Filemaker Server 9 hangs @ admin console prelaunch

[josh guff]

I tried to make the title say it all, b/c I've been searching forever.

I got thru the instillation of FM 9 server only to be stuck on the admin console start screen.

I see that ports 1600 and 1601 have to be open to get past this screen, well I have a G4 mac in the closet with firewall off- currently sharing the database on our local network (via FMP8) but after installing FM server 9 finished I get the endless "Please wait while the Admin Server starts" screen.

The G4 connects to an old Netgear switch. I port scanned the G4 from another mac and port 1600 is not open. when I try to go to the switch's ip address via browser I get an unable to connect. I port scanned the switch and the only open port is 23, so I telnet into the switch only to realize that no one here knows the password to switch, and we've thrown out the old console cable. I wish i had paid more attention on this subject in my Cisco class in highschool- but i need some help opening the ports up!

Basically will a switch with port 1600 closed cause the admin console not to start up?

if yes, should I factory reset the switch?

[Steven H. Blackwell]

It's Port 16000 and 16001, [color:red]not 1600.

Also, IIRC, the G4 is not a supported hardware for FileMaker Server 9.

Steven

[Thirdwaver]

I'm having this exact same problem but I am connecting to 16000 and I'm using supported hardware (G5 XServe running Tiger Server). It worked for a while, but now when I try to load "Library/Filemaker Server/Admin/admin-server/launch-page/prelaunch_single_en.html" it just freeze sits there saying "Please wait while the Admin Server starts..."

If I try to go to "htttp://localhost:16000" it just sits there and never loads in. Sometimes it sits there forever and sometimes it stops loading and Safari reports that the "Server stopped responding".

If I go to "http://localhost" it takes me to the default apache page so the web service is running. Also, firewall is disabled and no anti-virus is running.

EDIT: I think a recent Apple Java update may have been when it stopped working. I should mention that when I went to "/Applications/Utilities/Java/J2SE 5.0/" I noticed that the Java Cache Viewer was not there. I brought it over from a different install of Tiger but I thought it was weird that it was missing.

Any ideas?

Edited January 9, 2008 by Guest

[Steven H. Blackwell]

The recent java update did break some stuff reportedly. Maybe delete all the start pages and then have a new start page downloaded. Othewise you may have to roll back the update.

[color:red]If you have a particular OS configuration running with FileMaker Server or FileMaker Server Advanced, and it is running correctly, if you then go and change the OS, you can generally expect some sort of issue to occur.

Steven

Steven

[Thirdwaver]

Well, aside from rebuilding the server at this point, rolling back is not going to be easy. I reinstalled FMPS yesterday and that didn't do it. With all due respect, I've been a server admin for many years and always been able to patch my servers without issue (mostly). Is Filemaker actually building such a house of cards that it encourages not keeping the system patched? And how do I force another download of the startup file?

Sean

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Is Filemaker actually building such a house of cards that it encourages not keeping the system patched? And how do I force another download of the startup file?

FileMaker releases FileMaker Server certified against a particular version of the OS, e.g. OS 10.4.10 or Windows Server 2003 SP 2. If either Apple or Microsoft releases a patch or an upgrade that makes some sort of change, then FileMaker Server may or may not continue to work as before. It depends on the change. The same holds true for FileMaker Pro client. But in either regard, it is the OS that changed, not FileMaker Server.

You can cause a download of the startup file by firstdeleting all current instancesof it, and then in your browser call for localhost:16000.

Steven

[Thirdwaver]

Well, I've completely rebuilt the server and fully patched it, reinstalled Filemaker Server 9 and when I rebooted, I got an error in the console that the fmswrapper encountered a permission denied situation. So I launched the wrapper directly in terminal and got the admin console working. But some time later, something I did made it stop working again. I suspect a permissions repair. Now nothing I do is getting it going again. I can't even uninstall FMPS without having the uninstaller freeze at the very end. I'm suspecting permissions issues galore but this is a standard install! It's quite frustrating. I'm having to postpone the deployment of my 9 solution today as a result.

My next step is to rebuild the server AGAIN and this time refrain from installing the Java Release 6 patch as it's one of the things I suspect is causing the problem. I can't believe that there aren't others experiencing this.

One other question: Should I have to manually add my local admin account into the FMSAdmin group? All the files are owned by FMServer with the FMSAdmin group having Read/Write and everyone with read only. This makes it sort of strange for me to work in the system because I get a lot of write issues from my local admin account and I'm not convinced that the permission errors in the console aren't being caused by the fact that my admin account is trying to start the processes when I log in.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

The Java 6 patch is almost certainly a major contributor here. And others are reporting the same. Please report this issue to FMI Tech Support.

Steven

[Thirdwaver]

Good news. I believe I have it solved! It appears that it was a network issue if you can believe that. Based on some curious messages in the console about DNS reverse lookup failing after I rebooted the machine, it occurred to me to try the 2nd NIC. As soon as I plugged it in, disabled EN0 and gave EN1 the same IP, it began working plus I was able to install ALL the updates pending and it continued to work.

It's not yet clear to me whether its the NIC, the cable, or the port configuration on the router, but I'll be doing more research on it in the coming days and I'll post further information if I figure it out.

It's interesting to note that when I was having the problem, I was able to type "http://localhost" and get the default Apache page, but when I added the ":16000" to the end, it just sat there forever. I don't know why a flaky network connection would stop the machine from loading an internally served Java service, but there you have it.

Sean

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Please do keep us posted here. This actually is rather important. There are a number of reports regarding the Java 6 update's causing major problems.

Steven

[MacClick]

This is driving me crazy.

xServe DP G5

5GB RAM

Clean install of 10.4.11

Installed 9 v3 server advanced.

All works at first All updates run until I reboot. I can not get past the checking for updates bar goes on and on just stuck no matter how long I wait.

Solution:

Ran Yasu all the scripts checked rebooted and voila it works till the next reboot then the issue returns.

I Tried to just clear the caches that did not work.

I reran all the scripts and its working again.

This is really holding up weather we go with this as a service provider. once running the java is Ok not great preferred the old console it was faster and I cant remember when I had this kind of issue with the admin before

Edited July 21, 2008 by Guest

[LaRetta]

Has anyone reported problems with the Java 7 Update hanging FMS?