Troubleshooting
Problem
If you login as root to start the server (i.e., Deployment Manager or Node Agent) and use the "Run As User" Process Excecution property to run the server as a non-root user id, then the first server start may fail after applying a fix pack. The SystemOut.log will not be generated to indicate why the server fails to start. The startServer.log shows: ADMU3011E: Server launched but failed initialization. Server logs, startServer.log, and other log files under Profile-root/logs/serverName should contain failure information.
Symptom
# ./startServer.sh server1
ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
/usr/IBM/WebSphere85/profiles/Base01/logs/server1/startServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the Base01 profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: server1
ADMU3200I: Server launched. Waiting for initialization status.
ADMU3011E: Server launched but failed initialization. Server logs, startServer.log, and other log files under /usr/IBM/WebSphere85/profiles/Base01/logs/server1 should contain failure information.
With the APAR PI27028 introduced in version 80010 and 8555, the following error message will be generated into startServer.log
PROC0015E: The process creation failed. Some files that are required by the process or the process definition are inaccessible, such as standard in, out, and error redirects. Verify that user [{0}] has read and write access to the following items: Working directory: [{1}]. Standard input: [{2}]. Standard output: [{3}]. Standard error: [{4}]. Empty [] indicates the value is not set and the operating system defaults are used.
Note: This issue only occurs on WebSphere Application Server V8.0 or above.
Cause
The problem appears when applying a fix pack or an iFix as root and the "Run As User" property is configured to a non-root user
Why it fails ?
When an application server for the first time after installing an update -- that is, a fixpack or an iFix -- the server launch application performs any post-install configuration by invoking the runConfigActions.sh(.bat) command in a separate process before spawning the server process. Since the Java process running the configuration actions is owned by the root user, the actions create files in the server profile that are owned by root. The server process, which is owned by a non-root user, will fail to start because it lacks authority to access the files and directories that were modified to root ownership.
In the case where a server profile is configured for a non-root user and the same user starts an application server which is not configured with the "Run As User" property, please review the technote ADMU3011E Servers fail to start after applying fixes in the event the server failed to start with error ADMU3011E. In the case where the server is configured with the "Run As User" property and the server fails to start with error ADM3011E, please review this technote to resolve the problem.
Resolving The Problem
To resolve this problem:
1) Apply a fix or fix pack as root
2) Change the ownership of the files in the profile to the runAs user
3) Run "<WAS_HOME>/profiles/<profile>/bin/runConfigActions.sh -startServer" with the runAs user
4) Start the server as root
Another solution is to start the server as the runAs user very first time after the update. Any subsequent startServer invocations can be executed as root user.
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 June 2018
UID
swg21682292