with hostname resolution on the portal server's host machine.

To resolve the problem, ensure that hostname resolution is working correctly on the host machine. This may require a fix to DNS configuration or changes to the hosts file. To test whether your changes have corrected the problem, ping the portal server's hostname:

ping <portal server hostname>

Entering a ping like that should result in the correct IP address for the portal server.

How do I add a second BMC Server Automation or BMC Network Automation primary site after installing or upgrading?

If you have an installation of the BladeLogic Portal that is running one site (either BMC Server Automation or BMC Network Automation, but not both) and you would like to add a second primary site, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the bmc-config.json file for editing.
    Typically, this file resides at <install_location>/portal/configuration/bmc-config.json.

  2. Add a second element manager for the site that you want to add (either BMC Server Automation or BMC Network Automation) and edit the applicable values, as shown in the following table:

    Site to add

    Entry

    BMC Server Automation

    "elementmanager.bsa": {
     "type": "BSA",
     "BBSA_SERVER_HOST":"<bsa_host_name>",
     "BBSA_SERVER_PORT":"9843",
     "BBSA_SERVER_PROTOCOL":"https",
     "BBSA_USER":"BLAdmin",
     "BBSA_ROLE":"BLAdmins",
     "BBSA_PORTAL_ADMIN_USER_NAME":"BLAdmin",
     "BBSA_PORTAL_ADMIN_ROLE_NAME":"BLAdmins",
     "BBSA_HTTP_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT":60000,
     "maxLiveBrowseFileSizeBytes":20971520,
     "maxLiveBrowseDownloadFileSizeBytes":20971520,
     "fileCacheEvictionAccessMinutes":35,
     "fileCacheEvictionQuotaMB":10240,
     "fileViewerTailfChunkSizeKB":30,
     "fileViewerTailfRefreshRateSeconds":8,
     "fileViewerTailfMaxAccumulatedContentKB":240
     },

    For descriptions of these fields, see Installing-the-BladeLogic-Portal-server.

    BMC Network Automation

    "elementmanager.bna": {
     "type": "BNA",
     "host":"<bna_host_name>",
     "port":"443",
     "protocol":"https",
     "user":"sysadmin",
     "role":"Default",
     "adminUser":"sysadmin",
     "adminRole":"Default"
     },

    For descriptions of these fields, see Installing-the-BladeLogic-Portal-server.

  3. Add the data refresh details for the site you are adding and edit the applicable values, as shown in the following table:

    Site to add

    Entry

    BMC Server Automation

    "data.refresh.bsa": {
     "connections":[{"user":"BLAdmin","password":"NWfAH7Tp4UPeCJO+Qo36sg==","authenticationMethod":"SRP","roles":["BLAdmins"]}],
     "delayBetweenRefreshCycles":3600
     },

    BMC Network Automation

    "data.refresh.bna": {
     "connections":[{"user":"sysadmin","password":"hiHkza40yXD/8Om21P3xkA=="}],
     "delayBetweenRefreshCycles": 3600
     }

  4. Restart the services for the BladeLogic Portal, as described below:

    Service

    How to

    BladeLogic Portal service

    Windows): On the portal server, open the Services window, find and right-click the BladeLogic Portal service, and select Restart. 

    (Linux): On the portal server, enter the following command: /etc/init.d/BladeLogic_Portal restart

    DCA Index Service 

    Windows): On the portal server, open the Services window, find and right-click the DCA Index Service  (DCAIndexService ), and select Restart. 

    (Linux): On the portal server, enter the following command: /etc/init.d/DCAIndexService  restart

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Troubleshooting database installation and upgrade issues

Database migration error with duplicate keys

During database migration from 2.1 to 2.2, the console may show the following message: Error encountered while executing install script.

Workaround for SQL Server:

Open the migration.txt file that is created in the directory where the installer_migration.bat script was run. Look for the following statement.

The CREATE UNIQUE INDEX statement terminated because a duplicate key was found for the object name 'dbo.dcaportalauthorization' and the index name 'auth_name_unique'. The duplicate key value is (Batch).

If the file contains that statement, you must run run the dcaportalauth_name_dedupe_mssql.sql script on the database. The script is attached to knowledge article KA000123043, available from BMC Support.

Workaround for Oracle:

Open the migration.txt file that is created in the directory where the installer_migration.bat script was run. Look for the following statement.

