Time Slicing job appears to be hanging - troubleshooting

Products

• Clarity PPM On Premise
• Clarity PPM SaaS

Issue/Introduction

The Time Slicing job in Clarity is not completing, it is stuck in the Processing status / taking too long to process. Timeslices are not updated.

The Time Slicing job is in the indefinite status of "Processing".

The Administration > Data Administration > Time Slices page > "Last Run" column is not being updated for all time slice ids.

Cause

One or more of the following could introduce the issue:

1. Time Slicing rollover running and taking long time (typically at the first day of the month/quarter)
2. Refreshing from one environment to another
3. Cancelling a job that is already 'Processing'
4. Not cleaning up the job scheduler before and after background service starts.
5. Database and network issues (timeouts, outages, contention)

Resolution

Step 1: Check if the Time Slicing job is progressing

Use the below query to check if the job is progressing. This applies to On Premise customers.

SaaS customers: Contact Broadcom Support if assistance is needed to confirm if the time slicing job is stuck

select '(1)assignment PRASSIGNMENT' slice_object, count(*), slice_status from 
PRASSIGNMENT where slice_status in (1,2,3,4) group by SLICE_STATUS 
union 
select '(2)availability PRJ_RESOURCES' slice_object,count(*), slice_status from
PRJ_RESOURCES where slice_status in (1,2,3,4) group by SLICE_STATUS 
union 
select '(3)allocation PRTEAM' slice_object, count(*), slice_status from
PRTEAM where slice_status in (1,2,3,4) group by SLICE_STATUS 
union
select '(4)timeentries PRTIMEENTRY' slice_object, count(*), slice_status from
PRTIMEENTRY WHERE SLICE_STATUS IN (1,2,3,4) group by SLICE_STATUS

It should be processing at a steady pace depending on the object being sliced. If there is no movement, perform the next set of steps.

Step 2: Dedicate all system resources

Dedicate all system resources to allow the Time Slicing job to process and complete

1. Set all jobs that are WAITING to PAUSED;
2. Set all jobs that are SCHEDULED to PAUSED;
3. Set all jobs that are in PROCESSING to CANCELLED
4. Make note of the scheduled jobs and scheduled times as they will need to be re-entered later.
5. Delete all CANCELLED job instances
6. Run an immediate instance of the Time Slicing job to ensure it completes.
7. Re-enter the jobs that were CANCELLED.

Step 3: Review the bg-ca.logs

Check the bg-ca.logs for any related errors that can help point to the root cause

Step 4:  Review related troubleshooting KBs

Review the below KBs for tips that can help in future avoidance of issues with the time slicing job. 

• Time Slicing job fails with deadlock errors - troubleshooting steps
• Time Slicing job failures - troubleshooting / known causes
• Time Slicing job slow performance - troubleshooting

Step 5: If the job is stuck in waiting or scheduled status (On Premise)

If the Time Slicing job is stuck in Waiting or Scheduled status, a restart of the BG service can help.
If a restart of BG services, does not help, proceed to engage the database team to work with the Support team to troubleshoot the issue further.

• See KB: Jobs Stuck in Waiting, Scheduled, or Processing in Clarity for more details. (SaaS customers contact Broadcom support for assistance)