Troubleshooting session related errors

To keep track of sessions Mid Tier uses session ID cookies. Every user who connects with Mid Tier is assigned a session ID. A session ID remains the same for the duration the user is connected with Mid Tier.

Mid Tier runs a few checks when receiving an HTTP request. One of these checks is to determine if the HTTP session has a valid session ID. If the session ID is present and if it is recognized by Mid Tier, the session ID is routed to the specific user. If the session ID is not present or if it is not recognized by Mid Tier, a 9201 Session is invalid error is generated.

A session time-out can occur due to following reasons:

  • Valid session timeout (The default value is 90 minutes.)
    When the user does not perform any activity in the browser window for the span of the session timeout interval.
  • The session ID is not sent as a cookie, which is a part of the HTTP request. 
  • The load balancer does not direct the user to the same Mid Tier during the current session.
  • A non-administrator user logs in to the Mid Tier in a browser window. The user opens another browser tab and logs in again. In this case, the authentication through the first browser tab becomes invalid.

When a session times out, the license release depends on the Mid Tier version.
For version 18.05 and later, license is not released on a session time-out.  However, on the next login, the previous session is logged out and you log in to the new session. This prevents license release problems for a new session.

Related topic

Troubleshooting-Mid-Tier

Symptoms

  • ARERR 9201 is displayed.
  • Seems to be random as the user can work for a while but then gets the error.

Scope

All users can experience the problem.

Resolution

Perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issues related to Mid Tier sessions:

Step

Task

Description

1

Try to bypass the load balancer.

Bypass the load balancer and validate if the same problem occurs.

For example, let us consider that the load balancer "examplelb" front ends two Mid Tiers, midtier1 and midtier2. These Mid Tiers are running Tomcat on HTTP port 8080.

When you access Mid Tier through the load balancer, the example URL is as follows:

http://examplelb/arsys/shared/login.jsp

When you directly access the Mid Tier, without load balancer, the example URL is as follows:

http://midtier1:8080/arsys/shared/login.jsp

For more information, see the knowledge article ARERR 9201 Session timeout errors in a loadbalanced environment.

2

Determine the frequency of the error.


Analyze the following:

  • Does it happen at start up only? 
  • Does this occur after running for a predictable interval?
  • Does it affect all users or specific users?
  • Is there any specific action taken by the user that triggers the error?

3

Enable logs and reproduce the problem.

The network capture records the error. Examine the requests and perform the following checks:

  • Is the same session ID present on each request?
  • Is the ARRESPONSEHOSTIP header value the same for each request?
  • Does the JSESSIONID appear in the logs of more than one Mid Tier?

In Mid Tier 19.08, logging surrounding the session has been enhanced to make it easier to troubleshoot. 
For more information, see Troubleshooting-the-ARERR-9201-error.

4.

Disable logging.

To disable logging, follow the steps described in Enabling-logs-for-Mid-Tier-troubleshooting.

Remember to disable the logs from each Mid Tier and AR System server for which logging was enabled.

6

Collect the logs.


Copy the logs to another location, where you can review them, so that they do not get overwritten.

The logs may be large depending on volume of activity during the logging period.

Collecting Mid Tier and tracelogger logs

Create a zip file of all the logs in the log location specified on the Log Settings page of Mid Tier Configuration Tool. 
For Microsoft Windows, the default location is:

C:\Program files\BMC Software\ARsystem\midtier\logs

For Linux, the default location is:

/opt/bmc/ARsystem/midtier/logs

Collecting Network capture

  • If the network is captured by Fiddler, provide the *.saz file.
  • If the network is captured by browser, provide the *.har file.

7

Create a BMC Support case.

Collect and send logs with detailed information when creating a case with BMC Support:

  1. Provide the following information as part of your case:
    • Name of the user who performed the search
    • The search criteria used
    • Time when the problem occurred
    • Any error messages that the user received
  2. Collect the logs:
    • Create a zip file of each Mid Tier log set.
    • Create a zip file of each AR System server log set.
    • Create a zip file of the network capture file (*.har or *.saz file).

  3. Attach the zip file to your case. You can attach files up to 2 GB. You can also upload the files on FTP.
    For more information, see Steps to send logs, files, screenshots, etc to BMC Support for a Remedy Product related case.

8

Analyze the logs.

You can review the logs and identify error messages or behaviors.

Use the table below to troubleshoot based on the symptoms and error messages.

After you determine a specific symptom or error message, use the following table to identify the solution:

Symptom

Where

Action

Reference

ARERR 9201 occurs when you perform an action after a delay.

Mid Tier 9.x or later

Check the session timeout interval on the General Settings page of Mid Tier Configuration Tool

If the problem is specific to one user, check the user's AR System User Preference record.

ARERR 9201 is related to proxy server redirection

Mid Tier 9.x or later

Configure load balancer to use a cookie based session affinity rather than IP.

ARERR 9201 occurs when  Mid Tier page does not load.

Network capture shows 9201 error.

Only specific users

This might occur because of the high value in the Session Timeout in Minutes field on the AR System User Preference record for the specific user.

Perform the following steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Open the AR System User Preference form.
  2. Search for the user's login ID.
  1. Go to the Web tab of the record.
  1. Remove the value from the Session Timeout in Minutes field or change it to a lower number.
    We recommend to keep the value lower than     322122. A higher value might cause Mid Tier session to time-out. 



 

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