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Sterling B2B Integrator

Performance Management
Version 5.2

IBM

Sterling B2B Integrator

Performance Management
Version 5.2

IBM

Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page 247.

Copyright
This edition applies to Version 5 Release 2 of Sterling B2B Integrator and to all subsequent releases and
modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2000, 2015.
US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract
with IBM Corp.

Contents
Performance Management . . . . . ..

1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1
Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . ..
2
System Components . . . . . . . . . ..
2
Performance Tuning Methodology . . . . ..
4
Performance Recommendations Checklists . . ..
5
Sterling B2B Integrator: General Recommendations
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5
IBM Sterling File Gateway: Specific
Recommendations Checklist . . . . . . ..
9
EBICS Banking Server: Specific
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . ..
12
Database Management. . . . . . . . . ..
13
Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
13
Server Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . ..
14
Storage and File Systems . . . . . . . ..
14
Database management for Sterling B2B Integrator 16
Oracle Database Configuration and Monitoring
22
IBM DB2 for LUW Configuration and Monitoring 35
Microsoft SQL Server Configuration and
Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . ..
51
Java Virtual Machine . . . . . . . . . ..
61
Garbage Collection Statistics . . . . . . ..
62
JVM Verbose Garbage Collection . . . . ..
62
IBM JVM Garbage Collection Example . . ..
62
Introduction to HotSpot JVM Performance and
Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
63
Introduction to the IBM JVM Performance and
Tuning Guidelines . . . . . . . . . ..
78
Monitoring Operations . . . . . . . . ..
82
Managing System Logs . . . . . . . ..
82
Auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
93
Monitoring a Business Process Thread . . ..
94
Monitoring Messages . . . . . . . . ..
96
Reviewing System Information . . . . . ..
97
Monitoring Node Status . . . . . . . ..
106
Monitoring Deprecated Resources . . . ..
109
Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator . . . ..
110

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2015

Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator . . ..
Performance Tuning . . . . . . . . . ..
Performance Tuning Utility . . . . . . ..
Manual Performance Tuning . . . . . ..
Performance Statistics . . . . . . . . ..
Turning On and Turning Off Performance
Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Reporting Performance Statistics . . . . ..
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . ..
Database Maintenance Check . . . . . ..
Full Database Issues and Resolution . . . ..
Database Connection Issues . . . . . ..
Database Down Check . . . . . . . ..
Tracking JDBC Connections . . . . . ..
Types of Cache Memory . . . . . . . ..
Symptoms and Causes of Inefficient Cache
Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Resolving Inefficient Cache Usage . . . ..
Correcting Dropped Data Problems . . . ..
Correcting Out-Of-Memory Errors . . . ..
Understanding Business Process . . . . ..
Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business Process
Execution Time . . . . . . . . . . ..
Resolving Halted, Halting, Waiting, or
Interrupted Business Processes . . . . ..
Slow System: Symptoms, Causes, and
Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Performing a Thread Dump . . . . . ..
Scenario-Based Troubleshooting Tips and
Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Performance and Tuning Worksheet . . . . ..
workflowLauncher: Running a Business Process
from a Command Line . . . . . . . . ..

120
120
120
166
203
213
213
214
214
218
222
224
226
227
228
228
229
230
230
230
232
234
236
239
241
244

Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

247

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

251

iii

iv

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Performance Management
You can manage the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator according to your
needs.

Overview
Typically, performance in general, and optimal performance in particular, are
associated with the following criteria: latency, throughput, scalability, and load.
v Latency – The amount of time taken to generate a response to a request (speed).
v Throughput – The amount of data transferred during a specified period
(volume).
v Scalability – The ability of the system to adapt to increasing workload
(additional hardware).
v Load – The ability of the system to continue performing at optimal level even
when the load on the system increases.
Sterling B2B Integrator performance can be tuned to meet various processing
requirements, including higher processing speed and ability to sustain high
volumes. The amount of resources given to the interactive and batch components
of a mixed workload determines the trade-off between responsiveness (speed) and
throughput (work completed in a certain amount of time).
When using Sterling B2B Integrator, if you face any performance issues, perform
the applicable task or tasks from the following list:
v Change performance parameters in the properties files or through the
performance tuning utility. For more information about changing performance
parameters, refer to “Performance Tuning Utility” on page 120.
v Add additional hardware.
v Tune your business processes to run more efficiently on Sterling B2B Integrator.
v Monitor and archive the database to free up resources.
v Create Sterling B2B Integrator cluster for load balancing and scaling.

