8
Troubleshooting Oracle9iAS Portal

This chapter lists possible causes and solutions to errors that you may encounter while installing or using Oracle9iAS Portal.

See also: For the most up-to-date troubleshooting information visit: http://portalcenter.oracle.com

Specific topics covered in this chapter include:

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache related issues

• Miscellaneous Issues

8.1 Oracle9iAS Web Cache related issues

There are a variety of possible issues that can come up when using Oracle9iAS Web Cache, or even after you disable the use of Oracle9iAS Web Cache. Specific issues are:

• Error: General invalidation message processing exception: ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error (WWC-40018)

• Error: Could not open web cache connection. The portal use-web-cache setting is set to "on" while web cache may be down. (WWC-40019)

• Error: Error message "No Response from Application Server" displays in the browser

• Error: Intermittent error message "No Response from Application Server" displays in the browser

• Problem: Users see stale content after the operation which is expected to show the changed content, without an error messages in the browser.

• Problem: There appears to be a delay in cached objects being invalidated

• Problem: Nothing gets cached in Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

• Problem: Objects get cached in Oracle9iAS Web Cache while the use of Oracle9iAS Web Cache has been set to "Off" in Oracle9iAS Portal

• Problem: Unable to navigate to the Web Cache Admin page from Oracle9iAS Portal

• Problem: Oracle9iAS Web Cache does not start

Error: General invalidation message processing exception: ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error (WWC-40018)

Cause

This error can occur if a template is used by more than 25 page, and is caused by a known exception in the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation message processing.

Solution

The workaround is to turn "off" Oracle9iAS Web Cache in the Portal. refer to Section 6.8.6, "Disabling Oracle9iAS Web Cache" for details on how to do turn off Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Error: Could not open web cache connection. The portal use-web-cache setting is set to "on" while web cache may be down. (WWC-40019)

Cause

This error message is shown in the browser when the invalidation fails. In this case Oracle9iAS Portal was not able to send the invalidation message to Oracle9iAS Web Cache. This happens when the use of Oracle9iAS Web Cache is enabled in Oracle9iAS Portal and any of the following also happen either alone, or together:

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache might not be running. It might have been stopped purposefully in a conscious effort to front-end with the Oracle HTTP server, instead of Oracle9iAS Web Cache. Oracle9iAS Web Cache might have crashed, or it could have been bounced at the time when the invalidation messages were sent from Oracle9iAS Portal or Providers.

• The Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation port could have problems, this can happen because the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation port value in Oracle9iAS Portal is different from the actual Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation port. The invalidation port value supplied to the portal using the "-cport_i" parameter during installation could also have been wrong, or the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation port was changed in Oracle9iAS Web Cache after the Oracle9iAS Portal install.

• Some other process grabs the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation port before Oracle9iAS Web Cache can listen on it.

• Trouble with Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation password, perhaps because the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidator password value in the Portal is different from the actual Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidator password, or because the invalidator password value supplied to Oracle9iAS Portal using the "-wc_inv_pwd" parameter during the installation was wrong.

• Some security setting in Oracle9iAS Web Cache could have been enabled which might require the Oracle9iAS Web Cache administrator password, instead of the invalidator password.

• Trouble with Oracle9iAS Web Cache hostname because the Oracle9iAS Web Cache hostname value in the Portal is different from the actual Oracle9iAS Web Cache hostname, or the hostname value supplied to the portal using the "-host" and "-chost" parameter during the install could have been wrong.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache might have been moved to a different Server after the Portal Install, leaving the host on which Oracle9iAS Web Cache runs inaccessible from Oracle9iAS Portal.

• The hostname specified may not include the entire domain name.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache is not properly disabled. Oracle9iAS Portal can work even without Oracle9iAS Web Cache front-ending the middle-tier. To do this the "enable_wc_caching" flag in Oracle9iAS Portal should be turned "Off". If this is not done any operation which attempts to send an invalidation message will fail with exceptions like "Portal Web Cache settings is On while Web Cache may be down".

• A template is used by more than 25 page, and is caused by a known exception in the Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation message processing.

Solution

Check whether any of the above cases are causing this behavior.

If a template is used by more than 25 pages, the workaround is to turn "off" Oracle9iAS Web Cache in the Portal. refer to Section 6.8.6, "Disabling Oracle9iAS Web Cache" for details on how to do turn off Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Error: Error message "No Response from Application Server" displays in the browser

Cause

The Oracle9i Application Server might be down.

Solution

Check if the Oracle9i Application Server needs to be started.

Error: Intermittent error message "No Response from Application Server" displays in the browser

Cause

• The Oracle9i Application Server might be bounced intermittently.

• The Network Connectivity to the Oracle9i Application Server might be poor.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache might not have sufficient connections to the Oracle9i Application Server in order to handle all the incoming requests.

Solution

Check with the Oracle9i Application Server administrator if any of the above problems could be the cause of the problem.

Problem: Users see stale content after the operation which is expected to show the changed content, without an error messages in the browser.

Cause

• The invalidation could be an soft invalidation, which only takes effect after the invalidation job gets executed.

• An inappropriate invalidation API is used to invalidate content.

• The invalidation port specified in Oracle9iAS Portal could be pointing to the invalidation port of another Oracle9iAS Web Cache instance.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache fails to process the invalidation message because it is under a heavy load.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache invalidation message processing fails because of an invalid invalidation message syntax.

• Oracle9iAS Web Cache fails to invalidate cache contents despite receiving a correct invalidation message.

• Delayed Cache invalidation by Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Solution

Check whether any of the above cases are causing this behavior.

