Crystal Enterprise. Overview. Contents. Troubleshooting a Communication Error

Transcription

1 Overview Contents When viewing the eportfolio, Crystal Management Console or a report distributed over the web the following error message is displayed: "Communication Error: Communication failed with all configured Web Component Servers because they are disabled or not currently running. If this problem continues, please contact the system administrator." (From this point on we will refer to the above error as the Communication Error ) This document explains the various causes and outlines the resolutions of this issue. The target audiences for this document are network administrators and web server administrators. INTRODUCTION... 3 BEFORE YOU BEGIN... 3 Restarting Services...4 Multihomed Computers...4 What are multihomed computers?... 4 Does Crystal Enterprise support multihomed computers?... 4 How can you verify if your computer is multihomed?... 4 What are the available options if your computer is multihomed?... 5 Web Connector Configuration...5 Web Component Server Configuration...6 VERIFYING NTFS PERMISSIONS... 6 TESTING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN COMPONENTS... 7 Using Ping to Test Communication...7 CONFIRMING PORT COMMUNICATION... 8 Checking the Availability of Port Services File...9 CHECKING THE REGISTRY... 9 RECREATING THE WCS SERVICE Removing the current WCS service /30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 1

2 Adding a new WCS service...11 Enabling the new WCS service...11 COMMUNICATION ERRORS RESOLVE BY HOT FIXES Communication error when viewing instance history of report with large number of instances CONTACTING CRYSTAL DECISIONS FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT /30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 2

3 Introduction To properly use this document you should be a Network Administrator with administrative rights to the server where Crystal Enterprise is installed. Communication Errors are commonly generated when there are communication issues between the Web Connector and the Web Component Server (WCS) or between the WCS and the Automated Processing Scheduler (APS). This document walks you through several troubleshooting steps to help you resolve this issue. Before you begin Before going into the issue in-depth, there are a few quick fixes to try that may help resolve the issue. Note The main application you will be using to troubleshoot will be the CCM. To open the application, go to: Start > Programs > Crystal Enterprise > Crystal Configuration Manager The Microsoft Windows Event Viewer is a valuable tool for troubleshooting. It allows you to view any error messages generated by the operating system and errors generated by various applications. The Application Log within the Event Viewer displays error messages that are generated by an application, like CE. Note To view the Event Viewer Application Log for Windows NT4, go to: Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Log menu > Application To view the Event Viewer Application Log for Windows 2000, go to: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Application Log 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 3

4 Restarting Services Restarting the WCS service re-initiates the connection with various components. To restart a service, open the Crystal Configuration Manager (CCM), highlight the WCS service, right-click the service, and select Restart. This stops and starts the service. If the WCS service is does not start, check the Windows Event Viewer Application Log for any relevant error messages. Multihomed Computers What are multihomed computers? Multihomed computers are computers with more than one IP address or more than one network adapter. Does Crystal Enterprise support multihomed computers? Crystal Enterprise (CE) has limited support for multihomed computers. CE will automatically use the first network adapter found after restarting. On a computer with more than one network adapter, a different network adapter may be recognized each time the computer is started which results in unexpected behavior. This behavior is due to the limitation of the CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) bus, which is the architecture that CE uses. How can you verify if your computer is multihomed? To check if your CE system has multiple IP addresses or multiple network adapters, use the ipconfig /all command. Open a command prompt window (Start > Run > type cmd ) and type ipconfig /all (ipconfig /all) as shown below: C:\>ipconfig /all Below is an example of what the ipconfig /all command will show you: Windows IP Configuration Host Name : CEWCS Primary DNS Suffix : Node Type : Mixed IP Routing Enabled : No WINS Proxy Enabled : No DNS Suffix Search List : crystaldecisions.com Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2: Connection-specific DNS Suffix..... : crystaldecisions.com Description : Intel PCI Adapter Physical Address : 00-A0-C9-86-FC-0F 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 4

5 DHCP Enabled : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled : Yes IP Address : Subnet Mask : Default Gateway : DHCP Server : DNS Servers : Primary WINS Server : Secondary WINS Server : If more than one ethernet adapter or IP addresses is listed, the computer is multihomed. What are the available options if your computer is multihomed? You have various options available to resolve this issue. If your computer is using Windows 2000, CE may be able to function on your multihomed computer. Please refer to knowledge base article C for further information. The knowledge base article can be found on our support site at by searching for the knowledge base number or title. Reconfigure your server to only use one IP address and one network adapter. Install CE on a server that is not multihomed. Web Connector Configuration The Web Connector must reference the correct hostname and port of the computer hosting the WCS service. To check if the Web Connector is referencing the correct WCS hostname from the computer hosting the Web Connector open the CCM: 1. Click on the Configure Web Connector icon in the toolbar. 2. A small window will display the WCS hostname and port. 3. Make sure that the hostname is the hostname of the computer hosting the WCS service and that the port being used is 6401 Note Name resolution is done between all the CE services. Therefore regardless whether the entry in the WCS Host Name is an IP address, if the Web Connector and WCS cannot resolve to each other by name it could cause the Communication Error. 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 5

