13 Troubleshooting OracleAS Portal

13.1.1 OracleAS Portal is Not Accessible

If you cannot access your OracleAS Portal instance through the internet/intranet, follow these steps to help diagnose the cause of the problem:

1. Display the portal's target page in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console.

   See Section 7.2, "Using the Application Server Control Console".

2. Check to see if Web Cache is up.

   The Web Cache status is displayed in the portal's Component Status table.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start Web Cache using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access Web Cache monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the Web Cache link in the:

   - Portal's Component Status table, or

   - Application Server's Component table.

   If Web Cache starts successfully, check to see if your portal is now accessible.

   If Web Cache fails to start, investigate Web Cache error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer". If you are not using Log Viewer, check the relevant error log files in ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs.

3. Check to see if the HTTP Server is up.

   The HTTP Server status is displayed in the portal's Component Status table.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start HTTP Server using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access HTTP Server monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the HTTP Server link in the:

   - Portal's Component Status table, or

   - Application Server's Component table.

   If HTTP Server starts successfully, check to see if your portal is now accessible.

   If HTTP Server fails to start, investigate HTTP Server error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer". If you are not using Log Viewer, check the relevant error log files in the following directories:

   - ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs

   - ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs/error_log

4. Check the status and configuration of the portal DAD.

   Check the DAD status using the DADs table, displayed on the mod_plsql Services page. Click the mod_plsql Services link in the portal's Component Status table to access this page. See also Section 4.5.3, "Configuring a Portal DAD".

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, click the name of the DAD in the DADs table and verify that all properties are set correctly. Save any changes and restart HTTP Server for any change to take effect.

   Check to see if your portal is now accessible.

5. Check to see if the portal's Metadata Repository database is running.

   The status is displayed on the portal's target page in the Enterprise Manager Application Server Control Console. Look under the section 'OracleAS Metadata Repository Used By Portal'.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start the database using the Application Server Control Console (if this functionality is available), or use SQL*Plus.

   If the database starts successfully, check to see if your portal is now accessible.

   If the database fails to start, investigate further to establish what is wrong with this component.

6. Check to see if the OC4J_Portal service is up.

   The OC4J_Portal status is displayed in the portal's Component Status table.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start OC4J_Portal using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access OC4J_Portal monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the OC4J_Portal link in the:

   - Parallel Page Engine Services page (available from the portal's Component Status table), or

   - Application Server's Component table.

   If OC4J_Portal starts successfully, check to see if your portal is now accessible. If you are not using Log Viewer, check the relevant error log files in ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs.

   If OC4J_Portal fails to start, investigate OC4J_Portal error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer".

7. Review metric information for the portal, its host and other relevant components.

   If all the components required by OracleAS Portal are up and running as expected, the next step is to review metric information in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Console. Reviewing this information can help you identify the problem.

   Click the All Metrics link in the portal’s target page to review metric information. Repeat this on target pages for other relevant components (Web Cache, HTTP Server, OC4J, mod_plsql, and so on).

8. Run the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant.

   You can diagnose portal-related issues by reviewing the report generated from the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant. See also Section 13.5, "Using the OracleAS Portal Diagnostics Assistant".

9. Contact Oracle Support.

   If you are unable to establish why your portal is not accessible, contact Oracle Support. To help Oracle Support troubleshoot the problem, provide the following information:

   • ZIP file generated by the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant.

   • Details of any command line scripts you have run (for example, ptlasst.csh, orasso.cfg, ossoref.jar, and so on) including the full parameters used.

   • A rough network diagram, showing how your Oracle Application Server components are configured.

13.1.2 OracleAS Single Sign-On is Not Accessible

If the OracleAS Single Sign-On (SSO) is not accessible you cannot login to OracleAS Portal. Follow these steps to help diagnose the cause of this problem:

1. Display the SSO’s target page in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console.

   See Section 7.2, "Using the Application Server Control Console".

2. Check to see if the HTTP Server is up.

   Click the HTTP Server link, displayed in the Related Links section.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start HTTP Server using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access HTTP Server monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the HTTP Server link in the:

   - OracleAS Single Sign-On target page, or

   - Application Server's Component table.

   If HTTP Server starts successfully, check to see if your OracleAS Single Sign-On is now accessible.

   If HTTP Server fails to start, investigate HTTP Server error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer". If you are not using Log Viewer, check the relevant error log files in the following directories:

   - ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs

   - ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs/error_log

3. Check the status and configuration of the SSO DAD.

   Check the DAD status using the DADs table, displayed on the mod_plsql Services page. Click the mod_plsql Services link in the portal's Component Status table to access this page. See also Section 4.5.3, "Configuring a Portal DAD".

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, click the name of the DAD in the DADs table and verify that all properties are set correctly. Save any changes and restart HTTP Server for any change to take effect.

   Check to see if your OracleAS Single Sign-On is now accessible.

4. Check to see if the database containing the SSO schema is running.

   Database information is displayed on the OracleAS Single Sign-On’s target page in the Enterprise Manager Application Server Control Console. Drill down for further information.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start the database using the Application Server Control Console (if this functionality is available), or use SQL*Plus.

   If the database starts successfully, check to see if your OracleAS Single Sign-On is now accessible.

   If the database fails to start, investigate further to establish what is wrong with this component.

5. Check to see if the OC4J_Security service is up.

   The OC4J_Security status is displayed in Application Server's page. Alternatively, you can establish its status using the following command line:

   ORACLE_HOME/dcm/bin/dcmctl getstate
   
   

   
   

   See Also: Oracle Application Server 10g Administrator's Guide for more information on the Distributed Configuration Management (DCM) utility, dcmctl.

   
   

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start OC4J_Security using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access OC4J_Security monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the OC4J_Security link in the Application Server's Component table.

   If OC4J_Security starts successfully, check to see if your OracleAS Single Sign-On is now accessible.

   If OC4J_Security fails to start, investigate OC4J_Security error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer". If you are not using Log Viewer, check the relevant error log files in ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs.

6. Check to see if the Oracle Internet Directory service is up.

   The Oracle Internet Directory status is displayed in Application Server's page.

   • If ’Up’, continue to next step.

   • If ’Down’, start Oracle Internet Directory using the Application Server Control Console, or the command line.

   To access Oracle Internet Directory monitoring and administration pages in the Application Server Control Console, click the Oracle Internet Directory link in the Application Server's Component table.

   If Oracle Internet Directory starts successfully, check to see if your OracleAS Single Sign-On is now accessible.

   If Oracle Internet Directory fails to start, investigate the Oracle Internet Directory error log files and try to determine the problem. See Section 13.6, "Using Application Server Control Console Log Viewer".

7. Review metric information for the SSO, its host and other relevant components.

   If all the components required by the OracleAS Single Sign-On are up and running as expected, the next step is to review metric information in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Console. Reviewing this information can help you identify the problem.

   Click the All Metrics link in the OracleAS Single Sign-On target page to review metric information. Repeat this on target pages for other relevant components (HTTP Server, OC4J_Security, OID, mod_plsql, and so on).

8. Run the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant.

   You can diagnose OracleAS Single Sign-On and portal-related issues by reviewing the report generated from the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant. See also Section 13.5, "Using the OracleAS Portal Diagnostics Assistant".

9. Contact Oracle Support.

   If you are unable to establish why you cannot login to OracleAS Portal, contact Oracle Support. To help Oracle Support troubleshoot the problem, provide the following information:

   • ZIP file generated by the OracleAS Portal Diagnostic Assistant.

   • Details of any command line scripts you have run (for example, ptlasst.csh, orasso.cfg, ossoref.jar, and so on) including the full parameters used.

   • A rough network diagram, showing how your Oracle Application Server components are configured.

13.1.3 Issues Creating Category/Perspective Pages

When you create a category in a page group, a category page is created based on the category template. Similarly, when you create a perspective, a perspective page is created based on the perspective template.

If changes are made to these underlying category/perspective templates, you may see one of these messages when you create a new category/perspective:

• 32022:catpagecreationerror The category has been created but it was not possible to place the search portlets onto the category page. The category page will not show the items or pages in the category.

• 32023:persppagecreationerror The perspective has been created but it was not possible to place the search portlets onto the perspective page. The perspective page will not show the items or pages in the perspective.

If either of these errors is displayed, you must first delete the current category/perspective template and then run scripts to:

• Replace the current category/perspective template with the original, shipped version.

• Re-create category/perspective pages that are based on current template. You can do this across all page groups, or for specific page groups.

