Ping::openConnection(): Could not open socket. Make sure collector is run as root

Products

• VMware Smart Assurance

Issue/Introduction

Below SEVERE error is seen in the ICMP Collector-Manager even if it is run as root user:

SEVERE   -- [<timestamp>] -- Ping::openConnection(): Could not open socket. Make sure collector is run as root.

java.io.IOException: Protocol not supported

    at org.savarese.rocksaw.net.RawSocket.__throwIOException(RawSocket.java:177)

    at org.savarese.rocksaw.net.RawSocket.open(RawSocket.java:229)

    at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.pingcollector.Ping.openConnection(Ping.java:259)

    at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.pingcollector.Ping.openIcmpConnection(Ping.java:506)

    at com.watch4net.apg.v2.collector.plugins.pingcollector.Ping.run(Ping.java:415)

    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)

    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)

    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:750)

Environment

Watch4net|M&R 7.x

Cause

• The "protocol not supported" error likely originates from the underlying OS kernel when the rocksaw library attempts to open a raw socket for ICMP.

• While the process is running with root privileges, these intermittent exceptions may still occur. This could be related to how the kernel handles raw socket creation, network interrupts, or temporary network congestion, leading to intermittent failures when creating the raw socket.

Resolution

• Given the sporadic nature of the issue, and the fact that the collector automatically retries upon encountering this error, it does not impact functionality. Furthermore, it is seen that there is no data loss, and primary concern here is the severe error being logged.

• Based on analysis, it is recommend to ignore (suppress) these intermittent errors, as they do not affect the data collection.