Unable to start a server process

If you are unable to start an application server, the problem is likely to be either a configuration or an application error. Both the administrative console and the
startServer script output will return an error telling you where to look.

Note: The steps outlined here are also true for a deployment manager or nodeagent.

àData to collect:

If you are trying to start the server through the administrative console, open a command window and try to start the server using the startServer command.
The following logs and output can be helpful in determining why you cannot start a server:

Deployment manager                   à SystemOut.log, SystemErr.log
Node agent                                      àSystemOut.log, SystemErr.log
Application server                          àSystemOut.log, SystemErr.log, startServer.log

If these logs do not make clear the cause of the problem, you might also need to trace the script.

àWhat to look for:
When a server fails to start, you need to review the output from the startServer command and the logs for that application server for messages that tell you at what point the server failed.

Example 4-12 shows the output from a startServer command that indicates why a server will not start.

Example 4-12 Unable to start a server from the command line
C:\IBM\WAS6\AppServer\profiles\StandAlone\bin>startserver server1
ADMU7701I: Because server1 is registered to run as a Windows Service, the
request to start this server will be completed by starting the associated Windows Service.
ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
C:\IBM\WAS6\AppServer\profiles\StandAlone\logs\server1\startServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the StandAlone profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: server1
ADMU3028I: Conflict detected on port 8880. Likely causes: a) An instance of the server server1 is already running b) some other process is using port 8880
ADMU3027E: An instance of the server may already be running: server1
ADMU0111E: Program exiting with error:
com.ibm.websphere.management.exception.AdminException: ADMU3027E: An
instance of the server may already be running: server1
ADMU1211I: To obtain a full trace of the failure, use the -trace option.
ADMU0211I: Error details may be seen in the file:
C:\IBM\WAS6\AppServer/profiles/StandAlone\logs\server1\startServer.log

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In Example 4-12, the output tells us that some other process is using one of the ports that this server needs in order to start. You can confirm that the port is in use with the netstat command.
Example 4-13 shows that some process is listening on port 8880. In UNIX, you can determine what process is listening on that port using the lsof command.

Example 4-13 Output from the netstat command
TCP 9.42.171.145:8880 9.42.171.145:2698 TIME_WAIT
TCP 9.42.171.145:8880 9.42.171.145:2739 TIME_WAIT

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Example 4-14 shows the output from the lsof command. This output tells you
that a Java process is listening on TCP port 8880. The process ID is 12968.
Example 4-14 Using lsof to check for open ports

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[root@m23vnx60 root]# lsof -i|grep 8880
java 12968 wasadmin 135u IPv4 655014 TCP *:8880 (LISTEN)

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By checking the server logs, you can determine if the server has actually started.
Example 4-15 Starting a server loses contact
C:\IBM\WAS6\AppServer\profiles\StandAlone\bin>startserver server1
ADMU7701I: Because server1 is registered to run as a Windows Service, the
request to start this server will be completed by starting the
associated Windows Service.
ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
C:\IBM\WAS6\AppServer\profiles\StandAlone\logs\server1\startServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the StandAlone profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: server1
ADMU3200I: Server launched. Waiting for initialization status.
java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
…
Caused by: com.ibm.websphere.management.exception.AdminException: Failed while trying to start the Windows Service, retCode = -1

You might be able to resolve this by setting the SOAP timeout parameter in the
following file:
<WAS_install_root>/profiles/<profile>/properties/soap.client.props

If the application server logs do not show the server trying to start, then it is possible that the deployment manager or node agent is not able to communicate with the application server. Reviewing the deployment manager or node agent logs should help you determine the cause of the failure.