This ensures that all new category/perspective pages are created without errors and that all existing category/perspective pages display their associated items and pages as expected.

The scripts required are available at:

ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wws/pstdefin.sql
ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wws/pstpgshw.sql
ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wws/pstundef.sql
ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wws/pstpgcre.sql
ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wws/pstprcpg.sql

To run these scripts:

1. Delete the current category or perspective templates.

2. Connect to OracleAS Portal using SQL*Plus as the Portal schema user.

3. Configure the pstdefin.sql file with:

   • Page group information. You can re-create the pages in a single page group, several page groups or all page groups.

   • Page information. You can re-create category pages only, perspective pages only, or both.

   Descriptions for these settings are in the file pstdefin.sql.

4. If necessary, use the script pstpgshw.sql to retrieve information from OracleAS Portal to configure the pstdefin.sql file.

5. Run the script pstpgcre.sql to apply the changes. For example:

   SQL> @pstpgcre.sql
   
   

13.1.4 Multi-language Support for Help

In OracleAS Portal, there is multi-language support for the online help. However, only context sensitive Help topics are translated.

13.2.1 Remote Web Providers Time Out in a Dynamic DNS Environment

A remote Web provider that is located on a different machine from the OracleAS Portal middle-tier, works when the OC4J_Portal service is first started, but stops working after some time. After a long timeout, the message Error: the portlet could not be contacted is shown in the place of each portlet from the same provider. You can also find portlet timeout errors in the OC4J_Portal application.log. On restarting OC4J_Portal, the Web provider works again, but only for a limited period of time.

The possible cause for this problem can be that the Web provider is using dynamic DNS (DDNS) for its Domain Name to IP Address mapping. This means that the IP address that the Web provider's domain name resolves to, changes over time. Java's default caching policy caches IP addresses forever, once it has resolved them, which means it keeps using an outdated IP address of the Web provider if the IP address of the Web provider has changed because of using DDNS.

To resolve this problem, you need to perform additional configuration in OC4J_Portal to prevent remote Web providers from timing out. You must change the sun.net.inetaddr.ttl system property for OC4J_Portal. On JDK 1.3 and later, the sun.net.inetaddr.ttl system property can be used to specify the "time to live" (TTL) in seconds for cached IP addresses.

1. Edit opmn.xml as follows:

   <java-option value="-server -Xincgc -Xnoclassgc -Xms256m -Xmx512m -Dsun.net.inetaddr.ttl=120"/>
   
   

2. Shut down opmn and all its sub-processes and restart it for the latest configuration changes to take effect.

   To do this, run the following commands:

   ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl stopall
   ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl startall
   
   

13.2.2 Memory Intense Operations Cause Problems

By default, the shared_pool_size value in Oracle Application Server is 32 MB. This can cause problems if you are performing memory intense operations such as:

• Export/Import

• Creating Portal Forms/Reports

The typical error you will see is "ORA-04031: unable to allocate 30192 bytes of shared memory." To facilitate memory intense operations, you must increase the value of the shared_pool_size parameter.

To change the value of the shared_pool_size parameter:

1. Edit the shared_pool_size parameter in the init.ora file for the database instance. The init.ora file can be found in your database’s ORACLE_HOME.

   
   

   Note: This can be done only after the Infrastructure database is installed.

   
   

2. Increase the value depending on your configuration.

3. Restart the database for the changes to reflect.

13.4.1 Components and Their Diagnostic Output

The various OracleAS Portal components can have their diagnostic output configured. The following are the components:

• Java Portal Developers Kit

• mod_plsql

• Parallel Page Engine

• Oracle Application Server Portal Developer Kit

• OracleAS Metadata Repository

• OracleAS Web Cache

03/12/31 02:58:59 jpdk: [instance=1926_EXPIRESSAMPLE_886361, id=1024597399815ApplicationServerThread-12,4] Beginning rendering of portlet: 1926_EXPIRESSAMPLE_886361

ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/conf

ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs/error_log

[Thu Aug 22 08:34:20 2002] [warn] mod_plsql: 'PlsqlCacheCleanupSize' is deprecated.