Problem: There appears to be a delay in cached objects being invalidated

Cause

For example, a user customizes a portlet but does not see the customization, however, the change displays after a few seconds, when the browser is refreshed.

• The invalidation could be a soft invalidation which will only take effect after the invalidation job gets executed.

• Delayed cache invalidation by Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Solution

Check whether any of the above cases are causing this behavior.

Problem: Nothing gets cached in Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Cause

This happens when Oracle9iAS Web Cache caching is NOT enabled in the Portal. This could be because of the following reasons:

• The Oracle9iAS Web Cache "on", or "off" flag value supplied to Oracle9iAS Portal using the "-wc" parameter during the install was "off".

• The Oracle9iAS Web Cache "on", or "off" flag value could have been set to "off" by running some script in Oracle9iAS Portal, like, for example, the cachseed.sql script.

• The "Enable Web Cache Caching" flag in Oracle9iAS Portal has been set to false using the Oracle9iAS Web Cache administrative portlet in the Oracle9iAS Portal Administer tab of the services portlet.

• The File Cache was not cleared after turning "on" the "Enable Web Cache Caching" flag in the Portal.

Solution

This can be corrected by doing a MIDTIER install using Oracle9iAS Portal Configuration Assistant and specifying the value "on" for the -wc switch.

See also: Section B.2.2, "Using cachset.sql".

Problem: Objects get cached in Oracle9iAS Web Cache while the use of Oracle9iAS Web Cache has been set to "Off" in Oracle9iAS Portal

Cause

• The file cache might not have been cleared after turning "off" the "Enable Web Cache Caching" flag in the Oracle9iAS Portal.

• These may be non-portal objects which get cached because of the default cacheability rules in Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

• This can happen in the case of Oracle9iAS Portal objects which do not check the "enable_wc_caching" flag before setting the Oracle9iAS Web Cache specific cache headers.

Solution

• Clear the file cache.

• Check the cacheability rules in Oracle9iAS Web Cache.

Problem: Unable to navigate to the Web Cache Admin page from Oracle9iAS Portal

Cause

• The Oracle9iAS Web Cache Administration port value in Oracle9iAS Portal is different from the actual Oracle9iAS Web Cache Administration port.

• The Administration port value supplied to the portal using the "-cport_a" parameter during the install could be wrong.

• The Oracle9iAS Web Cache Administration port could have been changed in Oracle9iAS Web Cache after the Portal Install.

Solution

Rerun the OPCA in MIDTIER mode, or run the cachseed.sql script with the correct value for -cport_a.

Problem: Oracle9iAS Web Cache does not start

Cause

The Oracle9iAS Web Cache configuration files might be corrupted, or some other process might be listening in any of the ports Oracle9iAS Web Cache intends to listen.

Solution

Check if the configuration files are not corrupt, and see if there are any processes using the Oracle9iAS Web Cache port.

8.2 Miscellaneous Issues

Issues covered in this section include:

Problem: Unable to create Oracle Text indexes

Problem: The date is out of sync with the system clock

Problem: OPCA install hangs at Oracle Ultra Search phase

Problem: Unable to create Oracle Text indexes

Cause

If you encounter any of the following errors while creating an Oracle Text index a problem creating Oracle Text indexes occurred:

• Cannot grant CTXAPP Role to portal.

• ERROR: Creating datastore procedures in CTXSYS.

• ERROR: Setting up Oracle Text data stores.

• An unexpected error has occurred (WWS-32100)

Solution

Your system should meet all the requirements described in Section 1.1.7, "Oracle Text Requirements". Oracle Text must be installed in the same Oracle Home as the database.

You must disable connection pooling from the Database Access Descriptor page.

See also: Oracle9i Application Server mod_plsql User's Guide which is part of the Oracle9i Application Server documentation library.

Choose one of the following options to resolve this issue:

• Access the database server and log on using the user name and password for the schema that owns the Oracle9iAS Portal page group. For example, if the schema name is "SCOTT", log on with the user name "SCOTT" and the appropriate password.

• Start SQL*Plus and execute the inctxgrn.sql script. This script is located in ORACLE_HOME\portal\admin\plsql\wws. Running this script creates the Oracle Text preferences required for Oracle9iAS Portal.

• If you do not have access to the database server, but you do have a copy of the sbrimtlx script, you can connect to the database using SQL*Plus as the schema owner and run the following commands:

  set serveroutput on size 10000
  begin
    wwv_context_util.grantCtxRole(user);
  end;
  @@sbrimtlx
  
  Replace (user) with the Oracle9iAS Portal schema owner, for example, 
  portal.
  

  See also: Chapter 7, "Configuring the Search Features in Oracle9iAS Portal".

Problem: The date is out of sync with the system clock

Cause

This error may occur when the sysdate value in the database that contains the Oracle9iAS Portal meta data repository is incorrect.

Solution

Check to make sure that the sysdate value in the database that contains the Oracle9iAS Portal meta data repository is incorrect. Refer to the Oracle9i database documentation for more information on how to do this.

Problem: OPCA install hangs at Oracle Ultra Search phase

Cause

This can happen when Oracle Ultra Search is already installed in the destination database and the value for DISPLAY is not set correctly.

During Oracle Ultra Search installation, a dialog will appear to ask the users if they wants to overwrite the existing Oracle Ultra Search packages

If the DISPLAY was not set correctly, the install will stop because the installer is waiting for the user's decision.

Solution

Ultra Search supports silent mode installation which can only be used if there is no existing installation of Oracle Ultra Search in the database. For interactive mode, the "DISPLAY" environment variable needs to be set correctly.

Note that the GUI will not appear when the destination database does not contain Oracle Ultra Search, in that case there is no need for the user to set DISPLAY.