(ATS3-APP13) Tips and Tricks for Monitoring and Managing Symyx Notebook Server

PerformanceStefan Peng

Senior Technical Support EngineerStefan.peng@accelrys.com

The information on the roadmap and future software development efforts are intended to outline general product direction and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.

• Vault Server 6.6 Services and Processes Overview• Vault Server Management Best Practices• Use the Windows Server 2008 features to manage the

Vault Server• Resources and Q&A

Agenda

Overview: Important Vault Windows Services

• Symyx Vault Message Processing Service (VMPS)• Symyx Vault Server 1.0 (SymyxVS10, SVS)

• Renaissance Application Server (RAS)• Security Token Service (STS)• Query Service

• Symyx Workflow Service (WFS)• World Wide Web Publishing Service (IIS)

• Vault Public Web Service• Vault Private Web Service

Overview: Important Vault Processes

• Symyx Vault Workflow Service requires that the following services are running and functional

1. Symyx Vault Message Processing Service2. Symyx Vault Server 1.0 Service (RAS, STS, Query service) 3. World Wide Web Publishing Service

• Common reasons that the Symyx Workflow Service stops or will not start:

1. Other dependent services are not running2. Configuration issue3. Port conflicts with third-party software4. Cannot maintain a DB connection

Workflow Service Troubleshooting Tips

• Symyx Vault Message Processing Service requires that the following services are running and functional:

1. Symyx Vault Server 1.0 (RAS, STS, Query service)2. World Wide Web Publishing Service

• Common reasons that the Symyx Vault Message Processing Service stops or will not start:

1. Other dependent services are not running2. Configuration issue3. Cannot maintain a DB connection

Vault Message Processing Service Troubleshooting Tips

Vault Server 1.0 Service Troubleshooting Tips

• Symyx Vault Server 1.0 Service is NOT dependent on another service

• Check status pages for RAS and STS to verify that these services are running:

• Vault Public/Private Web Service is dependent on World Wide Web Publishing Service (IIS) to be running

• Check status pages for public/private web service to make sure that these services are running:

Vault Public/Private Web Service Troubleshooting Tips

• Restart Vault server(s) every 30 days– Automate by using Windows scheduled tasks or your network management platform

• Archive Vault and Tomcat logs every 30 days– Automate by using Windows scheduled tasks or your network management platform

• Restart all Vault services weekly– Automate by using Windows scheduled tasks or your network management platform

• Check disk fragmentation once a month– If fragmentation levels are consistently higher than 30% when defragmented monthly reduce the time to weekly

• If this is a common occurrence review disk activity on the server to reduce fragmentation levels

• Review Windows application and system event logs every 60 days for errors and correct errors as needed

• Integrate with existing network management environment for advanced service monitoring

Best Practices for Vault System Management

Microsoft Message Queues (MSMQ)

• Vault Message Processor manages asynchronous processing of Vault Objects via Microsoft Message Queues

Message Handlers

Message Handler Description

FullTextIndexer Adds any text provided by VO to the full text index

VaultObjectIndexMessageHandler Indexes any Property Set Definition (PSD) data (including structures and reactions)

PropertyIndexMessageHandler Indexes VO core properties to support Standard Search. These indexes are also used by Vault for internal querying (resolve assemblies, for example).

WorkflowActivator Enrolls items in workflows based on the active workflow associations

WorkflowTransitionMessageHandler Indexes workflow stage value after transitions

MessageHandlerStatus table: Status tracking

State Meaning

Queued Vault Object (VO) is currently queued for processing by the message handler

Processed VO was processed by the message handler

Failed VO could not be processed by the message handler

Re-queued VO has been submitted to the handler by the RequeueVaultObjects utility

Ignore VO is not subject to status tracking

Unknown VO has not been processed by the index status tracking feature

Automation Support with Windows Task Scheduler

• Status tracking and RequeueVaultObjects utility enables automation of message handling management activities with the help of Windows scheduled tasks:

– Large Re-Queuing Jobs can be split across several load-balanced servers • Strategy 1: Schedule re-queuing jobs against a large set of messages during long

periods of time with low system activity (nights and weekends)• Strategy 2 (Recommended): Constantly “trickle” relatively small numbers of

messages at regular intervals around the clockExample: 1 million Vault objects to reprocess with two load-balanced Vault Servers:

Scheduled job on Server 1: Re-queue 5000 objects on each full hourScheduled job on Server 2: Re-queue 5000 objects 5 min after each full

hour

Leverage Windows Server 2008 Event Viewer

• Utilize the new feature to create a new scheduled tasks directly from within Event Viewer based off of specific events recorded in the logs

• Respond to events in three ways:– Start a Program– Send an E-mail– Display a Message

Leverage Windows 2008 Data Collector Sets

Data Collector Set:– New feature added in Windows Server 2008– Organizes multiple data collection points into a single component – Outputs HTML reports which can be sent to support for troubleshooting– Can be configured to generate alerts when thresholds are reached– Use out-of-the box System Diagnostics/Performance report or create your

own customized reports– Scheduled task can be set up to Run Data Collector Sets at regular intervals – Caution: Collecting performance and system information can affect overall

system performance!

Leverage Windows 2008 Data Collector Sets

Managing Vault from Single Directory (Symbolic Links)

• Manage your Vault configuration files from a single directory– Create folder junction links to Vault

and Tomcat logs– Create file hard links to all

configuration files

• Directory can be shared out and accessed from a single management machine– e.g. manage several load-balanced

Vault Server from one computer

• Other Notebook sessions that may interest you– (ATS3-APP14) Troubleshooting Symyx Notebook client performance

• Resources– MonitoringGuidelines_AccelrysVaultServer.pdf– ServiceManagement.zip with Powershell scripts/scheduled tasks/batch files

• Email support@accelrys.com

• Big thanks to Chuck Collins, Senior Software Test Engineer, author of the Monitoring Guidelines for Vault Server

Resources and Q&A

The information on the roadmap and future software development efforts are intended to outline general product direction and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.

For more information on the Accelrys Tech Summits and other IT & Developer information, please visit:https://community.accelrys.com/groups/it-dev