<init-param>
     <param-name>logmode</param-name>
     <param-value>perf</param-value
</init-param>

<servlet>
     <servlet-name>page</servlet-name
     <servlet-class>oracle.webdb.page.ParallelServlet</servlet-class>
     .
     .
     <init-param>
          <param-name>logmode</param-name>
          <param-value>perf</param-value
     </init-param>
     .
     .     .
</servlet>

ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_Portal/applications/portal/portal/WEB-INF

http://myserver.myplace.com:3000/portal/page?_pageid=111&_dad=myDAD&_schema=mySchema

&_debug=3

http://myserver.myplace.com:3000/portal/page?_pageid=111&_dad=myDAD&_schema=mySchema&_debug=3

<init-param>
     <param-name>urlDebugMode</param-name>
     <param-value>4</param-value
</init-param>

<servlet>
     <servlet-name>page</servlet-name
     <servlet-class>oracle.webdb.page.ParallelServlet</servlet-class>
     .
     .
     <init-param>
          <param-name>urlDebugMode</param-name>
          <param-value>4</param-value
     </init-param>
     .
     .     .
</servlet>

ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_Portal/application-deployments/portal/<island/application.log

03/12/31 11:54:35 portal: id=22020914339,0 DEBUG: active=53  ContentFetcher Unexpected Exception Request Failed:java.lang.IllegalArgumentException name=content-fetcher52 label=dbPortlet url=https://abc.company.com:5001/pls/ptl_9_0_4_0_87/!PTL_9_0_4_0_87.wwpro_app_provider.execute_portlet/391497559/4 time=38975ms timeout=15000ms process=ResponseHeaders

13.4.1.4 Oracle Application Server Portal Developer Kit

The Oracle Application Server Portal Developer Kit (PDK) provides a framework for the construction of portlets and portlet providers in a variety of Web languages including Java, Web Services, XML, ASP, PERL and PL/SQL. The PDK therefore encompasses the JPDK.

The PDK provides a core logging mechanism, which is augmented by logging in specific Developers Kits. PDK logging is controlled through a Web-based user interface as shown in Figure 13-2.

Figure 13-2 PDK Logging Page

Description of the illustration cg_diag_pdkui.gif

This can be found at:

http://<host>:<port>/pls/<dad>/<schema>.wwpro_log.render

For example:

http://myserver.myplace.com:3000/pls/portal/PORTAL.wwpro_log.render

From this page you can apply the following logging levels:

Table 13-6 PDK Log Levels

Level	Detail
No debugging	No logging.
PROHTTPJ	Provider framework logging only.
PROGRP	Provider logging only.
ADAPTER	Federated portal adapter logging only.
CACHE	Cache logging only.
FORCE	Internal to Oracle.
INVAL	Invalidation logging only.
PROREG	Provider registration logging only.
PROLOGIN	Page metadata generation, login and session initialization logging only.
PROPROV	Provider communication logging only.
PROPMR	Portlet repository metadata logging only.
PROHTTP	Web provider framework logging only.
All	Every logging level is activated.

13.4.1.4.1 PDK Log File Contents

You can view PDK log entries from the same page used to configure PDK logs, as shown in Figure 13-3.

Figure 13-3 Log Entries in the PDK Logging Page

Description of the illustration cg_diag_pdklog.gif

UTL_FILE_DIR=<directory where you want to write the log file>

ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wwc

utl_file_dir=/export/home/oracle/iAS904/dblogs

@logcfg.sql 3 3 1 portal.log /export/home/oracle/iAS904/logs

Configure Portal diagnostics
usage:
logcfg.sql <log_level> <log_state_level> <log_format> <log_file> <log_directory>
If for any of the params a null value is specified the existing value will be maintained.
Log levels:
0 - None (turn diagnostics off)
1 - Error
2 - Warning
3 - Information
4 - Trace
5 - Debug
Log formats:
0 - Simple
1 - Detailed

Current settings:
Log level:     3
Log state level:     3
Log format:     1
Log file:     portal.log
Log directory:     /export/home/oracle/iAS904/dblogs

