Time Slicing job appears to be Hanging

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

Symptoms:

• 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. PPM SQL trace is enabled per the properties.xml file (traceEnabled="true")
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

Environment

Release: All Supported Releases
Component: Clarity Time Slicing

Resolution

1. Check if the Time Slicing job instance is progressing via the below query
   • This applies to On Premise customers. For SaaS customers, please 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.

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

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

      3.  On Premise customers: If the Time Slicing job is stuck in Waiting or Scheduled status, a restart of the BG service can help.

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

      4. See KB Time Slicing job fails with ORA-00060: deadlock detected while waiting for resource for tips including recommended incompatible jobs. 

      5. If the above does not resolve the issue: The bg-ca.logs can be helpful in troubleshooting the issue.

Additional Information

See also:

• Times Slicing Job: Check the Status / Estimated Completion Time
• Time Slicing Job Failures - Troubleshooting Guide
• Clarity Scheduled Jobs Do Not Get Processed by the Job Scheduler (BG Service Issue)
• Tech Tip: Prevent Job Scheduler Stalls
• How to use the UNIX crontab entry for scheduling Clarity PPM jobs