IT42974: An MQ Managed File Transfer (MFT) agent reports a NullPointerException in its event log (output0.log)

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• After running as expected for a period of time, an MQ Managed
  File Transfer (MFT) agent stops unexpectedly and reports the
  following exception in its event log (output0.log):
  
  StdErr    E  Exception in thread "processControllerMonitor"
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  StdErr    E     at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.processcontroller.ProcessControllerMonitor.run(Pr
  ocessControllerMonitor.java:162)
  StdErr    E     at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:830)
  

Local fix

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  USERS AFFECTED:
  This issue affects users of IBM MQ Managed File Transfer (MFT)
  on Multiplatforms.
  
  
  Platforms affected:
  AIX, Linux on Power, Linux on x86-64, Linux on zSeries, Windows
  
  ****************************************************************
  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
  When using MQ Managed File Transfer on Multiplatforms, the
  process controller component is responsible for starting an
  agent process and restarting it if it ends for any reason. There
  is one process controller for every agent process.
  
  When an agent starts, it creates an internal
  ProcessControllerMonitor thread. This thread is used by the
  agent to check that its process controller is still running. If
  it detects that the process controller has stopped, then the
  thread will stop the agent and write the message:
  
  BFGPC0032E: The process controller has terminated unexpectedly.
  
  to the agent's event log (output0.log).
  
  
  Depending on why the process controller stopped, the
  ProcessControllerMonitor thread could try to access an internal
  object which had not been initialised. In this situation, the
  agent would stop and the following exception stack would appear
  in its event log:
  
  StdErr    E  Exception in thread "processControllerMonitor"
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  StdErr    E     at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.processcontroller.ProcessControllerMonitor.run(Pr
  ocessControllerMonitor.java:162)
  StdErr    E     at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:830)
  

Problem conclusion

• To resolve this issue, the ProcessControllerMonitor thread
  within an MQ Managed File Transfer (MFT) agent has been updated
  to ensure that the internal object it needs to use when stopping
  the agent is not null before calling methods on it. This
  prevents the NullPointerException from occurring, and allows the
  thread to stop the agent cleanly.
  
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  The fix is targeted for delivery in the following PTFs:
  
  Version    Maintenance Level
  v9.3 LTS   9.3.0.15
  v9.x CD    9.3.5
  
  The latest available maintenance can be obtained from
  'WebSphere MQ Recommended Fixes'
  http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006037
  
  If the maintenance level is not yet available information on
  its planned availability can be found in 'WebSphere MQ
  Planned Maintenance Release Dates'
  http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006309
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  MQ BASE V9.3

• Fixed component ID

  5724H7291

Applicable component levels