Watch4net: Collection of data from Smarts domains does not complete

Products

• VMware Smart Assurance

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:




Watch4net collection of data from Smarts domains does not complete
The following entries seen in the Watch4net collecting log related to Smarts domain data collection:

INFO  -- [2013-04-03 15:23:46 BST] -- SmCollector::threadJob(): INCHARGE-AM-PM: starting polling...
WARNING  -- [2013-04-03 15:23:46 BST] -- SmDataIndicators::update(): INCHARGE-AM-PM: can't refresh class hierarchy for Smarts collector INCHARGE-AM-PM. Will retry later...
java.net.UnknownHostException: smarts-broker.domain.com
 at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:195)
 at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:366)
 at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:529)
 at com.watch4net.smarts.SmUtils.tryAttach(SmUtils.java:312)
 at com.watch4net.smarts.SmUtils.attach(SmUtils.java:165)
 at com.watch4net.smarts.SmSafeRemoteBroker.attach(SmSafeRemoteBroker.java:86)
 at com.watch4net.smarts.SmUtils.attach(SmUtils.java:106)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.smarts.SmRemoteDmFactory.makeObject(SmRemoteDmFactory.java:371)
 at org.apache.commons.pool.impl.GenericObjectPool.borrowObject(GenericObjectPool.java:840)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.smarts.SmTopologyManager.getRemoteDM(SmTopologyManager.java:446)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.smarts.SmTopologyManager.classExists(SmTopologyManager.java:592)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.smarts.SmDataIndicators.initializeStartClasses(SmDataIndicators.java:277)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.smarts.SmDataIndicators.update(SmDataIndicators.java:435)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.SmCollector.notifyListeners(SmCollector.java:276)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.SmCollector.threadJob(SmCollector.java:290)
 at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.AbstractThreadCollector.run(AbstractThreadCollector.java:88)
 at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:662)
INFO  -- [2013-04-03 15:23:46 BST] -- SmPollingData::updateNextPollingDelay(): INCHARGE-AM-PM: polling completed in 0.0020s, next polling in 239.997s...

Watch4net cannot collect data from Smarts domains even though Watch4net Smarts collector configuration contains the FQDN of the Smarts broker host as in the following:

<config>
 <domain>INCHANGE-AM-PM</domain>
 <broker>smarts-broker.domain.com:426</broker>
 <username>admin</username>
 <password>changeme</password>

Environment

VMware Smart Assurance - SMARTS
VMware Smart Assurance - Watch4Net/M&R

Cause

In the error message above, "java.net.UnknownHostException: smarts-broker.domain.com" indicates that the hostname configured for the Smarts broker host is invalid. If the configuration worked in the past but suddenly stopped, then there is most likely an issue resolving the name to an IP address either by DNS or with the entry in /etc/hosts.

Resolution

If you encounter this issue, ensure the following:

• The Smarts broker hostname is entered correctly in the Watch4net collector configuration. If you need to correct this entry in the configuration, you will need to restart the Watch4net Collector Manager for the change to take effect.
• The hostname can be resolved to an IP address either by DNS or with an entry in /etc/hosts.