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NullPointerException seen at startup after applying fix packs

Troubleshooting


Problem

You notice NullPointerExceptions after upgrading WebSphere® Application Server after startup. You have a clustered environment where only some of the servers have been upgraded.

Symptom

After starting the WebSphere Application Server, you might see a similar message in the SystemOut.log file:

[1/1/09 1:08:03:274 EST] 0000000a WsServerImpl  A   WSVR0001I: Server server1 open for e-business
[1/1/09 1:08:03:304 EST] 00000019 SystemOut     O Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readSerialData(ObjectInputStream.java:1845)
at
 java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:1744)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1330)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject(ObjectInputStream.java:364)
at
 com.ibm.ws.wsgroup.bb.BBPostingMsg.readExternal(BBPostingMsg.java:213)
at
 java.io.ObjectInputStream.readExternalData(ObjectInputStream.java:1780)
at
 java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:1742)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1330)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject(ObjectInputStream.java:364)
at
 com.ibm.ws.wsgroup.WsGroupUtil.byteArrayToObject(WsGroupUtil.java:113)
at
 com.ibm.ws.wsgroup.bb.CoreGroup$BroadcastTopic.handleMessage(CoreGroup.java:252)
at
 com.ibm.ws.wsgroup.bb.CoreGroup$BroadcastTopic.postingAdded(CoreGroup.java:235)
at com.ibm.ws.wsgroup.bb.BBTopic.updated(BBTopic.java:157)
at
 com.ibm.ws.hamanager.bboard.LocalBulletinBoardStateManager$
BBoardUserCallback.doCallback(LocalBulletinBoardStateManager.java:2784)
at com.ibm.ws.hamanager.impl.Worker.run(UserCallbacks.java:288)
at com.ibm.ws.util.ThreadPool$Worker.run(ThreadPool.java:1473)

Cause

This is due to having a clustered environment where you have upgraded only one of the WebSphere Application Server installations, but not the others. The Core Group method calls also contain a version identifier, which may report different versions if upgrades are not applied to all the servers.

Resolving The Problem

Apply the upgrades on all systems so they are at the same version level. For more information concerning Core Groups, HAManager and related communications, see the following links:

[{"Product":{"code":"SSEQTP","label":"WebSphere Application Server"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"Install","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"8.5;8.0;7.0;6.1","Edition":"Network Deployment","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}},{"Product":{"code":"SSEQTP","label":"WebSphere Application Server"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"High Availability (HA)","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"6.1","Edition":"Network Deployment","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
15 June 2018

UID

swg21368046

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