PREP_PROCESS_FILE fails when using a file on NFS

Products

• CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine

Issue/Introduction

Jobs of type REPORT, that are spawn when using the function PREP_PROCESS_FILE, fail when a file needs to be fetched from an NFS volume

The Login Object that is used in the Job has a valid user name and password, that can be used outside Automation Engine to access the file.

The following error message appears:

20201020/090015.588 U00029003 Cannot open file '/directory/folder/subfolder/file.txt(ReadFileAuthority())', error code '13', error description: 'Permission denied'.

Environment

Release : 12.3

Component : AUTOMATION ENGINE

Cause

The PREP_PROCESS_FILE function uses the Login Object to check that the user has the permission to access the file, however, the file is eventually accessed with the user that runs the agent.

In most cases the user that runs the agent is root, but due the fact that NFS often uses root_squash, root does not actually have access to required file. 

Resolution

This expected behavior. The product does not have a way to circumvent this behavior at this moment.

As a workaround, files should first be moved from the NFS to the Agent's server in a separate process or access for root should be given to the specific file on NFS.