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IBMOverviewofISIMrequestretryprocessUnitedStates

OverviewofISIMrequestretryprocess
Technote(FAQ)
Question
HowdoesISIMhandlerequestssubmittedduringreconciliations,andrequestssubmittedforinactiveadapters?

Answer
ThefollowinginformationstillappliestoISIM6.xand7.x,butpleaseseethenoteattheendforanewoptioninISIM6.0
tohandleblockedservices.
TherearethreemainreasonswhyrequestsmightbuildupinthePendingRequestsqueue:problemswiththe
messagingengine,problemswiththedatabase,andrequestsdelayedbyISIMforlaterprocessing.Thistechnotedeals
solelywithrequestsintentionallydelayedbyISIM.
DelayedrequestsarecontrolledbytwotablesintheISIMdatabase:RESOURCE_PROVIDERSand
REMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTS.EachServiceinISIMhasanentryintheRESOURCE_PROVIDERStable.The
relevantcolumnsforthisissueare:RECON_STATUS,LOCK_SERVICE,andRESOURCE_STATUS.Whenarequest
isdelayed,areferenceisstoredinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSwheretherelevantcolumnsare:
PROVIDER_ID,TYPE,andREQUEST_TIME.
TherearefourTYPEsofrequeststhatcanbestoredinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTS.Theyare:
0genericrequests(notused)
1.asynchronousrequests(e.g.UniversalProvisioningAdaptermessages)
2intrareconciliationrequests(submittedduringarecon)
3servicedeferredrequests(submittedwhileanadapterisdown)
Thefirsttwotypesarerarelyseeninpractice,soonlythelattertwowillbedealtwithhere.
Whenareconciliationisrun:
Iftheserviceisnotlocked,therequestwillbesent,andbothISIMandtheadapterwillupdatethereconresultsas
needed.
Iftheserviceislocked(LOCK_SERVICE=1),thenanyrequestsforthisservicewillbestoredin
REMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSwithTYPE=2.
Oncethereconciliationfinishessuccessfully,ISIMwillchecktoseewhetherthereareanyentriesforthePROVIDER_ID
ofthisserviceandwhereTYPE=2.Ifanyarefound,theywillbeimmediatelyexecuted.
However,ifthereconciliationcrashesorotherwiseendsinfailure,noneoftheTYPE=2requestswillbeprocessed.
Therearetwowaystocorrectthissituation:
1.ISIMwillprocesstherequestsafterthenextsuccessfulreconciliationofthisservice.Oncetheoriginalreconciliation
problemhasbeencorrected,afullorfilteredreconciliationcanberun.Ifthatcompletessuccessfully,thebuiltup
requestswillbeprocessed.
2.Iftheserequestsarenolongerneeded,theycanbemanuallydeleted.Thisapproachshouldonlybeundertakenwith
theassistanceofIBMSupport.BeforedeletingtheentriesinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSwhere
PROVIDER_ID=<thisservice>andTYPE=2,thecorrespondingentryinthePROCESSand/orACTIVITYtablesmust
beupdatedtoacompletedstatusbasedontheREQUEST_ID.
Thefollowingentriesin$ISIM_HOME/data/enRole.propertiescontrolhowrequestsforinactiveadaptersareprocessed:
###########################################################
##DeferringrequestsforfailedRemoteResources
###########################################################
#Whethertodeferrequeststofailedresourcesandwaitfor
#resourcetorestartbeforesendingthem.
#Iffalse,requestswillterminateimmediatelyifresourcehasfailed.
com.ibm.itim.remoteservices.ResourceProperties.DEFER_FAILED_RESOURCE=true
#scheduledintervaltocheckfailedresourcestoseewhether
#theyhavebeenrestarted(seconds).
#Minimum=120,Maximum=3600,Default=600
remoteservices.remotepending.interval=600
#maximumtimearequesttoaresourcecanbeoutstanding,
#includingtimeinpendingstate(forAsynchronousrequests,
#ordeferredrequestsduetoservicefailureorbacklog).
#Use1forunlimited(inthiscaseworkflowactivitytimeouts
#willdefineactualmaximumdurationthisissetintheworkflow
#processdefinitions).

