IV63068: TEMS HANG OR CRASH WHEN REFLEX ACTION IS TOO LONG

IBM Tivoli Monitoring 6.3.0 Fix Pack 5 (6.3.0-TIV-ITM-FP0005)

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• ********************** START OF APAR OPEN TEMPLATE
  *********************
  * Please open an apar with the following severity and
  information:     *
  *
         *
  APAR Type:            Field
  Approver Initials:    RB
  Severity:             3
  Reported Release:     623
  Compid:               5724C04MS Tivoli Enterprise Management
  Server
  ABSTRACT:             TEMS hang or crash when reflex action is
  too long
  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
  The TEMS can hang or crash when all of the following conditions
  occur:
  
  - A situation with a take action command is started.
  - The situation will execute at the agent.
  - The length of the reflex command is around 450 bytes or more.
  Thisnumber varies based on a few things, such as the length of
  the name of the situation, the length of the user id, and the
  length of a few other fields.
  
  You will find messages similar to the following near the end of
  the logs:
  
    ...kpxcloc.cpp,1651,"KPX_CreateProxyRequest") Reflex command
  length <513> is too large, the maximum length is <512>
    ...kpxcloc.cpp,1653,"KPX_CreateProxyRequest") Try shortening
  the command field in situation <my_test_situation>
  
  Messages similar to these can occur for other reasons. Those
  will not result in a problem at the TEMS.
  
  RECREATE INSTRUCTIONS:
  - Create a situation with the above criteria.
  - Start the situation.
  - Watch for a crash or hang.
  
  If the mentioned messages do not occur, then make the reflex
  command longer. If the messages occur but you get no crash or
  hang, make the command a little shorter. There is a window of
  about 50 characters, depending on the length of the userid and
  situation name where this problem can occur.
  
  
  *********************** END OF APAR OPEN TEMPLATE
  **********************
  

Local fix

• Make the take action command shorter.
  

Problem summary

• Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server can hang or crash when the
  non-UTF8 reflex action is too long.
  
  
  If the reflex action for Take Action is too long, it can cause a
  memory overlay leading to a hang or crash of the monitoring
  server.
  

Problem conclusion

• A check has been added in the code that handles the non-UTF8
  reflex actions to ensure that the reflex action length would be
  notified in the logs rather than proceeding with processing it.
  
  The fix for this APAR is contained in the following maintenance
  packages:
  
    | fix pack | 6.3.0-TIV-ITM-FP0005
  

Temporary fix

• Reduce the reflex action size.
  

Comments

APAR Information

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

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

  OA48097

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  TEMS

• Fixed component ID

  5724C04MS

Applicable component levels

• R623 PSY

     UP