Server fails to start with InvalidDirectoryException in startServer.log file
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
InvalidDirectoryException thrown during Server Startup.
 
Cause
The server fails to start with the following exception in the startServer.log file and it will not write anything in the SystemOut.log file.
[2/8/06 10:02:07:179 CST] d450da4 WsServerLaunc E ADMU3007E: Exception com.ibm.ws.process.exception.InvalidDirectoryException: Error creating new process. 002: No such file or directory
at com.ibm.ws.process.UnixProcessGlue.create(Native Method)
at com.ibm.ws.process.UnixProcessImpl.create(UnixProcessImpl.java:81)
at com.ibm.ws.process.ProcessFactory.create(Unknown Source)

One of the output file directory structure is not valid. In this case the SystemOut.log and SystemErr.log file directory structure is invalid. By default the output stream file location will be install-root/logs/servername and the install-root/logs folder will be defined as LOG_ROOT variable which is defined in variables.xml under install-root/config/cells/CellName/nodes/NodeName.

In this case the LOG_ROOT variable did not contain the valid value parameter. After modifying the LOG_ROOT variable to contain the valid directory structure the server came up fine.

Note : It is not recommended to modify the xml files manually unless recommended by IBM.

 
Resolving the problem
Check the following to find the root cause.
  1. Start the server with -trace option.
  2. Review the startServer.log file and search for "Creation params are" and make sure non of the expanded parameters are 'null' . In this case Standard out/err filenames are null.
  3. Check the server.xml file and make sure fileName in errorStreamRedirect and outputStreamRedirect contains valid variable or a valid directory Structure. If not modify the file to contain the valid directory structure.
  4. Make sure the variables are valid. Check the variables.xml file under serverName and also under the nodeName . The variables should contain a valid Name and Value. For example it should contain symbolicName and Value as follows.
<entries xmi:id="VariableSubstitutionEntry_7" symbolicName="LOG_ROOT"
value="${USER_INSTALL_ROOT}/logs" description="The filesystem path to the
directory which will contain server log files."/>

In this case, value parameter itself was missing in the LOG_ROOT entry. After adding the value parameter the server came up fine.

Location of the files :

server.xml - install-root/config/cells/CellName/nodes/NodeName/servers/servername

Server Level variables.xml - install-root/config/cells/CellName/nodes/NodeName/servers/servername

Node Level variables.xml - install-root/config/cells/CellName/nodes/NodeName

Note : The same issue might happen on WAS 5.1also, but we may see the failing variable or the file name in the startServer.log file.

 
 
Cross Reference information
Segment Product Component Platform Version Edition
Application Servers Runtimes for Java Technology Java SDK
 
Historical Number
85931
500
000
 
 


Document Information


Product categories: Software > Application Servers > Distributed Application & Web Servers > WebSphere Application Server > System Management/Repository
Operating system(s): Windows
Software version: 5.0
Software edition:
Reference #: 1231718
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Mar 2, 2006