Web services client runtime troubleshooting tips

Use these tips to troubleshoot web services clients.

Each section in this topic is a problem that we might experience during the run time of a web services client. A solution is provided to help you troubleshoot the problem.

Use the ASYNC_TIMEOUT_MILLISECONDS property to avoid receiving a time out exception for JAX-WS synchronous clients

If our Java API for XML-based Web Services (JAX-WS) synchronous clients receive the web services exception, org.apache.axis2.AxisFault: Time out while waiting for the server to send the response, set the asynchronous timeout property, com.ibm.websphere.webservices.jaxws.Constants.ASYNC_TIMEOUT_MILLISECONDS, on the client to control the amount of time to wait for the response from the server before a time out error message is generated. Timeout property in milliseconds to set the amount of time to wait for a reply to an asynchronous request. The following example demonstrates how to set this property:

 ((BindingProvider) port).getRequestContext().put(com.ibm.websphere.webservices.jaxws.Constants.ASYNC_TIMEOUT_MILLISECONDS, 30000);

The connection to the remote host fails

If the following error, WSWS3713E: Connection to the remote host host_name failed, displays when we are trying to connect to the remote host, check the following items:

• If the host name listed in the error message is the correct host name, we need to verify that the application with the web service is running and is available.

• If the host name listed in the error message is the incorrect host name, we might need to update the WSDL file for the web service or override the endpoint URL that the host name needs to use. To override the web service endpoint URL, see the configuring web services client bindings information to learn how to configure the port information.

Running the web service client with an ibm-jaxrpc-client.jar file in a Solaris environment can cause an exception

If we use the -jar option, for example, java -jar <java_application>.jar, to specify a Java application in a Solaris environment, a class not found exception can occur. To avoid an exception, use the -classpath option instead of the -jar option, for example,

java -jar <your_client_application>.jar, <main_class_file>

The problem occurs because the Sun JDK classloading specification is more strict than the IBM JDK specifications.

We can make one of three changes to avoid an exception:

• Use the -classpath option instead of the -jar option, for example,

  java -jar <java_application>.jar, <main_class_file >
  

• Use the -Djava.ext.dirs option with the -jar option, for example,

  export WAS_HOME=/opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer ${WAS_HOME}/java/jre/bin/java 
  -Djava.ext.dirs=${WAS_HOME}/runtimes 
  -jar <your_client_application>.jar, <your_client_application>.args
  

• Modify Class Path in Manifest.MF to include the Java archive (JAR) files needed, for example,

  Class Path: /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/runtimes/ibm-jaxrpc-client.jar 
  

Resolving DNS causes performance problems when using HTTP to connect to a service endpoint interface that is not based on a private IP address

The DNS service is often not available when we use HTTP to connect to a service endpoint interface based on a private IP address. Therefore, performance is degraded during the DNS resolution.

This problem occurs when the outbound HTTP connector in the web service engine attempts to resolve the host address name and times out.

We can modify the HOSTS file for the targeted IP address to avoid the DNS resolution.

Runtime migration error

If we installed a web service application that was developed for a WebSphere Application Server version prior to v6, we might get the following exception:

WSWS3701E: Error: An exception was encountered. Use wsdeploy to deploy the application. 
This might correct the problem. The exception is <exception data>.

This exception indicates that a problem occurred while running the application that was developed with tools supported by versions prior to Version 6. A solution to the problem is to uninstall the application, run the wsdeploy command and redeploy the application.

The wsdeploy command is supported by JAX-RPC applications. The JAX-WS programming model implemented by the application server does not support the wsdeploy command. If our web services application contains only JAX-WS endpoints, we do not need to run the wsdeploy command, as this command is used to process only JAX-RPC endpoints.

WebServicesFault exception displays during the application server run time for certain Web Services Description Language (WSDL) files

A WebServicesFault exception displays during the application server run time for WSDL files that define operations with document style and literal use and use the SOAP header to transmit the input data.

If the WSDL files define the operation with document style and literal use and this operation maps the input to the SOAP header, the web services run time fails to find the correct operation for the target service and the WebServicesFault exception displays.