Before You Begin Performance Tuning
Before you carry out performance tuning actions, you must consider capacity
planning issues. The “Performance and Tuning Worksheet” on page 241 provides
information about how to determine your capacity requirements. This worksheet,
and other capacity planning tools, also help you adjust your current workload,
regardless of your future requirements.
Following is a list of some capacity issues that impact performance and tuning:
v Daily volume requirements, including the average size and number of
transactions to be processed.
v Additional processing requirements, for example, translation, and
straight-through processing.
v Types of pay loads, including EDIFACT, XML, and other formats.
v Translation requirements, for example, translation from EDIFACT to XML.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2015

1

v Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integration requirements, for example,
integration with SAP® or PeopleSoft®.
v Number of processors that are available and can be dedicated to Sterling B2B
Integrator.
v Memory available to meet your processing requirements.
v Disk space available.
v Hard disk Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) level. RAID arrays
use two or more drives in combination for fault tolerance and performance. The
recommended RAID level for Sterling B2B Integrator is Level 5.
v Database size requirements.
Note: When conducting a performance tuning activity, keep the information
provided in this topic at hand for easy reference and future planning.

Intended Audience
This document is intended for, but not limited to:
v Technical Architects
v Performance Engineers
v Configuration Engineers
v Application Administrators
v Database Administrators
v System Administrators

System Components
Performance management activities affect all aspects of the system, including
computer nodes, network, disks, database, and so on.
One person or role may be responsible for one, several, or all the components.
Some of the roles include:
v Hardware Engineer
v System Administrator
v Network Engineer - Local Area or Wide Area
v Application Server Administrator
v Database Administrator
v Capacity Planning Engineer
v Performance Analyst
v IBM® Sterling B2B Integrator Administrator
Performance management documentation includes the following information:
v Background information about the different performance and tuning issues
when running Sterling B2B IntegratorSterling B2B Integrator.
v Step-by-step information that helps you:
– Optimize the performance.
– Diagnose and resolve performance issues, if any, to suit your environment.
You can work through most performance and tuning issues using the following
tools:
v Properties file settings, which you can access through the properties directory in
your installation directory.

2

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

v The Sterling B2B Integrator user interface. Use the Operations option in the
Administration menu to access the following tools:
– JDBC Monitor (Operations > JDBC Monitor)
– JVM Monitor (Operations > System > Performance > JVM Monitor)
– Message Monitor (Operations > Message Monitor)
– Performance Statistics Report (Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics)
– Performance Tuning Wizard (Operations > System > Performance > Tuning)
– System Troubleshooting (Operations > System > Troubleshooter)
– Thread Monitor (Operations > Thread Monitor)
Based on the diversity of the roles and the responsibilities associated with them,
the Sterling B2B Integrator Performance Management Guide is divided into the
following sections:
v Overview - Provides performance tuning overview, audience information,
performance concepts overview, performance tuning methodologies, and tuning
issues that may arise when running Sterling B2B Integrator.
v Performance recommendations checklist - Provides general, planning, and
implementation (single node and cluster) checklists. This topic caters to
hardware engineers, system administrators, network engineers, capacity
planners, and Sterling B2B Integrator administrators.
v Database management system - Discusses key recommendations for Oracle®,
IBM DB2®, Microsoft SQL Server™, and MySQL databases. This topic caters to
database administrators.
v Java™ Virtual Machines - Explains configuration, recommendations, and so on.
This topic caters to application server administrators.
v Monitoring operations, performance tuning, and performance statistics Discusses monitoring operations, performance tuning (utility and manual), and
management of performance statistics.
v Monitoring operations - Provides information about system logs, auditing,
business process threads, messages, system information, and cluster node status.
v Performance tuning - Explains performance tuning using the performance tuning
wizard, and manual performance tuning recommendations such as scheduling
policies, cache contents, persistence levels, property files, and system recovery.
v Performance statistics - Provides information about managing, enabling and
disabling, and reporting performance statistics.
v Troubleshooting - Provides information about resolving full database issues, Java
Database Connectivity (JDBC™) connections, cache issues, memory issues, slow
system issues, and improving business process execution time.
v Performance and tuning worksheet - Helps you to take an inventory of the
different parts of your Sterling B2B Integrator installation that affects
performance.
v workFlow Launcher - Explains how to run business processes from the
command line.
Note: It is recommended that the performance analyst, capacity planner, and
Sterling B2B Integrator administrators read all the topics.

