IT34399: Managed File Transfer agent intermittently generates an FDC whenfteShowAgentDetails is run with the -d option

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• An IBM MQ Managed File Transfer agent has been configured with
  one or more resource monitors. Monitors are added to, and
  removed from, the agent at regular intervals.
  
  If the:
  
    fteShowAgentDetails -d <agent_name>
  
  command is run for this agent, it occasionally returns the
  following warning message:
  
  BFGCL0634W: Diagnostics were requested, but agent '<agent name>'
  is either not running, not located on the local system, or you
  do not have sufficient privileges to run this command.
  
  At the same time as the warning message is returned, the agent
  generates an FDC containing the information shown below:
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  Class:      com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentIPCListener
  ...
  Method:     performGetDiagnosticDataCommand
  Probe:      FFDC_003
  Cause:      java.lang.NullPointerException
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.monitor.MonitorDiagnosticData.putProperties(Monit
  orDiagnosticData.java:211)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentDiagnosticData.putMonitorProperties(Ag
  entDiagnosticData.java:307)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentDiagnosticData.generate(AgentDiagnosti
  cData.java:138)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentIPCListener.performGetDiagnosticDataCo
  mmand(AgentIPCListener.java:167)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.ipc.AbstractIPCListener.onMessage(AbstractIPCList
  ener.java:62)
  at com.ibm.wmqfte.ipc.IPCServer.onMessage(IPCServer.java:73)
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  

Local fix

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  USERS AFFECTED:
  This issue affects users of MQ Managed File Transfer who:
  
  - Have agents configured with one or more resource monitors.
  - And run the "fteShowAgentDetails -d <agent_name>" to get
  information about that agent.
  
  
  Platforms affected:
  MultiPlatform
  
  ****************************************************************
  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
  The fteShowAgentDetails command is used to get information about
  an agent. By default, this command gets the information from the
  coordination queue manager for the Managed File Transfer
  topology that the agent belongs to. However, if the command is
  run on the same machine as the agent and the -d parameter is
  specified, then the command uses interprocess communication
  (IPC) to connect directly to the agent process in order to get
  the information - that information is then written to two
  places:
  
  - The console where the command was run from.
  - A file called
  diagnostics.<yyyyMMdd>.<HHmmss>.<ssss>.<number>.properties in
  the agent's log directory
  (<MQ_DATA_PATH>\mqft\logs\<coordination_qmgr_name>\agents\<agent
  _name>\logs)
  
  More details on the command can be found in the:
  
    fteShowAgentDetails: display MFT agent details
  
  topic in the MQ section of IBM Knowledge Center. The URI for the
  topic in the MQ 9.1.x section of IBM Knowledge Center is:
  https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSFKSJ_9.1.0/com.
  ibm.mq.ref.adm.doc/show_agent_cmd_umb.htm
  
  
  When the fteShowAgentDetails command is run with the -d
  parameter specified, and the specified agent has one or more
  resource monitors associated with it, an internal thread within
  the agent collects diagnostic information from each of the
  monitors in turn, and includes that information in:
  
  - The output written to the console.
  - And the
  diagnostics.<yyyyMMdd>.<HHmmss>.<ssss>.<number>.properties file.
  
  An example of the output that is written to the console is shown
  below:
  
  ------------------------------------------------------
  Monitor 0 Diagnostics:
      Name:                              TESTMONITOR
      Status:                            STARTED
      Resource Type:                     directory
      Resource:                          C:\Test
      Poll Interval:                     1 days
      Batch Size:                        1
      Condition:                         Match
      Pattern:                           * (wildcard)
      Exclude Pattern:                   No Pattern
      Executing:                         false
      Last Execute Start Time:           2020-10-05T13:29:42.631Z
      Last Execute End Time:             2020-10-05T13:29:42.733Z
      Last Execute Match Count:          0
  ------------------------------------------------------
  
  Now, the thread within the agent that was processing the command
  expected every monitor to have a "Last Execute Start Time".
  However, if a resource monitor had just been created at the time
  when the fteShowAgentDetails command was run with the -d
  parameter specified, then it was possible that it would not yet
  have performed a poll and so would not have a "Last Execute
  Start Time" value. As a result, a NullPointerException was
  generated, which caused:
  
  - The:
  
      fteShowAgentDetails -d <agent_name>
  
  command to fail with the message:
  
  BFGCL0634W: Diagnostics were requested, but agent '<agent_name>'
  is either not running, not located on the local system, or you
  do not have sufficient privileges to run this command.
  
  - An empty file called
  diagnostics.<yyyyMMdd>.<HHmmss>.<ssss>.<number>.properties to be
  created in the agent's log directory
  (<MQ_DATA_PATH>\mqft\logs\<coordination_qmgr_name>\agents\<agent
  _name>\logs)
  
  - An FDC to be generated in the
  <MQ_DATA_PATH>\mqft\logs\<coordination_qmgr_name>\agents\<agent
  name>\logs\ffdc directory, which contained the following
  information:
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  ....
  Class:      com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentIPCListener
  ...
  Method:     performGetDiagnosticDataCommand
  Probe:      FFDC_003
  Cause:      java.lang.NullPointerException
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.monitor.MonitorDiagnosticData.putProperties(Monit
  orDiagnosticData.java:211)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentDiagnosticData.putMonitorProperties(Ag
  entDiagnosticData.java:307)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentDiagnosticData.generate(AgentDiagnosti
  cData.java:138)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.agent.AgentIPCListener.performGetDiagnosticDataCo
  mmand(AgentIPCListener.java:167)
  at
  com.ibm.wmqfte.ipc.AbstractIPCListener.onMessage(AbstractIPCList
  ener.java:62)
  at com.ibm.wmqfte.ipc.IPCServer.onMessage(IPCServer.java:73)
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  

Problem conclusion

• To resolve this issue, IBM MQ Managed File Transfer agents have
  been updated so that if a resource monitor has not started a
  poll at the time that the:
  
    fteShowAgentDetails -d <agent_name>
  
  command is run, then the output from the command will not
  include the fields:
  
  - Last Execute Start Time
  - Last Execute End Time
  
  for that monitor. This ensures that the command completes
  successfully and generates the expected ouput.
  
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  The fix is targeted for delivery in the following PTFs:
  
  Version    Maintenance Level
  v9.x CD    9.2.0
  v9.1 LTS   9.1.0.7
  
  The latest available MQ 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

  IBM MQ MFT V9.1

• Fixed component ID

  5724H7272

Applicable component levels