Warren,
I first off apologize if any of this is rudimentary, or basic...but I want
to make sure that everything is clear and understood properly :)
So, there are two different types of plugins
C - These plugins are loaded in the ar.cfg file with a line similar to
Plugin: ServerAdmin.dll
This is the only configuration, in general for these. The C plugin server
is loaded through the armonitor.cfg with a line that looks similar to
"<install path>\arplugin.exe" -i "<install path>" -m
So, in your final example, the plug-in does not exist for server
administration....the 'Plugin: ServerAdmin.dll' is the line you are looking
for to exist in your ar.cfg file.
The log file for C plugins is turned on/off through the Server Information
Console for with the name 'Plugin'.
The other Plugin server is going to be a Java one
Java ones are significantly more complicated. They are defined in multiple
places. First, in ar.cfg file, you will see a line similar to
Server-Plugin-Alias: ARSYS.ALRT.TWITTER ARSYS.ALRT.TWITTER
<server-name>:9999
This line has several components that need to be explained, here is a
template of this
Server-Plugin-Alias: <what the workflow calls it> <what it's configured
name is> <server the plugin server runs on>:<port the plugin server runs on>
So....typically the first two are the same, unless you are wanting to run
two different instances of the same plugin, in which case the alias (the
first parameter would be different on the two instances, but the second
would be the same)....
Now, in Server group scenarios, each server in the server group is
typically going to be running its own plugin servers, and you want the
server to connect to its OWN plugin server, so the <server-name> is
typically going to be that host, not the 'group' name, so I'll give an
example
Server 1:
Server-Name: remedy-prod
Server-Connect-Name: remedy-prod-node1
Server 2:
Server-Name: remedy-prod
Server-Connect-Name: remedy-prod-node2
So, in this case, remedy-prod is going to be typically a load balancer that
at any point in time would point to either of the individual nodes, where
as remedy-prod-node1/2, are going to be DNS aliases (or even host names)
that point to a specific node.
So, you will want your server-name in the Server-Plugin-Alias defined to
point to either node 1 or node 2 (as appropriate)
The 4th piece is the port. This is defined in the pluginsvr_config.xml for
that particular plugin server...the default one is 9999, but in ITSM, there
are typically 3 or 4 of them that are running at any given time, so the
port is typically specific to the server...I don't use ITSM, so I don't
know their default ports for various functions
Now....the Java plugin server is also started by the armonitor.cfg file,
but looks more like this
"<path to java>\java" -Xmx512m -classpath "<path to
install>\pluginsvr;<path to
install>\pluginsvr\arpluginsvr81_build001.jar;<path to
install>\approval\bin\armaskingImpl81_build001.jar;<path to
install>\arserver\api\lib\arcmnapp81_build001.jar"
com.bmc.arsys.pluginsvr.ARPluginServerMain -x <server-name> -i "<path to
install>" -m
Now, the important thing I have found about this line is that the -i
parameter should match what you have in your ar.cfg as the
'server-name'...it doesn't really NEED to as long as both respond to the
same machine and such, but I have seen problems such as you are reporting
that it can't connect, and I have never had anyone report that after making
them the same, they still had problems.
So, that's how the plugin server is loaded, and how the Remedy server
references the plugin name, now, going back to what loads it...that's in
the pluginsvr_config.xml file...for the one that defaults to 9999, that's
in the <install directory>\pluginsvr folder. Using the same example of the
ARSYS.ALRT.TWITTER plugin, this is what actually LOADS that plugin
<plugin>
<name>ARSYS.ALRT.TWITTER</name>
<pathelement type="location"><path to
install>/pluginsvr/aralerttwitter81_build001.jar</pathelement>
<classname>com.bmc.arsys.plugins.alert.twitter.TwitterAlertDeliveryPlugin</classname>
</plugin>
so, all 3 of those elements (ar.cfg, armonitor.cfg,
and pluginsvr_config.xml) must be in place properly for the plugin to load
properly.
Now...logging for each Java Plugin server is defined in the
respective log4j_pluginsvr.xml file for each plugin server. You will find
an entry in that file that looks something like
<appender class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender" name="PluginLog">
<param name="File" value="<path to
install>/ARServer/Db/arjavaplugin.log"/>
<param name="MaxFileSize" value="5MB"/>
<!-- Keep two backups -->
<param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="2"/>
<layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
<param name="ConversionPattern" value="%d %-5p [%t] %C (%F:%L) -
%m%n"/>
</layout>
</appender>
and then several lines that look like
<logger additivity="true" name="com.bmc.arsys.pluginsvr">
<level value="warn"/>
</logger>
I typically set all of these to debug. These are not changeable during
runtime like the C plugin is...so I just set them to debug and let them run
constantly.
So.....with this, you should be able to take a look at your configurations
and ensure that everything is correct.....please come back and ask any
clarifying question you might have :)
On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 9:06 AM, Warren R. Baltimore II <
warrenbaltim...@gmail.com> wrote:
> **
>
> Good morning/afternoon/evening!
>
> Recently, we've been seeing plugin errors creeping into our environment.
> They have now gotten to a point where the system can no longer function as
> designed.
>
> ARS 7.6.04 Patch 5
>
> CMDB 7.6.05 Patch 5
>
> Mid-Tier 7.6.04 Patch 5
>
> Apache Tomcat 6.0.20
>
> Windows 2008 Standard Server (virtual)
>
> MS SQL 2008
>
> We are seeing similar issues with different functionality on both our Dev
> and Prod environments.
>
> PRODUCTION
>
> 3 identical application servers and 3 identical Mid Tier servers (running
> Apache Tomcat 6.0.20).
>
> We see the following error when we try to create a "Seat" in our CMDB.
>
> [SERVER_GROUP_NAME] (9555) BMC.FILTERAPI.NORM.ENGINE : RPC: Miscellaneous
> tli error - System error (connection refused)
>
> If we attempt to open the Impact Simulator, we see a similar error:
> Cannot establish a network connection to the AR System Plug-In server :
> [SERVER_GROUP_NAME] (9556) AIS.FILTERAPI : RPC: Miscellaneous tli error -
> System error (Connection refused) (ARERR 8760)
>
> We turned down 2 of the 3 app servers and did not receive the error.
> However when we bring up the other 2, we continue to see them.
>
>
> DEVELOPMENT
>
> We see similar errors, but they come about differently.
>
> Single app server and a single mid tier.
>
> When we open the "AR System Administration: Server Information" form, we
> see this error:
>
>
>
> The specified plug-in does not exist. : REMEDY.ARDBC.SERVER.ADMINISTRATION
> (ARERR 8755)
>
>
>
> TROUBLESHOOTING TO DATE
>
> I've checked our ar.cfg files and armonitor files and they seem to be
> pointing to all the right places. I can't find anything that is specific
> to this error in the kbase (although I've found things similar). When I
> run through the troubleshooting for these similar things, everything seems
> to be OK.
>
> We have turned on just about every type of logging we can thing of. And
> other than the Plug in does not exist error, we haven't found anything.
>
>
>
> I suspect I have missed something. I'm hoping this will ring a bell with
> someone out there.
>
> I did open a ticket with BMC. They have escalated the issue to
> Engineering.
>
> Any help would be most appreciated.
>
>
> Thank you in Advance!
>
> Warren
>
>
> --
> Warren R. Baltimore II
> Remedy Developer
> 410-533-5367
> _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_
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