Performance Management

3

Performance Tuning Methodology
For effective performance tuning, you must first identify the performance issues
and determine the corrective actions. Following is a methodology that helps you
focus your efforts and reduce redundant tasks.
Use the following methodology to identify and resolve performance issues in
Sterling B2B Integrator:
1. Fill out the Requirements Planning Worksheet to determine the hardware
requirements for a given processing volume and speed.

2.
3.

4.

5.
6.
7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

4

Note: If you purchased IBM Consulting Services, you would have received a
report containing information about your hardware requirements based on
your business needs.
Verify that your hardware and memory specifications match the hardware and
memory recommendations provided during the performance planning phase.
Verify that you have installed the requisite patches on your system, which will
help you fix your performance issues from the IBM Customer Center Web site
at https://cn.sterlingcommerce.com/login.jsp.
Verify that you have the supported Java Virtual Machine (JVM™) on the
computer running Sterling B2B Integrator, and on the DMZ computer if you
are running perimeter servers. Both the JVM versions must match each other
and your Sterling B2B Integrator version requirements. The build date and
lower release numbers must also match.
Verify that you are running the supported version of your operating system.
Verify that you are running the supported versions of the JDBC drivers.
Verify that you have created your business processes using the most current
adapters and services, well-structured XPath statements, and the lowest
persistence by step and business process.
Tune Sterling B2B Integrator using the Performance Tuning Utility and the
information that you provided in the Requirements Planning Worksheet (refer
to the topic Performance and Tuning Worksheet). The Performance Tuning
Utility enables you to tune the cache, memory, and other system components,
but not the business processes.
For more information about this utility, refer to “Performance Tuning Utility”
on page 120.
Navigate to Operations > System > Performance > Statistics. In the Statistics
page, select the Enable Performance Statistics option. The Performance
Statistics reports provide information about the time taken to perform
business processes and execute activities, database connections and
persistence, and business process queue performance. You can use this
information to tune your system according to your volume and speed
requirements.
For more information about performance statistics, refer to the topic Manage
Performance Statistics.
Review your history of incoming and outgoing documents and enter this
information in charts, showing daily, weekly, and monthly processing trends.
Use these charts to determine your peak volume processing levels based on
your processing pattern history.
Conduct initial performance testing by running your business processes with
sample data that is the same size as the data that will be processed in
production. In addition, run your business processes with data that

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

12.
13.
14.

15.
16.
17.
18.

approximates your anticipated peak processing volume. This helps you tune
your system as close to your production environment as possible.
Review the Performance Statistics Report for processing speeds, volumes, and
database connections.
Review the other reports, such as the Database Usage Report and the Cache
Usage Report, for information about the areas that can be tuned.
Retune Sterling B2B Integrator using the Performance Tuning Utility, based on
the information you gathered from your initial performance testing.
Continue this process until your processing time and volume requirements are
met.
Create a new Performance Statistics Report called Benchmarksdd/mm/yy.
Conduct the same test that you conducted in step 11.
Review the Benchmarksdd/mm/yy Performance Statistics Report. If the statistics
in this report are not similar to your previous statistics, repeat steps 11 - 14.
Compare your monthly or weekly Performance Statistics Reports with this
Benchmark report to verify that your system is processing business processes
efficiently and that your resources are being used efficiently. Using this
methodology as a proactive measure may reduce downtime and processing
issues.

