NFA Reaper Services Stops periodically

Products

• CA Network Flow Analysis (NetQos / NFA)

Issue/Introduction

Problem:

CA NFA Reaper Service dies periodically and does not start back up on its own.

The RealTimeReaperErrors*.log file from the <Install Directory>\Netflow\logs directory will have an error message like below:

03:00:00 Severity 2 - b_test failure at d:\buildagent\work\nfa_913_production\include\nqMemoryMappedFile.h 50 because D:\NETQOS\netflow\datafiles\ReaperInput\1406789940-9995_0.tbn
03:00:00 Severity 2 - 32 The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

 

Environment:  

NFA 9.1.x through NFA 9.3.0 

 

Cause: 

This is usually caused by a 3rd party or OS process opening one of the files in the <Install Directory>\Netflow\datafiles\ReaperInput\ directory while the Reaper was trying to write to that files.  

Common causes are anti virus programs, backup utilities, or other 3rd party software that scans the \Netflow\datafiles\ directories.

 

Resolution:

You can resolve this by:

1. Excluding the \CA\NFA\ (or \Netqos\) directory from Virus Scan's or other 3rd party scanning software.

2. Upgrading to NFA 9.3.1 or later where this problem has been resolved.

    The error message may still be logged when a file is in use by another process, but the CA NFA Reaper service will no longer stop.

     It is still recommended to exclude the \CA\NFA\ directory from virus scans.

 

Workaround:

If you are unable to upgrade to NFA 9.3.1 or later immediately you can follow the steps below to create a Windows Scheduled Task which will try to Start the CA NFA Reaper Service every 5 minutes to ensure your service is never down for more than 5 minutes.  These steps apply specifically to Windows Server 2008 R2.

1. To setup the Scheduled Task, go the ‘Start->Administrative Tools->Task Scheduler’.

 

 

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 2. Then select "Create Task" on the right hand side. 

<Please see attached file for image>

 

 

 3. Give the task a name like below:

 

<Please see attached file for image>

 

 

 4. Then click on the ‘Triggers’ tab and click ‘New’.

• Set the task to begin ‘On a schedule’ 
• Set it to run ‘Daily’ 
• Select to repeat the task every 5 minutes. 
• Set the duration to “Indefinitely”

 

<Please see attached file for image>

 

 

5. Next click "Actions” and “New" and set the action to "Start a program".

6. Then in the 'Program/script' section enter just the word 'net'. 

     In the "Add arguments (optional):" section enter 'Start NetQosReaper' and the name of the service like below:     

 

<Please see attached file for image>

 

 

 

7. This will prevent the service from being down for any more than 5 minutes, and if it’s already started the task will do nothing.  You can test by manually stopping the CA NFA           Reaper Service and verifying that it starts back up automatically within 5 minutes.

 

 

Additional Information:

NFA 9.3.1 Release Notes Documents Resolution to Defect # DE39372

Environment

Release: RAIB1H99000-9.3-Network Flow Analysis-Interface Bundle-Hardware
Component: