WebSphere WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, Version 6.0.1 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting is the process of finding and eliminating the cause of a problem. If you have a problem with your applications or your IBM software, the troubleshooting process begins as soon as you ask yourself what happened?

Why and when to perform this task

If you encounter a problem with the functioning of service applications or the server and bus environment, you can use this set of topics to help you understand and resolve the cause of the problem.

Unlike performance tuning, which focuses on solving problems associated with slow processes and un-optimized performance, troubleshooting focuses on finding solutions to functional problems.

This set of topics, and other aids for troubleshooting with WebSphere ESB build on information and other aids for troubleshooting with underlying WebSphere Application Server. Where appropriate, links are made to the WebSphere Application Server information and other aids.

As a general strategy for troubleshooting problems, use the following steps:

Steps for this task

  1. Record any symptoms of the problem.

    Depending on the type of problem you have, whether it be with your application, your server, or your tools, you might receive a message that indicates something is wrong. Always record the error message that you see. As simple as this sounds, error messages sometimes contain codes that might make more sense as you investigate your problem further. You might also receive multiple error messages that look similar but have subtle differences. By recording the details of each one, you can learn more about where your problem exists.

    1. Look up information for any messages that you have.

      If you already have an error message and want to quickly look up its explanation and recommended response, look up the message under Messages.

    2. Find any other messages that might help diagnose the problem.

      For help in knowing where to find error and warning messages, interpreting messages, and configuring log files, see Working with message logs.

  2. Try recreating the problem.

    Think back to what steps you were doing that led you to this problem. Try those steps again to see if you can easily recreate this problem. If you have a consistently repeatable test case, you have an easier time determining what solutions are necessary.

    • How did you first notice the problem?
    • Did you do anything different that made you notice the problem?
    • If this worked before what has changed? The change can refer to any type of change made to the system, ranging from adding new hardware or software, to configuration changes to existing software.
    • What was the first symptom of the problem you witnessed? Were there other symptoms occurring around that point of time?
    • Does the same problem occur elsewhere? Is only one machine experiencing the problem or are multiple machines experiencing the same problem?
    • What messages are being generated that could indicate what the problem is?
  3. Eliminate known possible causes.
    Narrow the scope of your problem by eliminating components that are not causing the problem. By using a process of elimination, you can simplify your problem and avoid wasting time in areas that are not culprits. Consult the information in this product and other available resources to help you with your elimination process. Consider:
    • Has anyone else experienced this problem?
    • Is there a fix or a download?
    1. Investigate the product information for known problems based on the task you were doing.

      Depending on the specific problem that you have encountered, it might be useful to troubleshoot based on different issues that are known in installation, configuration, deployment, and administration. Investigate known problems organized according to task areas in Troubleshooting by task.

    2. Examine Web-based resources for known problems and solutions.

      In addition to the information center, you can examine a range of Web-based resources for researching and resolving problems related to WebSphere ESB. For more information about these resources, see Resources for diagnosing and fixing problems.

    3. Download and apply any fix for the problem.

      A product fix might be available to resolve your problem. You can determine what fixes are available by running a query from the IBM Support Assistant. For more information about getting and applying any fixes, see Getting fixes.

  4. If appropriate, take advantage of logging and common base events.

    The support for logging and common base events is provided by the underlying WebSphere Application Server.

    • Applications can log diagnostic information while running. You can specify how you want the server to handle log output, and what level of logging you require. Using the administrative console, you can enable or disable a particular log, specify where log files are stored and how many log files are kept, specify the level of detail in a log, and specify a format for log output. You can also set a log level for each logger.

      Difficult problems might require the use of tracing, which although conceptually similar to logging, exposes the low-level flow of control and interactions between components. Collecting a trace is often requested by IBM technical support personnel. If you are not familiar with the internal structure of WebSphere Application Server, the trace output might not be meaningful to you.

      For general information about using logging and tracing to diagnose problems, see Logging and tracing with Java logging.

      For more information about using tracing, see Working with trace.

    • An application can create an event object whenever something happens that either should be recorded for later analysis or which might require additional work to be triggered. Events are recorded with the standard structure called the Common Base Event. A Common Base Event should contain all of the information needed by the consumers to understand the event. This includes information about the runtime environment, the business environment and the instance of the application object that created the event. For more information about using common base events for troubleshooting, see The Common Base Event in WebSphere Application Server.
  5. Debug applications during development.

    Before deploying an application, assemble and test the application on a test server.

    To debug applications that run on WebSphere ESB, you must use your application development tool. For more information, see "Debugging components" in the WebSphere Integration Developer information center or in the online documentation installed with IBM WebSphere Integration Developer.

    The IBM Developer Kit and Runtime Environment, Java 2 Technology Edition, Version 1.4.1 Diagnostics Guide describes debugging techniques and the diagnostic tools that are available to help you solve problems with Java. It also gives guidance on how to submit problems to IBM. You can find the guide at IBM developer kits: Diagnosis documentation Web site.

  6. Use WebSphere Application Server troubleshooting capabilities

    WebSphere ESB is built on WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment. WebSphere ESB also works with infrastructure and platform services from WebSphere Application Server. For more information about troubleshooting in WebSphere Application Server, select Troubleshooting and support .

  7. If you cannot solve the problem, get help from IBM.

    If you are not able to resolve a problem by following the steps in this topic, by looking up error messages in the message reference, or looking for related documentation on the online help, contact IBM Technical Support.

    To find out how to look up documented problems, common mistakes, prduct prerequisites, and other problem-determination information on the WebSphere ESB Web site, or to obtain technical support from IBM, see Obtaining help from IBM.


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Timestamp iconLast updated: 12 Dec 2005
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