Troubleshooting issues with plug-in servers

About the plug-in servers

Based on the products and features installed, there can be several instances of the plug-in servers running on AR System server. The following table lists the possible plug-in servers:

To monitor plug-in server activity

You can monitor whether the plug-in server is stopping or restarting.

• On Microsoft Windows:
  1. Launch Task Manager
  2. Select View > Select Columns
  3. Select the Command Line, CPU, Memory (Private Working Set), and PID check boxes.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Select Show processes from all users.
  6. Sort by Image Name and examine the lines where the Image Name is java.exe.
  7. In the Command Line column, note the path following the -classpath parameter.
     This parameter indicates where the plug-in server loads the pluginsvr_config.xml file. 
  8. To determine if the plug-in server is near its limit for memory consumption, compare the memory value for the process and the --Xmx parameter specified in the Command Line column.
  9. Click View > Refresh Now to refresh the process list and check if the value of Process ID (PID) changed for any of the java.exe processes.
     A changed PID value indicates that the plug-in server is stopping and restarting.

• On UNIX:
  1. Run the following command as root or the user who started AR System server:
     ps -auxwww | grep java | grep arpluginsvr   
  2. If the command fails, run the following command:
     ps -ef | grep java | grep arpluginsvr
     The command returns several results.
  3. Note the path following the -classpath, which indicates where the plug-in server loads the pluginsvr_config.xml file. 
  4. Identify the PID at the beginning of the line.
  5. Run the ps command to monitor the PID for the plug-in server instance that is having the issue.

To investigate a plug-in server which is not running

1. If an instance of the plug-in server is not running, view the armonitor configuration file in a text editor to determine whether the plug-in server is configured correctly. 

   Tip

   In a text editor, disable line wrap to understand which parameters are passed to each instance of the plug-in server.

2. Search for lines which specify java and include com.bmc.arsys.pluginsvr.ARPluginServerMain in the command line.
   For each line that you find, scroll to find the -classpath parameter. The first location specified by the -classpath parameter indicates the directory, which contains the pluginsvr_config.xml file for the instance of the plug-in server. 
3. If one of the instances of the plug-in server specified in the armonitor configuration file is not running, perform the following tasks:
   1. Identify the port specified in the AR System Administration: Plugin Server Configuration form.
      See Setting-plug-in-server-configuration-options.
   2. Run netstat -a on the server and confirm that there is no process using the port.
   3. From the armonitor configuration file, copy the line which starts the plug-in server.
   4. As the user who owns the AR System installation, launch a command prompt on the server.
   5. Run the line from the armonitor configuration file in the command window.
   6. Investigate any errors reported.

To verify plug-in server configuration

1. Examine the AR System Configuration Generic UI form (AR System Administration: AR System Configuration Generic UI form) and the Plugin Server Configuration form (AR System Administration: Plugin Server Configuration form) to check the configuration.
   See Updating-configuration-settings-by-using-the-AR-System-Configuration-Generic-UI-form and Configuring-Java-plug-in-servers.
2. On the Plugin Server Configuration form, on the Plugin Server Configuration tab, identify the specified port.
   See Setting-plug-in-server-configuration-options.
3. Verify that the server name specified in the Plugin Server Configuration form and AR System Configuration Generic UI form is consistent. 
4. If the server is in a server group, verify that the Server-Connect-Name is configured in the AR System Configuration Generic UI form.
   For more information, see Server-group-naming.
5. Review the configured number of plug-in threads.
   For more information, see Using-multithreading-in-the-Java-plug-in-server.
6. In the Plugin Server Configuration form, identify the plug-ins which are hosted by this instance of the plug-in server.
7. Verify that the list of plug-ins specified in the Plugin Server Configuration form and the Server-Plugin-Alias setting in the AR System Configuration Generic UI form uses a consistent server name and port.

To check for exceptions in the plug-in server log

View the plug-in server log to check for run-time exceptions. By default, the plug-in server logs INFO and WARN events, which describe the behavior of the plug-in server.

When the plug-in server starts successfully, the following message is displayed:
The server is ready to receive RPC calls 

Search the plug-in server log for ERROR to find errors. For example, Exceeding Java heap size, is a common error situation.

For more information about exceptions, see the Logging exceptions for calls to Java plug-ins section from Running the plug-in server.

To use workflow logging to investigate plug-in server issues

Use workflow logging when:

• You are investigating a reproducible issue with a plug-in
• A plug-in causes the plug-in server to become unresponsive

To prevent the logs from growing too large, disable logging after capturing the issue. 

Troubleshooting java plug-in server issues related to centralized configuration

For any java plug-in server related issues, refer to the arjavaplugin.log file. The following table describes the common error and warning messages and other issues: