WebSphere Application Server StaleConnectionException

Resolving The Problem

There are a few possible ways to address a SCE issue.

• Write your application code to catch SCE's and retry the connection request x number of retries. This is the preferred method.
  
  
• Configure the datasource minimum connections to 0 and the Unused timeout value well below whatever is timing out the connections in the network. This causes WebSphere to drop connections BEFORE the external source, so WebSphere will not have invalid connections to retry. Active connections which are closed will still be returned to the free pool and available for re-use as long as they are used before the Unused timer expires. This allows you to still realize the benefit of a connection pool but minimize the SCE exposure. This option will not eliminate all SCE's, but is a good alternative for situations where you are aware of the cause of the SCE such as firewalls or database server maintenance.
  
  
• Configure connection validation to test every connection obtained from the free pool before use. This will resolve the problem, but can affect performance, depending on the amount of connections obtained. Information on "Validate new connections" and "Validate existing pooled connections" can be found in Knowledge Center article WebSphere Application Server data source properties.