DrAdmin fails, which causes WebSphere Administrative Server not to start

Technote (FAQ)
Problem
WebSphere® Administration Server does not start due to DrAdmin not being able to obtain a valid port. The tracefile reports a “DrAdminServer I WSVR0054E: Failed to create a server socket, the port 0 maybe in use: The socket name is not available on this system.” error.
Cause
This error is outside of WebSphere code and is either in the operating system configuration or the network (DNS) configuration area. In two observed cases, both networks required changes to their DNS.
Solution

Possible Scenarios
  1. Application hangs and won’t restart and attempt to recycle the Administrative Server fails with the error message below.

  2. Administrative Server hangs and attempt to recycle it fails with the error message below.

Note: On UNIX® platforms a core file is produced in both situations. Run either DBX or GDB against the core file before sending to support (weblev2@us.ibm.com) for review.


Error Message

[8/1/02 12:00:30:079 MDT] 7c6ec35c DrAdminServer I WSVR0054E: Failed to create a server socket, the port 0 maybe in use: The socket name is not available on this system.
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer$2.run(DrAdminServer.java:350)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer.listen(DrAdminServer.java:347)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer$ServerRunner.run(DrAdminServer.java:243)
[8/1/02 12:00:30:373 MDT] 7c6ec35c AdminServer X WSVR0009E: Error occurred during startup
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer.getServerPort(DrAdminServer.java:326)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer$ServerRunner.getServerPort(DrAdminServer.java:248)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.debug.DrAdminServer.runServer(DrAdminServer.java:228)
at com.ibm.ws.runtime.Server.initializeDiagnosticThread(Server.java:1628)
at com.ibm.ws.runtime.Server.initializeRuntime0(Server.java:959)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.server.ManagedServer.initializeRuntime0(ManagedServer.java:408)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.server.AdminServer.initializeRuntime0(AdminServer.java:1125)
at com.ibm.ws.runtime.Server.initializeRuntime(Server.java:884)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.server.AdminServer.main(AdminServer.java:392)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
at com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WSLauncher.main(WSLauncher.java:158)

[8/1/02 12:00:30:549 MDT] 7c6ec35c AdminServer F WSVR0067E: Failed to initialize WebSphere Administration server
[8/1/02 12:00:30:731 MDT] 7c6ec35c SystemOut U WSVR0067E: Failed to initialize WebSphere Administration server
java.lang.Throwable
at com.ibm.ejs.ras.TraceEventGeneratorImpl.fireTraceEvent(Tr.java(Compiled Code))
at com.ibm.ejs.ras.TraceEventGeneratorImpl.fireTraceEvent(Tr.java(Compiled Code))
at com.ibm.ejs.ras.Tr.fatal(Tr.java:880)
at com.ibm.ejs.sm.server.AdminServer.main(AdminServer.java:406)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
at com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WSLauncher.main(WSLauncher.java:158)

Note: If in the admin.config file, you have the DrAdmin port number defined such as com.ibm.ejs.sm.adminServer.diagThreadPort=1224, this portion of the error: "the port 0 maybe in use" becomes: “the port 1224 maybe in use.” The port 0 means that DrAdmin asked to have the next available port on the system opened and it was declined because no ports were available.


Resolutions

1. Ensure the /etc/hosts file exists and has an entry (TECHNOTE XXXXX)

#vi /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 loopback localhost

If it’s not listed, add it, if it looks different from this edit to match.

2. Do a network statistic:

#netstat -in
lo0
en0
tr0

Ensure that you do not have an * listed by any of your interfaces, especially lo0.

3. Call the localhost:

#host localhost
localhost is 212.15.64.41 (problem!!)

What we want it to look like is:

loopback is 127.0.0.1 aliases: localhost

4. Edit the netsvc.conf file and add the following line:

#vi netsvc.conf
hosts=local,bind4 (suppress ipv6 queries to the Name Server)

5. Call the localhost:

#host localhost
loopback is 127.0.0.1 aliases: localhost

6. You can now start WebSphere.

7. If you still encounter problems, call IBM AIX® Support at 800-225-5249 for further assistance.











Document Information

Product categories: Software, Application Servers, Distributed Application & Web Servers, WebSphere Application Server, Administrative Console (all non-scripting)
Operating system(s): AIX, HPUX, Linux, Linux zSeries, Solaris
Software version: 3.5, 4.0
Software edition: Advanced, Enterprise, Single Server, Standard
Reference #: 1063363
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: 2004-09-28