ProblemDetermination: Administrative Console problems for V5.0 and V5.1
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
This is a problem determination document to assist in the analysis of the administrative console problems for all releases and editions of IBM® WebSphere® Application Server versions 5.0 and 5.1.
 
Resolving the problem

1. Learning more 2. Troubleshooting 3. Collecting data 4. Analyzing data


Introduction:
The administrative console is the Web-based management tool for WebSphere Application Server. This application has been developed based on the struts framework and its pages use the tiles framework. Debugging problems will be easier with knowledge of struts or tiles. The administrative console has been deployed on WebSphere Application Server as any other enterprise application and it adheres to the standards required for a J2EE application based on struts.

In stand-alone base server install adminconsole.ear application is deployed into default server "server1" and in deployment manager install this is deployed on server "dmgr" .
By default when server1 or dmgr process is started it starts this adminconsole.ear application also.

Important configuration files:
These files are located in the WEB-INF directory of the adminconsole.war file:
  • struts-config.xml
    Configuration file which allows to map any request to the required JSP or servlet.

  • validation.xml
    Contains the validation rules for various fields held by the ActionForms responsible for a particular view.

  • console-defs.xml
    Contains the tiles definitions for the administrative console pages and all navigation actions. When any link is clicked in the Navigation Menu, for example Application Servers, this performs an action which ends in …navigatorCmd.do. The definition for this *.do is in the console-defs.xml file. It defines how the page was generated, the types of fields available in the page, and the values for the select box or checkbox contained in the page.

Basic problem determination steps:
Ensure the administrative console application started successfully. To determine this, you can check the SystemOut.log file of the base application server install or dmgr located in the following directory:
  • For the base application server:

    install_root/logs/server1/SystemOut.log

  • For the dmgr:

    install_root/dmgr/SystemOut.log

The following is example trace output when the adminconsole.ear application started successfully:

[8/8/06 14:56:49:766 EDT] 333c2aab ApplicationMg A WSVR0200I: Starting application: adminconsole
[8/8/06 14:56:50:891 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer  A SRVE0161I: IBM WebSphere Application Server - Web Container.  Copyright IBM Corp. 1998-2002
[8/8/06 14:56:50:906 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer  A SRVE0162I: Servlet Specification Level: 2.3
[8/8/06 14:56:50:922 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer  A SRVE0163I: Supported JSP Specification Level: 1.2
[8/8/06 14:56:51:016 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer  A SRVE0169I: Loading Web Module: adminconsole.
[8/8/06 14:56:52:562 EDT] 333c2aab WebGroup      I SRVE0180I: [adminconsole] [/admin] [Servlet.LOG]: JSP 1.2 Processor: init
[8/8/06 14:56:55:500 EDT] 333c2aab ApplicationMg A WSVR0221I: Application started: adminconsole

If the application did not start successfully, reinstall the adminconsole enterprise application.

Check the following things if the administrative console application is installed and started properly but you are unable to access the administrative console:
  1. By default the HTTP Transport port for the administrative console is set to 9090. To check this, open the serverindex.xml file in the following directory:

    install_root/config/cells/cellname/nodes/nodename/servers/server1/server.xml

    See the HTTP Transport port:

    <transports xmi:type="applicationserver.webcontainer:HTTPTransport"
    xmi:id="HTTPTransport_3" sslEnabled="false">
    <address xmi:id="EndPoint_3" host="" port="9090"/>
    </transports>

  2. The same port can also be found in the following file:

    install_root/config/cells/cellname/virtualhosts.xml

    You should see a similar XML tag in the file:

    <aliases xmi:id="HostAlias_5" hostname="*" port="9090"/>

    If the port number has changed in virtualhosts.xml file, change it back to 9090, then restart the server.

    If SSL is enabled , make sure you check the same for the secured transport port . The default secured HTTP transport is 9043.

By default, the administrative console application runs under the admin_host virtual host. For security reasons, the admin_host virtual host is not generated or displayed in the pluginCfg file and is not accessible through the plug-in . If you want to access the administrative console through the plug-in, or if you want to change the virtual host, follow the steps below.

Follow the instructions at this Information Center link to create a new virtual host.

After creating the new virtual host , follow these steps:
  1. Log in to the administrative console.

  2. Click Applications > Enterprise Applications > adminconsole > Map virtual hosts for Web modules (In additional properties).

  3. Select the checkbox under webmodule and select the new virtual host under Virtual Host.

  4. Save the configuration.

  5. Click Environment > Virtual Hosts > NewVirtualHostName > Host alias > New. In the hostname field type * and in the port field type 9090 .The default port number is 9090.

  6. Click Environment > Virtual Hosts > admin_host > Host alias. Select 9090, then click Delete. The port number must be unique in the virtual host.

  7. Save the configuration.

  8. Restart the server (server1 or DMGR).

Make sure the port number is specified in the following location:

install_root/config/cells/node_name/nodes/node_name/servers/server1
install_root/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node_name/servers/dmgr

Note: Be careful if you modify the virtual host for the deployment manager administrative console. The filetransfer application must also be assigned to the new virtual host, or SyncNode fails with the following exception. Follow the first 3 steps to assign the filetransfer application to the new virtual host.

Exception in syncNode.log file:

com.ibm.websphere.management.filetransfer.client.TransferFailedException: 404 Not Found
com.ibm.ws.management.filetransfer.client.FileTransferClientImpl.download(FileTransferClientImpl.java:1241)


Problems which might not be administrative console issues:
  • Error 500, for example when uploading an application through Internet Explorer alone (which means other browsers do not have the problem). This situation requires a check up of the browser settings or clearing of temporary files held by the browser. Getting and analyzing a http/servlet trace will help in such situations.

  • Administrative console slow in response. In a Network Deployment environment, the administrative console might be slow in getting the status of servers. This is mostly a System Management issue and requires analysis of the console and administrative traces from the Dmgr and NodeAgent.


Things to check:
Error 500 when clicking one of the links in the navigation menu for WebSphere Application Server V5.0. and V5.1. Here we need to check up the associated definition in console-defs.xml. We have seen problems where after upgrade to a new service pack, the console-defs.xml got corrupted. The definition will have some special characters like “& ; :” encoded. In such cases, re-installing the administrative console which has the correct definition files is the solution.
 
 
Cross Reference information
Segment Product Component Platform Version Edition
Application Servers Runtimes for Java Technology Java SDK
 
 


Document Information


Product categories: Software > Application Servers > Distributed Application & Web Servers > WebSphere Application Server > Administrative Console (all non-scripting)
Operating system(s): Windows
Software version: 5.1
Software edition:
Reference #: 1244756
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Sep 17, 2007