Troubleshooting a database connection

A faulty JDBC driver or data source can prevent you from accessing an IBM Connections™ application. To troubleshoot and correct these problems, test the database connections.

Before you begin

If you encounter an HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error when attempting to access an IBM Connections application for the first time, ensure that you are using the correct web address. If the web address is correct and you still experience problems, continue with this task.

(Oracle only) Ensure that the Statement cache size for the data sources on WebSphere Application Server is no larger than 50. A higher value could lead to Out Of Memory errors on the application server instance.

About this task

To test a database connection, complete the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Log in to the WebSphere® Application Server Integrated Solutions Console of the Deployment Manager.
  2. Select Resources > JDBC > Data sources.
  3. Click a data source and check the values of the database name, server name, and port number. If you discover an error, change the incorrect value. Click OK and Save, and then retest the database connection.
  4. Select the check box for the application whose data source you want to test. The data sources are named as follows:
    • Activities: activities
    • Blogs: blogs
    • Communities: communities
    • Bookmarks: dogear
    • Files: files
    • Forums: forums
    • Home page: homepage
    • Metrics: metrics
    • Mobile: mobile
    • News: news
    • OAuth: oauth provider
    • Profiles: profiles
    • Search: search
    • Wikis: wikis
  5. Click Test connection.
  6. If the connection fails, make sure the JAAS Auth alias information is correct.
    1. Click a data source to review its settings.
    2. Click JAAS - J2C authentication data and then click the JAAS entry for the application. The JAAS entries are named as follows:
      • Activities: activitiesJAASAuth
      • Blogs: blogsJAASAuth
      • Communities: communitiesJAASAuth
      • Bookmarks: dogearJAASAuth
      • Files: filesJAASAuth
      • Forums: forumJAASAuth
      • Home page: homepageJAASAuth
      • Metrics: metricsJAASAuth
      • Mobile: mobileJAASAuth
      • News: newsJAASAuth
      • Profiles: profilesJAASAuth
      • Search: searchJAASAuth
      • Wikis: wikisJAASAuth
    3. Make sure that the ID in the user ID field is the same User ID that you provided during installation when you were asked to specify a user ID for the database connector.
      The user ID should be one of the following default IDs:
      Table 1. Default user ID for Connections databases
      Application DB2® database DB2 User ID Oracle database Oracle User ID SQL Server database SQL Server User ID
      Activities OPNACT lcuser ORCL ACTIVITIES OPNACT OAUSER
      Blogs BLOGS lcuser ORCL BLOGS BLOGS BLOGSUSER
      Communities SNCOMM lcuser ORCL SNCOMMUSER SNCOMM SNCOMMUSER
      Dogear DOGEAR lcuser ORCL DOGEARUSER DOGEAR DOGEARUSER
      Files FILES lcuser ORCL FILESUSER FILES FILESUSER
      Forums FORUM lcuser ORCL DFUSER FORUM DFUSER
      Home page HOMEPAGE lcuser ORCL HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGEUSER
      Metrics METRICS lcuser ORCL METRICSUSER METRICS METRICSUSER
      Mobile MOBILE lcuser ORCL MOBILEUSER MOBILE MOBILEUSER
      News HOMEPAGE lcuser ORCL HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGEUSER
      Profiles PEOPLEDB lcuser ORCL PROFUSER PEOPLEDB PROFUSER
      Search HOMEPAGE lcuser ORCL HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGE HOMEPAGEUSER
      Wikis WIKIS lcuser ORCL WIKISUSER WIKIS WIKISUSER
      Consider reentering the password to make sure that the value that you specified at installation is correct.
    4. After applying any changes, click OK. Return to the data source properties page, and then click Test connection.
  7. If the connection fails again, make sure the JDBC driver library location information is being detected by WebSphere Application Server.
    1. From the Integrated Solution Console navigation bar, expand Environment, and then click WebSphere Variables.
    2. Scroll down the list to find the database location variable. The variables are named as follows:
      • Activities: ACTIVITIES_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Blogs: BLOGS_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Communities: COMMUNITIES_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Dogear: DOGEAR_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Files: FILES_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Forums: FORUMS_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Home page: HOMEPAGE_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Metrics: MOBILE_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Mobile: NEWS_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • News: NEWS_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Profiles: PROFILES_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Search: SEARCH_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
      • Wikis: WIKIS_JDBC_DRIVER_HOME
    3. Ensure that the corresponding file path in the Value column is the same file path that you specified in the JDBC driver library field when you ran the installation wizard. For example:
      C:\IBM\DB2\SQLLIB\java
      If the file path is incorrect, click the variable name and edit the file path in the Value field.
    4. Select JDBC > Data sources to return to the data source. Select the check box next to the data source, and then click Test connection.