Performance Recommendations Checklists
Performance Recommendations Checklists provide guidelines to plan for the
required elements, and enhance the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator and
related components.

Sterling B2B Integrator: General Recommendations Checklist
The general recommendations checklist provides a list of guidelines to plan for the
required elements, and to enhance the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator.
In the following table, the Test and Production columns indicate whether the
recommendations are Recommended (R), Critical (C), or Not Applicable (NA) in
the test and production environments.
Note: It is recommended to setup a Sterling B2B Integrator test environment with
a sample set of data to verify the recommendations provided in this checklist.
Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

OS version and OS
kernel parameters

C

C

You should ensure that you install
Sterling B2B Integrator on certified
OS versions and levels.
Refer to the System Requirements
documentation of the corresponding
OS versions.

Network speed

C

C

You should ensure that your
network cards are operating at the
highest speeds. The network
interface and the network switch can
negotiate to lower speed. When that
happens, performance degrades even
under normal processing periods.

Performance Management

5

Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

AIX page space
allocation

C

C

The AIX default page space
allocation policy does not reserve
swap space when processes allocate
memory. This can lead to excessive
swap space, which forces AIX to kill
processes when it runs out of swap
space.
You should ensure that you either
have sufficient swap space, or set the
following environment policy
variables:
PSALLOC=EARLY
NODISCLAIM=TRUE

Monitor CPU Utilization NA

C

You should monitor CPU utilization
to ensure that there is no CPU
contention.

Monitor Swap Usage

C

C

If not enough space is left on the
swap device (or paging file), the
operating system may prevent
another process from starting, or in
some cases, be forced to kill the
running processes.

Monitor Paging

C

C

The JVMs and database management
systems rely on large memory
buffers or heaps, and are sensitive to
paging. Performance can noticeably
degrade if enough memory is not
available to keep the JVM heap in
memory.
You can monitor paging levels using
standard operating system or
third-party measurement tools, such
as:
v UNIX/Linux – SAR
v Windows – System Monitor

Monitor Heap
Garbage Collection
Performance

6

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

C

C

Monitoring heap GC performance is
critical for performance and
availability. For example, if the
amount of heap that is free after a
GC is continually increasing, and
approaching the maximum heap
size, the JVM can experience
OutOfMemory exceptions.

Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

EDI Encoder Service

R

R

As of Sterling B2B Integrator 5.2, the
EDI Encoder Service and EDI
Envelope Service notify the user of
an incorrect value or mismatch in
the Mode parameter by writing
information on how to correct the
problem in the status report of the
business process step. This can cause
a performance degradation in some
very heavy usage scenarios by
adding additional load on the
database. It is recommended that all
business processes that use the EDI
Encoder Service and/or EDI
Envelope Service be reviewed to
make certain they are using the
correct Mode parameter, and that the
values match in the business process.

EDI Envelope Service

v EDI Encoder Service should be set
as Mode. For example: IMMEDIATE
v EDI Envelope Service should be
set as MODE. For example: IMMEDIATE
Planning
Server node sizing

NA

C

You should ensure that you have
sufficient computing capacity to
process peak transaction volumes.
Refer to System Requirements
documentation to get an estimate of
the processor, memory, and other
requirements.
You can also engage IBM
Professional Services to conduct a
capacity plan study of your system.
This study involves measuring your
system, and using the measurements
to forecast resource requirements at
anticipated peak processing periods.

Database disk sizing

NA

C

You should ensure that you have
sufficient disk space for the database
server.
The size of the database disk
subsystem may vary from a few
gigabytes to several terabytes. The
size depends on the processing
volume, its complexity, and the
length of time you want to keep the
data active in the database.

JVM

Performance Management

7

Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

JVM version

C

C

You must ensure that you install
Sterling B2B Integrator on certified
JVM versions and levels.
Run the –version command in the
command prompt to ensure that you
have installed the correct version.

