Troubleshooting
Problem
When attempting to run WebSphere Application Server as a non-root user on AIX, it may fail to initialize. It produces an error message, "JVMXM008: Error occured while initialising System ClassException in thread "main" Could not create the Java virtual machine." or a different error message, "JVM not found: libjvm.a - libjvm.a". Running the same process as the root user does not produce any problems.
Symptom
This article describes an issue clients may encounter after successfully installing WebSphere Application Server on AIX as either the root user or a non-root user.
Attempting to use any WebSphere tools, such as the profile creation utility, fail immediately. The cause of all those failures is because WebSphere Application Server's Java SDK does not initialize properly when run as the non-root user. Testing Java in the reveals specific errors, as shown in the examples below.
Examples
In these examples illustrating the Java initialization errors, assume that WebSphere Application Server has been successfully installed as a non-root user to the /usr/WAS directory.
Example One: Java fails to initialize when running it from a location outside its directory
| Running these commands... cd / /usr/WAS/java/jre/bin/java -version ...produces this error: JVMXM008: Error occured while initialising System ClassException in thread "main" Could not create the Java virtual machine. | |
Example Two: Java fails to initialize when running it from inside its "bin" directory
|
The error shown in Example Two occurs even though the libjvm.a file is present in the proper location and has correct permissions.
Cause
If the mount point for the filesystem to which WebSphere is installed is not set up correctly, this can cause problems for Java initialization.
Resolving The Problem
In situations where Java initializes properly when run as the root user but fails when run as a non-root user, check the following points:
- The WebSphere Application Server installation should be successful. Check the installation's "log.txt" file to ensure that the installation ended with a "success" message.
- A non-root user must have read access to all files installed with WebSphere Application Server, including all of the files in the product's "java" subdirectory. This can be accomplished by granting ownership of all the product's files to that non-root user.
- A non-root user should also have access to the AIX system libraries, such as the libraries in /usr/lib and /usr/ccs/lib .
If each of those points are checked and appear to be in good order, then there is one more aspect of the WebSphere configuration to review. Follow these steps to check and correct an issue which could lead to problems when initializing Java as a non-root user:
- Locate the mount point of the filesystem where WebSphere Application Server is mounted on.
- Unmount that filesystem.
- Check the permissions of the blank directory which acts as the mount point for the filesystem. The permissions should be at least "755". The ownership and permissions of that directory must be configured in a manner which allows the non-root user read access to that directory.
- Check that the directory which acts as the mount point is empty. If the directory contains anything, remove that content so that the directory becomes empty.
- Remount the WebSphere Application Server filesystem. Java should initialize properly as a non-root user once the issues with the mount point permissions are resolved.
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 June 2018
UID
swg21326740