The Connection Server

WebLogic Admin Console

2011-02-14T12:50:00.011+10:00

WebLogic Admin ConsoleThe WebLogic Admin Console is a web-based, user interface used to configure and control a set of WebLogic servers or clusters (i.e. a "domain"). In any logical group of WebLogic servers there must exist one admin server, which hosts the WebLogic Admin Console application and manages the associated configuration files.WebLogic Administrators will use the Administration

JVM detects UTC timezone as ACT

2011-02-10T15:25:00.002+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomJVM detects UTC timezone as ACT. This will be evident particularly in web application servers, such as WebLogic, WebSphere and JBoss. Reported time (for example in log files) will not match operating system's time.CauseJVM tries to determine what the timezone is by looking at

WebLogic Interview Questions

2011-02-07T12:49:00.005+10:00

In this article I will briefly discuss how I conduct interviews for WebLogic Administration roles.When conducting interviews I prefer to avoid difficult questions, and instead ask fairly simple questions and look at how well the candidate answers. I would prefer to hire someone who can clearly and concisely explain how to do a simple task than someone who knows every single thing about a

Java System Properties

2011-02-07T08:57:00.006+10:00

This is a quick post with some useful code for printing a complete list of Java system properties. System properties give you access to certain JVM startup parameters and system information.The following code (SysProp.java) can be used to print all system properties.import java.util.Properties;import java.util.Enumeration;public class SysProp { public static void main(String[] args) { Properties

Connection refused: No available router to destination

2011-01-10T15:01:00.006+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomThe following exception occurs in WebLogic server logs. Most likely to occur during WebLogic server start-up, but similar exceptions may occur at other times.java.net.ConnectException: t3://myserver:8000: Destination unreachable; nested exception is: java.net.ConnectException:

BAD_CERTIFICATE - A corrupt or unuseable certificate...

2009-10-07T11:09:00.004+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomIn wls_utc, when trying to test a webservice using SSL, the following error message is received:javax.net.ssl.SSLKeyException: FATAL Alert:BAD_CERTIFICATE - A corrupt or unuseable certificate was received.If SSL debugging is enabled, the following error also appears in the logs: <

WebLogic 10 Active Directory Authentication Provider Bug

2009-07-29T15:35:00.005+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomWith an Active Directory Authenticator configured, if a user logs in once with incorrect credentials further attempts to log in will fail, even with the correct username and password (until the server is restarted). If the user continues to login with correct credentials, WebLogic

WebLogic Server Connection Refused

2009-07-28T16:38:00.007+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomThe WebLogic admin or managed server is running, but telnetting to it fails, with an error like:Trying 10.123.123.123...telnet: connect to address 10.123.123.123: Connection refusedCauseYou may be using a development/limited license. These restrict WebLogic to accept connections from

Out of Memory: Killed process

2009-07-28T13:53:00.003+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomOn Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (and possibly other flavours and versions) all weblogic processes are disappearing and there are no errors in the server logs. Upon closer inspection the processes are being killed by the OS. The Linux "dmesg" command shows log messages like:Out of

Connection Server

2009-07-23T10:35:00.004+10:00

The Connection Server is the name of this site. That's right, there is no technology officially called a 'connection server'. However it could describe any number of technologies that we use everyday in the corporate sys admin world. Any type of server must accept connections from clients in order to respond, so whether its a HTTP server, JEE server or sql/database server, its pretty much a

WebLogic ProtocolException: HTTP tunneling...

2009-07-22T14:17:00.010+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomGetting the following exception (regularly) in the Admin server logs.HTTPClntLogin: Login rejected with code: 'Failed', reason: java.net.ProtocolException: HTTP tunneling is disabled at weblogic.rjvm.http.HTTPServerJVMConnection.acceptJVMConnection(HTTPServerJVMConnection.java

The Connection Server (About)

2009-07-22T11:02:00.008+10:00

The Connection Server is an informal blog about a range of professional server-related topics, with a focus on the everyday tasks of a corporate IT infrastructure administrator. Articles range from hard-core technical tips to more business-oriented discussions.What technologies do I cover? Potentially anything used in the corporate IT world, but to name a few big ones:Java (J2EE, J2SE and J2ME)

WebLogic 10.3 Licensing

2009-07-22T10:46:00.004+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomThere is no license.bea, UpdateLicense.cmd or UpdateLicense.sh files in the BEA_HOME directory of WebLogic 10.3.CauseWhen Oracle bought BEA they decided to do away with this approach to licensing.SolutionWhen you download WebLogic 10.3, you are getting the full version. That is, you

