Troubleshooting
You can use the information on this page to troubleshoot issues in BMC AMI Resident Security Server (RSS).
Issues occur when you start RSS for the first time
Issue: Issues sometimes occur when you start BMC AMI Resident Security Server for the first time.
Possible cause: The problems are usually due to unresolved issues during the installation process. Sometimes they are due to RACF authority issues, or other post-installation setup issues.
User action: To identify the cause of the issue, look for RSS-prefixed error messages in the printed output from the RSS JESMSGLG, JESYSMSG, and RSSPRINT data sets and in the MVS console output. All RSS messages are explained in the Messages library. Make sure that you have completed all the steps in Installing.
Verify that the following requirements are met:
- The RSS load library is APF-authorized.
- The correct RACF resources and user READ authorities are defined.
- If RACF resources are defined in anything other than the FACILITY class, the alternative class is specified on the ClassName parameter in the configuration data set.
- The JCL refers to the correct configuration data set (DD name RSSPARM).
- The CustomerID and CustomerKey parameters are correct. RSS does not start if the combination of these parameters is invalid and inaccurate.
Issues occur when code pages do not match in SSPR and RSS
Issue: Code page mismatches in BMC AMI Security Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) and RSS cause issues such as incorrect character rendering, failed password validation, and broken web UI components.
Possible cause: Translation errors occur when the code page used by the RSS application does not match the code page used by the mainframe or LPAR.
The following table lists some of the characters that might be problematic when there is a code page mismatch:
| Character | ASCII value | EBCDIC value (varies) | Impact |
| { | 0x7B | 0xC0 / 0x44 | JSON parsing error |
| } | 0x7D | 0xD0 / 0x54 | JSON parsing error |
| [ | 0x5B | 0xBA / 0x4A / 0x90 | List rendering error |
| ] | 0x5D | 0xBB / 0x5A / 0x51 | List rendering error |
| ! | 0x21 | 0x4F / 0x5A | Password validation failure |
| @ | 0x40 | 0x7C | Password validation failure |
For more information about code pages, see the following pages:
- Global configuration parameters in the RSS documentation
- https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Character_Encodings/Code_Tables/EBCDIC
User action: Code page mismatches can cause significant issues in RSS and SSPR applications. To prevent these problems:
- Ensure consistent code page configuration across RSS, SSPR, and the mainframe or LPAR.
- Document the code page settings during installation and configuration.
- Use the provided code page tables to verify character mappings.
- Regularly test password reset and UI-rendering functionalities after configuration changes.
You can self-diagnose and resolve code page issues by using the following steps, depending on the issue scenario:
- If the web UI fails to render and the UI displays a white screen with no content, perform the following steps:
- Press F12 to open Developer Tools in the browser.
- Select the Network tab and then the Response tab.
- Reload the webpage (F5 or Ctrl+R).
- Click the file named rsssystem.json.
- Verify that the file starts with { and ends with }. If it doesn't, note the incorrect characters and consult code page tables.
- If the JSON contains lists, look for the [ and ] characters. Note any discrepancies and determine the correct code page.
- Update the RSS started task to use the correct code page.
- If the password or passphrase reset fails when special characters are used, perform the following steps:
- Identify the special character used in the password or passphrase.
- Verify the code page used by the RSS application.
- Verify the code page used by the mainframe or LPAR.
- Compare the EBCDIC values for the character in both code pages.
- If you identify a mismatch, update the RSS application to use the same code page as the mainframe or LPAR.