Verbose GC statistics

NA

C

You can enable verbose GC statistics
collection. Understanding the health
of GCs for each JVM is critical for
performance.

Paging

C

C

The JVM heap must be resident in
the memory. The performance can
noticeably degrade if the operating
system has to page portions of the
heap out to disk.

OutOfMemory
Exceptions

C

C

OutOfMemory exceptions can cause
unpredictable behavior. You should
ensure that you have allocated
sufficient physical memory to
Sterling B2B Integrator based on
your processing requirements.

JVM VM mode

C

C

For HotSpot JVM, the server mode is
applicable for long-running
workloads.

Heap size

C

C

Correct heap size configuration is
critical for both performance and
availability. If the heap size is too
big, the GC pauses can be long.
Similarly, if the heap size is too
small, it can lead to OutOfMemory
exceptions. You should ensure that
heap size is not set larger than
physical memory to avoid thrashing.
Sterling B2B Integrator supports both
32-bit and 64-bit JVMs. You should
allocate more heap space when you
are running a 64-bit JVM.

Database
Monitor and regulate
indexes

C

C

Sterling B2B Integrator comes with a
default set of indexes. In some cases,
the indexes may not apply to your
operational environment.
You should regularly monitor the
resource cost of frequently used
queries to check if additional indexes
are required. Similarly, you can also
monitor the database to delete
indexes if they are not required.

8

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

Cursor sharing

C

C

If you are using Oracle database,
cursor sharing enables dynamic SQL
to be reusable, thereby reducing the
contention on the shared pool.
You should ensure that you set
cursor_sharing=EXACT

Parameters governing
DB2 locking strategy

C

C

Set DB2_EVALUNCOMMITTED,
DB2_SKIPDELETED, and
DB2_SKIPINSERTED to reduce lock
contention.

Parameters governing
DB2 memory

C

C

Set parameters to manage various
memory structures such as
LOCKLIST, SORTHEAP, and so on,
to AUTOMATIC.

Volatile table

NA

C

Mark tables that change significantly,
as volatile.

IBM Sterling File Gateway: Specific Recommendations
Checklist
IBM Sterling File Gateway is installed on an instance of Sterling B2B Integrator,
and shares many of the resources with the latter, including:
v Communication Adapters
v Business Processes
v Security Services
v Perimeter Services
v Encryption
v Decryption
v Account Management
You should, therefore, tune your Sterling B2B Integrator installation first, and then
perform the Sterling File Gateway-specific tuning and troubleshooting tasks. Be
aware that the changes you make to Sterling File Gateway can also affect the
performance of Sterling B2B Integrator.
Note: Do not edit the properties files. Make all the changes in the
customer_overrides.properties file. For example, to change the
pgpCmdline2svcname property, enter the following line in the
customer_overrides.properties file:
filegateway.pgpCmdline2svcname=CUSTOM

In this line, replace CUSTOM with the name of your Command Line 2 adapter. For
more information about the customer_overrides.properties file, refer to the
property files documentation in the online documentation library.
The following table describes some of the key parameters that must be configured
to optimize Sterling File Gateway performance.
In the following table, the Test and Production columns indicate whether the
recommendations are Recommended (R), Critical (C), or Not Applicable (NA) in
the test and production environments.
Performance Management

9

Recommendation

Test

Increase the value of Sterling File R
Gateway.

Production

Comments

R

Number of Sterling File Gateway services that can
be run concurrently. The services are split into
two groups, and each group has this value as the
limit. Therefore, the total number of services that
can run concurrently is equal to the value for this
property multiplied by two. Set this to a value
that is higher than the sum of business process
threads in queues 4 and 6 (where Sterling File
Gateway services run).
Default value: 8 (Maximum: 64)

If you are processing very large
R
files, increase the probe values to
avoid timeout conditions.