ORACLE_HOME/portal/admin/plsql/wwc

[06-AUG-2002 15:02:15] [ERROR] id=(null) ctx=wwsrc_simple_edit.render_simple_edit_prefs user=PORTAL subscriberId=1 language=us userAgent="Mozilla/5.0" ip=192.0.0.1
ORA-30625: method dispatch on NULL SELF
[START-CALL-STACK]
----- PL/SQL Call Stack -----
object          line          object
handle          number        name
81b35e6c        350           package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
81b35e6c        443           package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
81b35e6c        526           package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
86765ac8        259           package body PORTAL.WWSRC_SIMPLE_EDIT
86765ac8        334           package body PORTAL.WWSRC_SIMPLE_EDIT
84317130        19            package body PORTAL.WWSBR_BASIC_SEARCH
88857980        713           package body PORTAL.WWSBR_SITEBUILDER_PROVIDER
8323ad18        1             anonymous block
87e53d5c        648           package body PORTAL.WWPRO_API_PROVIDER
81ae1e50        2644          package body PORTAL.WWPOB_PAGE
877a0d9c        12            anonymous block
[END-CALL-STACK]
[START-ERROR-STACK]
ORA-30625: method dispatch on NULL SELF
[END-ERROR-STACK]
[START-QUERY-STRING]
_providerid=102274117
_portletid=14
_mode=5
_title=Basic%20Search
_referencepath=1875_BASICSEARCH_102274117
_back_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyserver.myplace.com%3A3000%2Fpls%2Fportal%
_portlet_reference=33_31293_33_1_1
[END-QUERY-STRING]

[START-CALL-STACK]
----- PL/SQL Call Stack -----
object          line        object
handle          number      name
81b35e6c        350         package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
81b35e6c        443         package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
81b35e6c        526         package body PORTAL.WWLOG_API_DIAG
86765ac8        259         package body PORTAL.WWSRC_SIMPLE_EDIT
86765ac8        334         package body PORTAL.WWSRC_SIMPLE_EDIT
84317130        19          package body PORTAL.WWSBR_BASIC_SEARCH
88857980        713         package body PORTAL.WWSBR_SITEBUILDER_PROVIDER
8323ad18        1           anonymous block
87e53d5c        648         package body PORTAL.WWPRO_API_PROVIDER
81ae1e50        2644        package body PORTAL.WWPOB_PAGE
877a0d9c        12          anonymous block
[END-CALL-STACK]

[START-ERROR-STACK]
ORA-30625: method dispatch on NULL SELF
[END-ERROR-STACK]

[START-QUERY-STRING]
_providerid=102274117
_portletid=14
_mode=5
_title=Basic%20Search
_referencepath=1875_BASICSEARCH_102274117
_back_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyserver.myplace.com%3A3000%2Fpls%2Fportal%
_portlet_reference=33_31293_33_1_1
[END-QUERY-STRING]

ORACLE_HOME/diagnostics/config/registration/PORTAL.xml

<logs xmlns="http://www.oracle.com/iAS/EMComponent/ojdl" helpIDLogs="psm_cs_xml_log_info">

<!-- 
<log path="<PATH>" componentId="PORTAL"> 
<logreader type="SimpleTextLog"> 
    <property name="ComponentId" value="PORTAL"/> 
    <property name="ModuleId" value="Portal:<INSTANCE>"/> 
    <property name="TimestampFormat" value="[dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss]"/> 
    <property name="TimestampLocale" value="en_US"/> 
</logreader> 
<logviewer ComponentName="ID_VLOGS_PORTAL_REP@ResourceBundle" 
           LogType="ERROR" 
           LogName="Diagnostics for Portal instance <INSTANCE>"/> 
</log> 
--> 

</logs>

13.8.1 Problems If Too Many Page Groups or Search Attributes Selected

Search functionality can become inconsistent if the search criteria includes a large number of attributes and the user can choose which page groups to search and the list of available page groups is very long. This problem is due to URL size constraints.

Here are examples of issues that can occur:

• Links do not work, for example, Saved Search, Bulk Action, Edit, and so on. Note that these links do work when fewer attributes/page groups are selected.

• Search results page can lose search criteria when changing between tabs.

• Some search results can be lost whilst saving a search. Also, some attributes may be lost when the search is run again.

A workaround is to reduce the number of attributes, or page groups, or both, available for user selection.

13.8.2 Cannot Search PL/SQL Attributes

If you define search criteria for a PL/SQL attribute, it is ignored and therefore search results are not returned as expected.

13.8.3 Troubleshooting Oracle Text Installation Problems

If you are experiencing Oracle Text-related problems, use the TEXTTEST utility to check that Oracle Text functionality is installed and setup correctly. See Appendix H, " Using TEXTTEST to Check Oracle Text Installation".