SocketException: Too many open files

2009-07-21T17:36:00.004+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomOn Unix-based systems, log message like:Failed to listen on port 8081, failure count: 1, failing for 0 seconds, java.net.SocketException: Too many open filesCauseThe value of the "Maximum Open Socket" WebLogic setting is set higher than the the Unix limit (obtained by running the "

WebLogic Operator group has no effect

2009-07-21T17:32:00.005+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomIn WebLogic 9.2, adding an account to the Operator group has no effect if the account is also added to another group.CauseThis is a known bug in WebLogic 9.2.SolutionA patch is provided with the 9.2 installation. Ensure %BEA_HOME%\patch_weblogic920\patch_jars\CR285163_920GA.jar; is

DeleteService failed

2009-07-21T17:27:00.005+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.SymptomAfter removing a windows service, when trying to recreate it, the following error may be displayed:DeleteService failed - The specified service has been marked for deletion. (0x430)CauseThe service is still in-use (at least to some degree).SolutionClose any Microsoft Management

NullPointerException at FileUtils.remove

2009-07-21T17:25:00.008+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.Symptomjava.lang.NullPointerExceptionat weblogic.utils.FileUtils.remove(FileUtils.java:203)at weblogic.management.mbeans.custom.Component.removeTempModule(Component.java:353)at weblogic.management.mbeans.custom.Component.initializeTwoPhase(Component.java:435)at

User does not have permission on weblogic...

2009-07-21T17:15:00.007+10:00

This is a simple symptom-cause-solution blog entry only. I hope these blogs will help fellow administrators.Symptomjavax.naming.NoPermissionException: User does not have permission on weblogic.management.home to perform lookup operation.at weblogic.jndi.internal.ServerNamingNode.checkPermission(ServerNamingNode.java:365)at weblogic.jndi.internal.ServerNamingNode.checkLookup(ServerNamingNode.java

WebLogic Books Reviewed

2009-07-21T15:05:00.011+10:00

Looking at learning more about WebLogic? In this article I will give my opinions on the books I have encountered throughout my career.If you're considering buying any of these books, then use the amazon links to support this site (and probably get the best available price). BEA WebLogic Server 8.1: UnleashedAbout four years ago I decided on a career change, and made the switch from Java

Writing to WebLogic Server Logs

2009-07-17T10:27:00.011+10:00

For J2EE developers who are not familiar with WebLogic, you can write debug and error messages to the server logs very easily.When to Write to WebLogic Server LogsAny debug, warning or error messages relating to the server or infrastructure. For example, information or errors with the following:Connecting to other components/systems.Database access, setup, etc.LDAPHTTP request/responseDeployment

Quotes for the Corporate Sys Admin

2009-07-16T16:17:00.009+10:00

Every now and then my job gets so boring that I feel like a robot. Today was one of those days, so I decided I needed a laugh and went in search of funny quotes relevant to working as a corporate sys admin... Hopefully there's one or two new ones for readers.The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.-Robert BlochUNIX is basically a simple operating system, but

Recovering WebLogic Passwords

2009-06-17T17:07:00.026+10:00

In one of my previous articles (here) I explained that the SerializedSystemIni.dat file in WebLogic contains the key used to encrypt and decrypt passwords. If you're not currently keeping this file secure I suggest you do, as with it someone can (to name a few things):Decrypt the WebLogic admin username and password from boot.properties.Recover database passwords, if JDBC Connection pools are

BEASVC.EXE - WebLogic as a Windows Service

2009-06-01T17:26:00.023+10:00

I remember the first time I had to work out why WebLogic wouldn't run as a service. It was a frustrating experience. There were no error messages. No Windows error dialog. No console output.How do you troubleshoot something like this??!!This short article will show you. For simplicity I'll talk about the node manager, but the same principles apply for running an admin or managed server as a

WebLogic's SerializedSystemIni.dat

2009-05-29T16:02:00.001+10:00

In one of my earlier jobs, I once encountered a peculiar problem with WebLogic's SerializedSystemIni.dat file. Upon restarting a WebLogic admin or managed server, we would encounter an exception like:<1/06/2009 02:23:35 PM EST> <Warning> <Security> <BEA-090066> <Problem handling boot identity. The following exception was generated: weblogic.security.internal.SerializedSystemIniException: [

Directory Listing - A Simple WebLogic Application

2009-05-29T10:53:00.004+10:00

In this article I will show how to create a simple WebLogic application that lets you navigate directories and files on a server. This can be one of the handiest utilities. I use it all the time to give developers access to logs in test and pre-production environments.But first, a warning... Be careful what files you make available to others. Some files, especially within a WebLogic domain