               ERROR at line 1:

       ORA-02299: cannot validate (<PORTAL_DB>.AUTH_NAME_UNIQUE) - duplicate keys found
       alter table dcaportalauthorization add constraint auth_name_unique unique (name)                         *
       ERROR at line 1:
       ORA-02299: cannot validate (<PORTAL_DB>.AUTH_NAME_UNIQUE) - duplicate keys found

If the file contains that statement, you must run run the dcaportalauth_name_dedupe_ora.sql script on the database. The script is attached to knowledge article KA000123043, available from BMC Support. 

The script should execute without any errors. Then, re-run the migration script with the required parameters.

For additional information, see Knowledge Article KA000123043 on the BMC Support website.

How do I connect the portal to a different database?

To change the portal's database, you must modify the bmc-config.json file. 

  1. Open the bmc-config.json file for editing.
    Typically, this file resides at <install_location>/portal/configuration/bmc-config.json.

  2. In the file, find the section called foundation_db_service, which appears as follows:

    "foundation_db_service": {

          "metadata.name": "foundation_db_service",

          "db.host" : "<db_host>",
          "db.port" : <db_port>,
          "db.user" : "<db_user>",
          "db.password" : "<db_user_password>",

          "db.name" : "<db_name>",

          "db.type" : "<db_type>",
          "hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto" : "validate"
        }

  3. Provide the following values: 

    Value

    Explanation

    <db_host>

    Fully qualified name or IP address of the server hosting the database host, such as localhost.

    <db_port>

    Port for accessing the database.

    <db_user>

    Database user.

    <db_user_password>

    Database user's password. The password should be encrypted. To encrypt the password, use the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool, which is included in the existing portal installation.

    1. Navigate to <Portal_install_location>/bladelogicportal.
    2. Invoke the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool:
      • (Windows):BladeLogicPortalMaintenanceTool
      • (Linux): BladeLogicPortalMaintenanceTool.sh
    1. Click the Encrypt tab.
    2. For Password, enter a password. Then, for Confirm Password, repeat the password.
    3. Click Encrypt.
      The Encrypted Password field shows the encrypted password.
    4. Copy the encrypted password and paste it into the JSON file.

    <db_name>

    Name or SID of the database.

    <db_type>

    Type of database. Possible values: Oracle, SQLServer, or PostgreSQL.

  4. Save bmc-config.json.
  5. Restart the portal server:
    • (Windows): On the portal server, open the Services window, find and right-click the BladeLogic Portal service, and select Restart. 
    • (Linux): On the portal server, enter the following command: /etc/init.d/BladeLogic_Portal restart

How do I manually synchronize the database with the DCA Index Server?

If the upgrade failed because it could not synchronize the database with the DCA Index Server, correct the problem that caused the failure and then use the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool to perform the synchronization. You can then re-run the installer to complete the upgrade.

Identify the cause of failure by reviewing the error messages in the install log file:


    1. Navigate to <Portal_install_location>/bladelogicportal.
    2. Invoke the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool:
      • (Windows):BladeLogicPortalMaintenanceTool
      • (Linux): BladeLogicPortalMaintenanceTool.sh
    3. On the welcome panel, click OK.
      The BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool is displayed.
    4. Click the Logs tab.
    5. Click Install Log to view the installation log.
    6. Correct the issue by fixing the data or contact BMC support. 
  2. In the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool, click the DB to Index Sync tab.
    A welcome page is displayed.
  3. Click Next.
    The Configure BMC Server Automation connection page is displayed.
  4. Enter the password for the BMC Server Automation instance and click Next.
    The BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool automatically validates the connection to BMC Network Automation instance, if you have one configured. The tool then proceeds with the database to DCA Index Server synchronization.
    When complete, the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool displays the following:
    upgradeMaintenanceToolDBtoDCA.GIF
  5. Click Close to exit the BladeLogic Portal Maintenance Tool.

What do I do if the database migration fails during upgrade?

Database migration runs as part of the upgrade program. When running the upgrade, an information window provides the status of the database migration. If the migration is successful, the window instructs you to create a backup of the database, and then to click Next to proceed with the upgrade.

However, if the database migration fails, perform the following procedure:

 

  1. Review the installation log file to identify the cause of the failure:
    1. Windows: %TEMP%\bmcautomationportal_install_log.txt
    2. Linux: /tmp/bmcautomationportal_install_log.txt
  2. Correct the issue by fixing the data in the database, or contact BMC support for assisatnce.
  3. Once the issue is fixed, click the Previous button and then the Next button if the upgrade installer is still running. Otherwise, launch the installer again and proceed with the migration.

 

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