6 For more information on virtual directories and path mappings in a CE environment, the technical brief Virtual Directories and Path Mapping, can be found on the Crystal Decisions support site at by searching for ce8_virtual_dir_path_mapping.pdf. Web Component Server Configuration The services that are shown in the CCM window are the services CE uses. For the services to function properly in a CE system the Automated Processing Scheduler (APS) must enable and recognize these services. You must check if the APS has enabled and recognized the WCS service. To check if the APS has enabled and recognized the WCS service, from the computer hosting the WCS service open the CCM: 1. Click the Enable/Disable Servers icon in the toolbar. 2. You will be prompted to log on, log on as the CE administrator. 3. Once logged on you will see which services the APS has enabled or disabled as well as which services the APS can recognize. a. The service will have a green arrow icon beside it indicating that it is enabled. If the service has a red arrow icon beside it, the service is disabled and must be enabled to properly function. To enable the service place a check mark in the box beside the service, this will change the icon from red to green therefore enabling the service. b. If the service is not present, the APS does not recognize the service. To find the reason why the APS does not recognize the service check the Microsoft Windows Event Viewer Application Log for any relevant error messages. Verifying NTFS Permissions Internet Information Server (IIS) uses a Windows user account for the Anonymous User to access various folders, files and resources on the computer. By default, IIS uses an account called IUSR_computername for the Anonymous User. The Anonymous User account loads and executes the Web Connector. If the Anonymous User account cannot access the bus components located in the c:\winnt\system32 directory the Communication Error could occur. IIS can be configured to use a user account for the Anonymous User that has sufficient rights, or sufficient rights can be granted to the IUSR_computername account. The Anonymous User account must have the following NTFS rights: 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 6

7 NTFS Rights Read Read and Execute Read and Execute Read and Execute File or Directory System32 directory (c:\winnt\system32) Ebus dll (c:\winnt\system32) Etc dll (c:\winnt\system32) Msvcp60.dll (c:\winnt\system32) For more information on the rights required for web reporting in a CE environment, the technical brief Required NTFS File Permissions, can be found on our support site at by searching for the file name ce8_ntfsrights.pdf. Testing Communication between Components If CE has been installed over several servers the most common cause of a Communication Error is when the Web Connector and the WCS cannot communicate over the network. Using Ping to Test Communication The Web Connector and the WCS must be able to communicate. You can test communication by using the ping command. 1. Make note of the IP address and hostname for both of the computers that contain the Web Connector and the WCS. For more information on verifying a computer s IP address and hostname, see the How can you verify if your computer is multihomed? section within this document. 2. From the computer hosting the Web Connector, open a command prompt window (Start > Run > type cmd ). 3. Ping the computer hosting the WCS by typing ping <WCS hostname>. For example, if the computer hosting the WCS is named "CEWCS" and the IP address for the WCS is , using ping CEWCS should return the following: C:\> ping CEWCS Pinging CEWCS [ ] with 32 bytes of data: If you do not receive a reply similar to the example above, you may be experiencing network related communications issues. Contact your network administrator for further troubleshooting. 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 7

8 4. Ping the computer hosting the WCS by typing ping a <WCS IP address>. The ping a <WCS IP address> command will reply with the hostname that the IP address is resolving. For example, if the IP address for the computer hosting the WCS is , the command ping a should return: C:\> ping a Pinging CEWCS [ ] with 32 bytes of data: If by pinging the WCS IP address the hostname returned is not the same hostname for the WCS as the one listed in step 3, you may be experiencing a network related communications issue. The IP address may be in use by another computer, therefore causing a network related communication issue. Contact your network administrator for further troubleshooting. 5. Repeat steps 1-4 from the computer hosting the WCS. If the computers hosting the Web Connector and WCS cannot communicate with each other by name or IP address, the issue is network related. Your network administrator must resolve this issue prior to continued troubleshooting with CE. Effective communication between the two components is a basic necessity to have CE function properly. Confirming Port Communication The WCS communicates with various other CE components using port Make sure that port 6401 is not in use and is available. You must also check to see if the operating system has properly reserved port 6401 for the WCS. Checking the Availability of Port 6401 You will need to make sure another application is not using the same port as the WCS. This section will help you check to see if the port is in use by another application. 1. You will first need to stop the WCS. In the CCM, click on the WCS service. Once the service is selected, right-click and select stop. This will stop the WCS service. 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 8