To solve the problem, change the WSDL files so that the operation does not have input that uses the SOAP header to transmit the data.

Increase the value of the ConnectionIOTimeOut parameter to avoid receiving an exception when hosting web services

When hosting web services on WAS, the following exception displays: java.net.SocketTimeOutException: Read Timed Out.

A slow network connection between the client and the web service causes this problem. In such cases, the HTTP socket might time out before the web service engine completely reads the SOAP request. In the majority of cases, a sudden increase in overall network activity causes this problem. The problem can also occur when the client is accessing the web service from a slow network connection and when the SOAP request has a lot of data.

To solve the problem, increase the ConnectionIOTimeOut parameter for the web container HTTP transport. The default is 5 seconds. Increase the value to 30 seconds or greater. See the HTTP transport custom properties information for setting the value using the administrative console. Type the following property name and value:

• Name: ConnectionIOTimeOut
• Value: 30

If the web service is hosted in a clustered environment, set the property on each application server in the cluster. If the application server is listening on more than one port number, set the property on all ports.

Increase the value of the syncTimeout parameter to avoid receiving an exception when hosting web services clients

We can also get the java.net.SocketTimeOutException: Read Timed Out error when the syncTimeout parameter used by the web services client is not set correctly. This is important to know because if we set the ConnectionIOTimeout parameter to zero with the expectation that a timeout is preventable as stated in the topic "HTTP transport custom properties" only the connection timeout is prevented. The only way to make sure that a request from an HTTP client, which can be a Web services client, does not time out, is to increase the syncTimeout parameter setting.

The syncTimeout parameter is only used by the web services client. This parameter can be set in the web services stub that is a timeout for the web services call.

To solve the problem, increase the syncTimeout parameter for the web services client. To learn how to set this parameter, see the configuring the JAX-RPC web services client bindings in the ibm-webservicesclient-bnd.xmi deployment descriptor information.

Executing a web services client application with session persistence turned on or in a clustered environment might cause a WebServicesFault error

When we run a web services client application with session persistence turned on or in a cluster environment, an error might display because the web service client attempts to use a connection that has been closed by the HTTP server. The following is an example of the error:

[mm/dd/yy hh:mm:ss:ttt EST] 0000006e SystemErr     R WebServicesFault
 faultCode: {http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/}Server.generalException
 faultString: java.io.IOException: Connection close: Read failed.Possible end of 
stream encountered. 
 faultActor: null
 faultDetail: 

We can avoid this error by following one of two ways:

• Set the com.ibm.websphere.webservices.http.requestResendEnabled property to true, for example, com.ibm.websphere.webservices.http.requestResendEnabled=true. When true, the web services client is programmed to re-send the request if the request has failed. Monitor the client runtime if we change the property value, because the request might be sent twice.

  For example, if the client is a banking application, and we set the com.ibm.websphere.webservices.http.requestResendEnabled property to true, a transaction might be posted twice to an account. See the configuring additional HTTP transport properties using the JVM custom property panel in the administrative console information to learn how to configure the com.ibm.websphere.webservices.http.requestResendEnabled property.

• (Linux) If we are using the IBM HTTP Server on an AIX or Linux operating systems, we can set the MaxSpareThreads property to the same value as the MaxClients property located in the httpd.conf file. For example, if the MaxClients=600, change the MaxSpareThreads to equal 600 (MaxSpareThreads=600).

  The advantage to choosing this way to avoid the error, is that the IBM HTTP Server does not shut down idle or near-idle connections. The disadvantage to this choice is that the IBM HTTP Server uses excess resources to keep extra threads available, even during periods of light activity. This choice can only be done on an AIX or Linux operating system.

Troubleshoot web services

Configure the JAX-RPC web services client bindings in the ibm-webservicesclient-bnd.xmi deployment descriptor

Configure additional HTTP transport properties using the JVM custom property panel in the administrative console

Implement JAX-RPC web services clients

Configure transport chains

Web services specifications and APIs