TroubleShooting: Plug-in generation and propagation for V7, V8 and V8.5

Diagnosing The Problem

Steps to help resolve plug-in generation and propagation problems

1. Is a Web Server definition created in the WebSphere® repository?
   • Yes, continue to the next question.
   • No, create and configure the Web server. Review WebSphere® Application Server Library under installing Web server plug-ins.
     
     See technote on using a Globally Generated plugin-cfg.xml:
     Information on using a Global Generate of plug-in
2. Generate the plug-in by selecting the following in the administrative console:
   • Servers > Web servers:
     • Click checkbox for "Target web server".
     • Click Generate button.
        
3. Locate the generated plugin-cfg.xml in the WebSphere® Repository
   • For WebSphere® Network Deployment Manager
     Deployment Manager profile/config/cells/<cellName>/nodes/<NodeName>/servers/<Web serverName>
   • For WebSphere® Base Application Server:
     Application Server Profile/config/cells/<cellName>/nodes/<NodeName>/servers/<Web serverName>
4. Does the plugin-cfg.xml file contain the expected information (uri, ports, weights, and so on)?
   • Yes, the issue is not a plug-in generation issue.
   • No, this problem is caused by not mapping the web server to the Application. Check the application "module mapping".
      
5. Propagate the plug-in by selecting the following in the administrative console:
   Servers > Web servers.
   • Click Checkbox for "Target Web server".
   • Click Propagate Plug-in.
      
6. Locate the propagated plugin-cfg.xml for the web server.
   Hint:
   • For IBM HTTP Server, review the http.conf file to find the location:
     WebSpherePluginConfig "​/usr​/WebSphere/Plugin/config/<Web serverName>/plugin-cfg.xml"
     
     OR
   • Check the WebSphere Administration Console plug-in properties:
     Servers -> Web servers -> webserver1 -> "Plug-in Properties"
     See field:
     "Plug-in configuration directory and file name"
      
7. Check the timestamp of the plugin-cfg.xml at the target Web server. If the time stamp reflects recent update due to the propagation, then the problem is not with Generate or Propagate but with some Application or Web server mapping.
    
8. Are the plugin-cfg.xml files on the WebSphere® repository and Web server identical?
   • Yes, a plug-in generation or plug-in propagation problem does not exist.
   • No, continue to the Must Gather for plug-in propagation section because the files were not correctly propagated.

MustGather for Problems or Errors with generate of the plug-in:

1. Set trace in the Deployment Manager server or the Application Server:
   *=info:
   com.ibm.ws.console.web.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.webserver.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.process.*=all:
   com.ibm.websphere.plugincfg.*=all:
   com.ibm.websphere.management.filetransfer.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.filetransfer.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.fileservice.*=all
    
2. Send in trace.log, SystemOut.log, SystemErr.log and all FFDC files

Must Gather for Problems or Errors with Propagate of the Plug-in:

1. Determine whether the Web server is defined to an unmanaged or managed node. For detail Goto Web Server Node type:
    
2. Set trace in the Deployment Manager server or the Application Server:
   *=info:
   com.ibm.ws.console.web.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.webserver.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.process.*=all:
   com.ibm.websphere.plugincfg.*=all:
   com.ibm.websphere.management.filetransfer.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.filetransfer.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.fileservice.*=all
    
3. For Web server defined to a Managed Node set the following traces in the Node Agent:
   *=info:
   com.ibm.ws.management.nodeagent.NodeAgent=all: com.ibm.ws.management.metadata.NodeAgentCollector=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.tools.GenericServerProcHelper=all:
   com.ibm.ws.process.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.launcher.*=all:
   com.ibm.websphere.plugincfg.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.filetransfer.*=all:
   com.ibm.ws.management.fileservice.*=all
    
4. For Web server defined to an Unmanaged node, set trace value in the IBM Administration Server:
   LogLevel debug in the admin.conf. Restart the IBM Administration Server
    
5. Send in the following files:
   • Application Server or Deployment Manager trace.log, SystemOut.log, SystemErr.log and all FFDC files
   • Node Agent trace.log, SystemOut.log, SystemErr.log and all FFDC files
     
     OR
   • IBM Administration Server admin.conf, admini_error.log, admin_access.log

To determine if the Web server is defined to a managed node or Unmanaged node:

• For network deployment we need to determine if the Web server is defined to a Managed or Unmanaged node.
  Go to WebSphere Administration console
  Servers -> Web servers -> Node Version

If the Node version displays a valid Service Pack version then the Web server is defined to a Managed node.

For example: "ND 7.0.0.19"

If the Node version displays "Not applicable" then the web server is defined to an UnManged node For example: "Not applicable"

• For WebSphere Application Server Base all Web servers are defined to an Unmanaged node

What to do next

If the preceding troubleshooting steps did not solve your problem, see the MustGather for plug-in generation and plug-in propagation problems to continue investigation.