Error in communicating with the DCA server

[woods8]

Hi,

Out of the blue my Ciscoworks server (LMS2.5 on Windows 2000 server)isnt working properly. I have rebooted, stop and started crmdmgtd daemons. Ensured all Ciscoworks services are up and running.

I can login but for example, when I try to view the inventory list I get "Error in communicating with DCA Server.

DCA Server may be down. Please start the DCA Server and then refresh the page."

I am unable to start any DFM database services??

Any advice?

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

[frankzehrer]

Hi Paul,

are any error messages in CSCOpx/Logs/DCRServer.log?

Some here in the forum had a problem with DCR and misconfigured or outdated certificates.

Have a Look in "Common Services -> Server -> Security -> Single-Server Management -> Certificate Setup"

Try to apply the certificate again.

HTH,

Frank

[woods8]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for your speedy response.

I see no errors in DCRServer.log except "No restore has happened"?

I have re-applied the certificate and rebooted the server but still no luck.

Any other logs I can check?

Question: I have never added the certificate to the trusted root store? Must I install Certificate Services from windows components?

Thanx.

[frankzehrer]

Hi Paul,

no there is no need for the certificate services. The certificate is selfsigned by the LMS.

I am not sure about the root cause for this problem.

I would try the following open a DOS Box change to the /CSCOpx/bin dir and enter pdshow.exe. For better "parsing" you should maybe redirect the output to a file: pdshow > pdshow_all.txt.

Now compare the completness of the list with my pdshow (see pdshow.txt) output.

Just check if there is any missing or failed service.

Best regards,

Frank

[frankzehrer]

Hi Paul,

have a look on the services with status "Never Started" or "Transient Terminated"

Forgot to mention in my last pos.

;-)

Frank

[woods8]

Hi Frank,

I have attached the pdshow.cmd output.

I have numerous "never started" services? Not sure if these are the culprits?

Your pdshow.txt only has 3 "transient" services where as I have a lot more.

Any further advice?

Thanks

[David Stanford]

You might want to try the above steps listed again, but try some additional this time:

From the Command line run dbpasswd.pl:

(NMSROOT/CSCOpx/bin)

Windows:

perl dbpasswd.pl dsn=cmf npwd=

Solaris

./dbpasswd.pl dsn=cmf npwd=

You can enter what you want for cmf_passwd

Then in the GUI:

- Server --> Security --> Single-Server Management --> Certificate Setup and

choose "Apply"

Then restart the daemon manager:

Windows:

net stop crmdgmtd

net start crmdmgtd

Solaris:

/etc/init.d/dmgtd stop

/etc/init.d/dmgtd start

[woods8]

I cant understand why changing the database password would solve my issue?

can you please elaborate on this.

Thanx.

[frankzehrer]

Hi Paul,

David?s suggestion is worth to follow.

There are serveral databases running and interacting in the LMS and it might be a problem with the credentials in the data transaction.

So have a try on this.

My day just started. I will go through the pdshow later. Don?t worry about "Never started" services. Mostly this is an indicator for never used functions in the LMS.

Till l8er,

Frank

[woods8]

Hi Frank,

It seems I can now communicate with the DCA server. But this was the case before I changed the db password.

I think I am having serious issues with the integrity of some databases. Device Fault manager is unusable - I get numerous errors each time I click tabs or headings.

A few weeks ago I performed a database backup of Ciscoworks because of a hard disk failure and there was no raid setup. Luckily I had scheduled a weekly database backup from Ciscoworks, from which I successfully restored the databases but I am not convinced this worked correctly.

Any advice?

My worst scenario would be to wipe Ciscoworks and start again.

Thanks in advance.

[frankzehrer]

Hi Paul,

sorry for the delay. Sometimes i have to work.

;-)

Try the following procedure. Take a backup before this, cause this will wipe out all databases!

Open a DOS shell and issue the command:

net stop crmdmgtd

Once you get the prompt back, open up the task manager and go to processes.

If any of these processes are listed, kill them manually:

sm_server

sm_authority

brstart

Now, go to CSCOpx\bin and issue the commands (case sensitive):

perl dbRestoreOrig.pl dsn=cmf dmprefix=Cmf

perl dbRestoreOrig.pl dsn=rmeng dmprefix=RME

perl dbRestoreOrig.pl dsn=dfmEpm dmprefix=EPM

perl dbRestoreOrig.pl dsn=dfmInv dmprefix=INV

perl dbRestoreOrig.pl dsn=dfmFh dmprefix=FH

Next, go to CSCOpx\campus\bin and issue the command:

perl reinitdb.pl -restore

To re-start the CiscoWorks application:

net start crmdmgtd

Wait 5-10 minutes and login to CiscoWorks

I had a similar problem on Solaris. There were severeal filesystem errors within the CSCOpx Folder.

In this particular case the uninstall and reinstall of the CiscoWorks was the solution! Hopefully you do not need this!

Best regards,

Frank