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#Default=1(unlimited),minimum=60+valueofremoteservices.remotepending.interval
com.ibm.itim.remoteservices.ResourceProperties.MAX_REQUEST_TIME=1
#Theamountoftimeinminutesthatpendingrequestsgeneratedfromthe
#restartofafailedservicearegiventocomplete.Attheconclusion
#ofthistimeperiod,theserverwillretrytheserequests.
remoteservices.remotepending.restart.retry=1440
ThisprocessingwillonlytakeplaceifDEFER_FAILED_RESOURCEissettoTRUE.IfitissettoFALSE,therequest
willfailiftheadaptercannotbereached.Withthisfeatureenabled,ifITIMisunabletoconnecttoanadapter,the
requestwillbestoredinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTStoawaitthereturnoftheadapter.ThisONLYappliesto
connectionerrors.Iftheadapteracceptstheconnection,butsomethingpreventsitfromreceivingorprocessingthe
request,thatwillNOTtriggerthisbehavior.
ThefirsttimeISIMcannotconnecttoanadapter,itwillsettheRESOURCE_STATUS=1forthisserviceinthe
RESOURCE_PROVIDERStable,andtherequestinvolvedwillbeplacedinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSwith
TYPE=3.Foreveryrequest,ISIMcheckstheRESOURCE_STATUScolumnbeforecontactingtheadapter.Ifitissetto
"1"forthisservice,thenthenewrequestwillbeimmediatelyplacedintheREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTStable,
anditwillshowinthePendingRequestsqueue.
ItisimportanttonotethatReconciliationsandTestconnectionsdoNOTchecktheRESOURCE_STATUScolumn,so
theywillexecuteevenifotherrequestsarepilingup.AreconciliationwillchecktheRECON_STATUScolumnof
RESOURCE_PROVIDERS,andifthatissetto"1",thenitwillfailwithamessagethatanotherreconciliationiscurrently
running.SinceISIMtruststhevaluesinthistable,itispossibletoreceivethismessagewhenareconciliationisnot
runningifapriorreconciliationfailedinsuchawaythattheRECON_STATUSwasincorrectlyleftas"1".Arelatedlink
hasbeenprovidedonhowtodealwiththatsituation.TheTestbuttonontheServiceFormalsoignoresthedatabase.It
simplyopensasockettotheURLspecified,andreportswhetheritconnectedsuccessfullyornot.AsuccessfulTest
indicatestheadapterhasbeenrestored,butitwillnotupdatetheRESOURCE_STATUSinthedatabase,norwillit
triggertheexecutionofanybuiltuprequests.
Basedonthe"remotepending.interval"setting,every10minutesbydefault,ISIMwillquerythe
RESOURCE_PROVIDERStableforanyrowswhereRESOURCE_STATUS=1.Foreachoneitfinds,itwillsetthe
RESOURCE_STATUS=2(testing).ItwillthenlookinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSforanyrowswhereTYPE=3
forthisPROVIDER_ID,sortedbyREQUEST_TIME.Thefirstrequestfoundwillbesenttotheadapterforprocessing.
Iftherequestcompletessuccessfully,theRESOURCE_STATUSwillbesetto0,andtherestoftherequestswhere
TYPE=3forthisPROVIDER_IDwillbeexecuted.
Iftherequestdoesnotcompletesuccessfully,forANYreason,theRESOURCE_STATUSwillbesetbackto1,andthe
processwillrepeatinanother10minutes.Typicallythefailureisduetothefacttheadapterisstilldown,sorestartingit
canusuallyfixthis.However,itisalsopossiblethereissomethingwrongwiththefirstrequeste.g.it'sarestoreofan
activeaccount,oraddinganaccountthatalreadyexists(perhapsbecauseitwasaddedmanuallywhiletheadapterwas
down).Inthatcase,thisloopwillcontinueuntiltheadministratorcorrectsit.IBMSupportshouldbecontactedtoassist
withthecleanup,butthegeneralstepsinvolveupdatingthePROCESS,PROCESSLOG,PROCESSDATA,and
ACTIVITYtableswherePROCESS_ID=REQUEST_ID,thendeletingthatentryfrom
REMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTS.Aslongasthenextrequestinlineisabletocompletesuccessfully,theproblem
willberesolved.Ifnot,alloftheproblemrequestsmustbedeleteduntilonecancompletesuccessfully.
PleasenotethatsettingRESOURCE_STATUS=0inRESOURCE_PROVIDERSwillallownewrequeststobesentto
theadapter,butthiswillNOTallowpreviouslysubmittedrequeststocomplete.IfyouhavesetRESOURCE_STATUS=0
asatemporaryworkaround,youmustsetRESOURCE_STATUSbackto"1",thenwaitupto10minutesforISIMto
lookforfailedservicesandgotrythefirstrequestinREMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTS.Entriesin
REMOTE_SERVICES_REQUESTSwhereTYPE=3willONLYbeexecutedaspartoftheISIMrequestretryprocess
describedabove.
NoteforISIM6.x,7.x:
StartinginISIM6.0,anewfeaturewasaddedto"RetryBlockedRequests".Bydefault,thisoptionwillonlybeseenif
theuseristheServiceOwner,oranAdministrator.ItiscontrolledbybothaViewandanACI,soifyoudonotseethis
optionavailableforaregularservice,thenthosewouldbethefirstthingstocheck.Thisoptiondoesnotapplytothe
ISIMservice,ManualServices,orHostedServices.
Ifrequestsarependingforaservicethat'scurrentlymarkedasdown,thenoncetheadapterhasbeenrestoredtoa
workingstate,youcannavigatetoManageServicesandselect"RetryBlockedRequests"onthetargetservicerather
thanwaitingfortheautomaticretryprocesstoprocessit.Whenyouselectthisoption,ISIMwillfirstrunaTest
Connectiontotheadapter.Ifthatsucceeds,itwillthenattempttoprocessthefirstpendingrequests.Ifthisalso
succeeds,thenISIMwillsubmittherestofthependingrequestsforprocessing,andeverythingwillgobacktonormal.
However,iftherequestfailsforanyreason,similartotheautomaticprocess,thentherequestwillbeputbackon
pendingqueueandtheservicewillbeleftmarkedinadownstate.Inthatcase,thereasonforthefailuremustbe
investigated,asnootherrequestsforthisservicewillprocessuntilthisfirstrequestiscleared,orcompletes
successfully.

Relatedinformation
ClearReconRunningflag
ITIM5.1DBSchema
ISIM6.0DBSchema

ProductAlias/Synonym
enroleitimtimisimsim

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Documentinformation
Moresupportfor:
IBMSecurityIdentity
Manager
Softwareversion:
5.1,6.0,7.0
Operatingsystem(s):
AIX,Linux,Solaris,
Windows
Softwareedition:
Enterprise
Reference#:
1380983
Modifieddate:
20090626

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