Quarantine

In Automic Automation, internal messages provide fundamental information about object processing based on the object settings. This is why is so important to check the content of these messages. When Automic Automation issues internal messages that refer to invalid processes, it also cancels the corresponding server process. To protect your system, Automic Automation intercepts such messages and sends them to the Quarantine page of the Administration. This is important because quarantined messages do not affect the server processes.

When a message is intercepted and quarantined, a notification is sent to the users that have the Create diagnostic information privilege and a modification right for server processes. For more information, see Granting Automation Engine Privileges.

As an Automic Automation administrator, you monitor the quarantined messages and perform further analysis based on the information they provide.

Important! Quarantined messages are helpful for further analysis. In some cases messages should not be released without consulting CA Automic Support first, but it is always advisable to contact support before releasing a message.

This page includes the following:

The Quarantine List

The following columns are displayed by default:

  • Message number

  • Alarm

    Indicates the message has not been acknowledged

  • Status symbol

    • Unprocessed: May be released after prior contact with CA Automic Support

    • Locked: Has been logged for analysis reasons but cannot be released

    • Processed: Has successfully been processed and can be deleted

  • Occurrence time

    Time when the message was quarantined

  • Reason for failure

  • Replays

    Number of release attempts

  • XML Stream

    Message sections (if retrievable) for analysis

For more information, see Main Page Tables.

In the toolbar, the buttons Export and Refresh are available by default. These buttons allow you to refresh the content of the table and export it as a CSV file.

Deactivating Internal Message Checking

To deactivate this function use the parameter exception= in the Automation Engine's INI file. For more information, see Automation Engine.

Invalid Messages

Upon detecting an invalid message, the system processes them as follows:

  1. The message is put into quarantine.
  2. All database modifications made by this message are canceled.
  3. Further message information is written to the Automation Engine's log file.
  4. A trace file of the following name is created:
    UC4Dump_name of the Server process_RunID_timestamp.txt
    Example
    c:\AUTOMIC\server\temp\UC4Dump_UC2T#WP002_40373135_20060406144901543.txt
  5. If possible, a dump is created.
  6. The ServiceManager restarts the aborted server process.
  7. If the administrator has set the EXECUTE_ON_EXCEPTION key in the UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS variable, the specified object starts. For more information, see EXECUTE_ON_EXCEPTION.

Working with Quarantined Messages

You have the following options when Automic Automation quarantines a message:

  • Open a case with Broadcom's Support

    Check if there is a dump file in the Automation Engine's /bin directory. If so, open a case with support. Send in the following:

    • All WP and CP logs.

    • The dump.

    The logs and the dump are usually enough to find the root cause of the message

  • Issue happens for the first time

    The issue might be a limited incident. You can mark it as read and wait to see if it pops up again with no further action. You can set up memory tracing to capture it, in case it happens again:

    1. In the Administration perspective, go to the Processes and Utilization page.

    2. Select the process and right-click to select Advanced Options. This opens a dialog where you can specify trace flags and additional settings.

    3. Change TCP/IP to 2.

    4. Change Database to 4.

    5. Make sure that Memory Trace is selected.

    6. Update the Trace Search Key to *U00011885*.

    7. Click Apply.

    If the issue occurs again, it will create tcp/ip=2 and database=4 traces. Open a case with Broadcom Support and send in all WP and CP logs and traces.

    Important! Be aware that, if any other traces are turned on, they will overwrite the settings for the memory trace and you will have to set the set up the memory tracing again.

  • Release the quarantine message with full tracing

    If the issue happens again, it will write out full tracing. Send out all WP and CP logs as well as the dump file (if available) to Broadcom's Support team:

    1. Right-click the quarantined message and select Release.

    2. On the popup dialog, turn all trace options to the highest level.

    3. Release the message so that it gets processed. The traces are crated in the Automation Enginetemp folder.

    4. Open a case with Support and send all WP and CP logs as well as traces.

    Note: If there is no dump file already in the Automation Engine's /bin directory, this might indicate that it is an isolated incident. In this case, to avoid unnecessary risks when releasing a quarantined message, choose any of the other options described above.

Showing Messages

Right-click the relevant message and select Show Message to display the internal, technical information of the message. Click Close to go back to the Quarantine list.

Releasing Messages

Releasing messages allow you to reprocess tasks.

Note: Only release messages after contacting CA Automic Support.

Right-click the relevant message and select Release. A dialog opens in which trace options can be set. Select the server process you want to use to process the message and select Release. The status of the message changes to Processed and a notification at the top of your system shows the message has been released successfully. For more information, see Diagnostic Tools.

Note: Only the primary work process executes PWP messages.

The trace options that are specified are deactivated after the execution attempt. If the message could be processed without failure, it remains in the list but can be deleted with a context menu command.

Acknowledging Messages

Right-click one or more unprocessed messages an select Acknowledge to mark the messages as read. After acknowledging a message the alarm icon is no longer displayed in the Alarm column.

Deleting Messages

Right-click one or more messages and select Delete to remove them from the list after being successfully processed. You will be prompted to confirm your action.

See also:

UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS - Systemwide Settings