CMS not auto-starting - CE10 on Oracle

[pelajhia]

I have noticed that the CMS server does not restart automatically.(Win server 2003)
Looking at the event log, it appears that it is trying, but the Oracle database it needs to log into is not up in time for it to successfully log in, so it fails. (Conjecture).

Is there some simple solution to making the cms 'wait' on the Oracle database?

Please let me know if more info is needed.

Thanks!

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Not that I have been able to find..The problem is that the Oracle service will be up and running before the databse is actually mounted and opened, so making the cms dependant on the Oracle service still will not solve the problem.
For my CMS services that are Oracle based, I have made the service 'manual' and I wait until the database is accessable before starting it.

 

[pelajhia]

Yes I have attempted to set a dependency for the cms to wait on the database instance and the tnslistener to be up,however it does not appear to wait at all; as though it is ignoring the dependency. I worked with one of our sys admins on the problem.
We tried to set 'retry' attempts when it fails, but it is as though it doesn't recognize that it is failing so does not retry.
I am considering referring this to crystal support; have you tried that on this issue?
Thanks!

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
It is not Crystal, it is Oracle ( sort of)..The database will always take some minutes to 'come up' after the oracle service is started - It is not failing, since the listener and the service are running - the CMS cannot 'know' when the database instance is mounted and opened, just when the oracle service has started...

We solved this on one of our production servers by having the Oracle database located on another server and not on the CE one..that way the Database was always running even when we restarted the CE server.
( the database server is not restarted except on specified maintenance periods, so no surprises)

 

[pelajhia]

Ok, that's what I was trying to sort out, who, if anybody, I could refer this to.
Thanks for the additional info!

 

[pelajhia]

Turkbear - I have re-read the installation manual, and I skipped a step where it appears that I could have opted for install to 'Oracle'under customer install, rather than install the default msde and then move over to Oracle.

When you installed your system, did you perform a custom install straight to Oracle? I am thinking about reinstalling on my test system to see if this alleviates the problem, but was curious if you've already been down that path. Thanks!

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
I've done both..It will not prevent the problem, since it is related to the fact that the Oracle service will be started but the database will still be in the process of starting up ( the Opening and Mounting stages take time)..

I imagine you could custom script the service startup commands with an AT script instead of letting the services manager handle it, but it could be difficult to be sure that all the dependencies are handled and you would need to code some connection test to the Oracle instance and, based on its success, move on to starting the CMS and the other CE services..

 

[pelajhia]

Well, it's a relief to know that I shouldn't bother re-installing, at least.
An AT script sounds pretty sticky; I definitely don't think I can put the db on another server at this point. I rarely restart, so this remains a minor issue. I may give a call to business objects just for fun.
Thanks!

 

[pelajhia]

Found this business objects kb article, but it is assumes mssqlserver for the cms database and is geared towards starting a remote service on a separate server; I have tried to adapt it, but no luck so far.
Has anyone attempting implimenting this procedure for Oracle db with the entire CE install on one server?
I am using CE10, Oracle 9i.

http://support.businessobjects.com/library/kbase/articles/c2015123.asp

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Sorry, but while that may work with SqlServer, there is not a similar command-line action that will bypass the problem.
Once again, the Oracle service ( Oracle.exe ) will start ( at least as far as Windows is concerned ) and any dependent service will now happily assume Oracle is up and running..but it is not, at least not yet.
Oracle takes some time to mount and open before it is available for use and there is no way to avoid this behavior....
The only 2 methods I have found to handle this behavior are:

1: Manually start the CE services after Oracle has started and opened.

2: Move the CMS Oracle database to another server ( preferably on the same subnet as the CE server ) that is not likely to be down when the CE server goes down..That way the Oracle instance will not stop and will be ready to accept the re-connection when the CE services are back up.

Editorial Note:
The advantages of using Oracle for the CMS, IMHO, outweigh the drawbacks.

 

[pelajhia]

Turkbear, thanks for responding again. I was ready to just give up when my system admin started working with me on putting the suggested script in place.
Putting it in the recovery area of the oracle db doesn't work, as you state.

He did figure out that we could set both the cms and the oracle db services to manual and put this script into the group policy area.
Here's what we did in total, with some differences from the article mentioned:

created batch file, 'restartcms.bat' with the following lines -
net start oracleserviceinstancename
sc "\\servername" start crystalms

(the name of the oracle service includes the specific instance name of the cms database)

On the windows 2003 server, go to 'RUN', type gpedit.msc
and the group policy editor will come up.
Go to Computer Config>windows settings > scripts> start up> properties> click 'add', browse to file and apply.

Set both the oracle service and the cms service to 'manual'.

Restart the server to test - apparently the script waits until the oracle service is completely up before performing the start of the cms service.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Interesting....We are not using 2003 yet, but I suspect it would work in 2000 as well..I am curious how it 'knows' to wait, however..