9 Checking the Registry 2. To disable the WCS service, in the CCM, go to the Enable/Disable icon in the toolbar. You will be prompted to log on, log on as the CE administrator. Once logged on, you must disable the WCS by clearing the box beside the service. After disabling the WCS, restart the computer. 3. Display the listening ports using the netstat /a command. Once the computer is finished restarting, open a command prompt window (Start > Run > type cmd ). The netstat /a command will display all the open ports in use by various applications. Below is an example of how the command should be used: C:\>netstat /a The result of the command will show you all connections and listening ports. If you do find port 6401 in the listing of ports, which indicates the port is in use by another application other than CE. You must take steps to disable the other application using port Using the outlined steps you have checked the availability of port Ensuring port 6401 is available for use by the WCS is key to resolving the Communication Error. Services File Windows NT/2000 uses a file called services to list all of the known ports and services that installed applications use on the system. CE adds a handful of entries to the services file once it is installed on the system. If the proper entries are not present, the WCS may not be able to use the port. To check this, complete the following steps: 4. Navigate to C:\Winnt\System32\Drivers\ETC\Services 5. Open the Services file in Notepad. 6. Check for the existence of an entry such as: info-was 6401/tcp # 7. If the entry is not there, add it. Search for the entry in the services file. If the entry is not present, add the entry and restart the computer for the changes to take affect. The hostname listed in the Microsoft Windows Registry must match the hostname listed in the Configure Web Connector section of the CCM. If the two values do not match it has been known to cause the Communication Error. Follow the steps below to resolve the issue: Warning For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 9

10 before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). 1. Verify the WCS hostname listed in the CCM: a. Open the CCM (Start > Programs >CE > Crystal Configuration Manager). b. Click the Configure Web Connector icon in the toolbar to open the Web Connector Configuration window. Make note of the WCS Host Name. Click OK to close the window. c. Close the CCM. 2. Verify the WCS hostname listed in the Microsoft Windows Registry: a. Open the Windows Registry Editor (Start > Run > type regedt32 ). This opens the Registry Editor and displays the directory tree and their contents in two separate windows. b. Maximize the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window and navigate to one the following location. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Seagate Software/8.0/Web Connector/WCSHosts c. In the larger window the WCS hostname will be displayed in the Registry key WCSHost: REG_SZ:. For the example below the WCS hostname is CEWCS : WCSHost: REG_SZ: CEWCS If the hostname listed in the Registry does not match the hostname listed in the Configure Web Connector section of the CCM, this may cause the Communication Error. d. To resolve the issue double-click the WCSHost: REG_SZ: Registry key and input the correct WCS hostname. Click OK to complete the process. e. Close the Registry. 3. Restart the computer for the changes to take affect. Once the above steps are completed, test the system to see if it resolved the issue. Recreating the WCS service In the CCM you can create and delete CE services. 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 10

11 Recreate the WCS service if all previous troubleshooting attempts have not improved the issue. Recreating the WCS service restores its connections to various CE components. Removing the current WCS service To remove the current WCS service on the computer hosting the WCS: 1. Open the CCM. 2. In the CCM click on the Enable/Disable Servers icon and log on using the CE administrator account. This opens a small window displaying the services that are enabled and disabled. 3. Once logged on clear the box next to the Crystal Web Component Server to disable the service. Then click ok to close the window 4. In the CCM click on the Crystal Web Component Server > right-click > select stop. This will stop the service. 5. Once the service has stopped, while the Crystal Web Component Server is still highlighted, click on the Delete icon in the toolbar to remove the current WCS. Adding a new WCS service To add a new WCS service on the computer hosting the WCS: 1. Open the CCM. 2. In the CCM click on the Add Server icon in the toolbar. This opens the Add Crystal Server Wizard. 3. Click next and you will be prompted to select a Server Type, Display Name and Server Name. a) Under the Server Type drop-down box, select the Crystal Web Component Server. b) Keep the defaults for the Display Name and Server Name fields c) Click next for the following window. 4. You will then be prompted for the Port and APS Name. a) Leave the port as it is by default ( Use default port number should be selected). b) The APS Name should be the hostname of the computer. c) Click next then finish to complete the process. Enabling the new WCS service To enable the new WCS on the computer hosting the WCS: 1. Open the CCM. 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 11

12 2. Click on the Crystal Web Component Server > right-click > select start. This will start the service. 3. In the CCM click the Enable/Disable Servers icon. 4. You will be prompted to log on, log on as the CE administrator. This opens a small window displaying the services that are enabled and disabled. 5. Enable the Crystal Web Component Server (2) by selecting the check box beside it. Click OK to finish enabling the service. 6. In the CCM, click on the Crystal Web Component Server > right-click > restart, to start the new WCS service. Now you have completed the process of recreating the WCS service. Test the server to see if it has resolved the Communication Error. Communication Errors Resolve by Hot Fixes Communication error when viewing instance history of report with large number of instances Some users experience a "Communication error" when they view the history of instances for a report object through eportfolio and/or the Crystal Management Console. This occurs when there are a large number of instances for each report object. This is a known issue with Crystal Enterprise (CE) version and has been tracked. The Track ID is: ADAPT This issue has been assigned the Escalation ID (EID) For information regarding the hot Fixes that address this issue, go to and search for knowledge base article c Contacting Crystal Decisions for Technical Support We recommend that you refer to the product documentation and that you visit our Technical Support web site for more resources. Self-serve Support: Support: Telephone Support: 6/30/ :08 AM Copyright 2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 12