R

Timeouts and sleep intervals that control the
period for which Sterling File Gateway waits for
each of the sub-business process it invokes. The
timeouts and sleep intervals control the timeouts
when a business process is executed
synchronously during routing. The types of
business processes that run during routing are
consumer identification and PGP processing.
Setting the values for these properties also enables
one set of relatively quick probes, followed by a
second set of slower probes. The first set will be
reactive, but consumes more processor capacity.
The second set will be activated for
longer-running processes and will consume less
processor capacity.
First, probe 120 times, with 100 milliseconds
between each probe, for a total of 12 seconds.
Default value:
v bpCompletionProbes.1=120
v bpCompletionSleepMsec.1=100
Then, probe 600 times with 2000 milliseconds
between each probe, for a total of 1200 seconds
(20 minutes).
Default value:
v bpCompletionProbes.2=600
v bpCompletionSleepMsec.2=2000

If you have a high volume of
R
PGP traffic, you can improve
your performance by specifying a
group for the file gateway.

R

The name of the Command Line 2 adapter to be
used for PGP packaging and unpackaging. You
can override this property in the
customer_overrides.properties file if a custom
Command Line 2 adapter is used for PGP
operations. You can also specify an adapter group
name to balance the outbound PGP sessions load
across multiple adapter instances.
Default value: pgpCmdline2svcname=
PGPCmdlineService

If you have very large files that
will be processed by PGP,
increase the value of the file
gateway.

10

R

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

R

Timeout value, in milliseconds, for PGP package
and unpackage operations invoked by Sterling
File Gateway.
Default value: 240000 milliseconds (4 minutes)

Recommendation
If you have high volumes of FTP
traffic, you can improve your
performance by specifying a
group.

Test

Production

Comments

R

R

The FTP Client Adapter instance or service group
that the FileGatewayDeliverFTP business process
will use. You can override this property in the
customer_overrides.properties file to use a
custom FTP Client Adapter instance to contact
trading partners. You can also specify an adapter
group name to balance the outbound FTP sessions
load across multiple adapter instances.
Default value: ftpClientAdapterName=
FTPClientAdapter

Decrease the value of evaluation
frequency.

R

R

You can enable either
MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRules or
MailboxEvaluateAll
AutomaticRulesSubMin.
MailboxEvaluateAll
AutomaticRulesSubMin verifies the presence of
routable messages once every 10 seconds, and can
be edited for other intervals of less than one
minute by modifying the MailboxEvaluateAll
AutomaticRulesSubMin business process.

Suppress Duplicate Messages

R

R

Prevents duplicate messages from using system
resources.

Increase the number of steps a
business process must complete
prior to returning to the queue.

R

R

Number of steps involved in the completion of a
business process before the business process
returns to the queue. Higher values will accelerate
individual business process execution, while
lower values will provide smoother multitasking
capabilities. Interactive use favors a lower number
of steps, while batch processing favors a higher
number of steps. The value of
noapp.AE_ExecuteCycle.# can be different for
each queue. .# indicates the queue number.
When a business process has one service to begin
a protocol session and another service to use the
protocol session, a very low AE_ExecuteCycle
may lead many business processes to be in the
queue, with only the first service running. This
may result in many protocol sessions
accumulating in an open state, and session limits
being met sooner than is necessary.

Increase the time period that a
business process can use a
thread, before releasing it to be
used for another business
process.

R

R

Maximum time period, in milliseconds, for which
a business process can use a thread before
releasing it for use by another business process.
This value will override the value set for
AE_ExecuteCycle. Tuning the value for this
property ensures that a series of unusually slow
steps will not tie up a thread completely. This
value can be different for each queue. .# indicates
the queue number. A value that is too low may
result in the accumulation of more sessions than
are recommended.

Performance Management

11

Recommendation

Test

Production

Comments

Increase the number of
concurrent threads.

R

R

Total number of concurrent threads that Sterling
File Gateway is allowed to use. This number may
be verified against the licensed number of
threads. This value is the total number of threads
available to a workflow engine to execute
business process steps. Other, non-workflow
engine threads do not come under the purview of
this limit. For example, the threads set in
fgRouteConcurrentSessionLimit do not come
under the purview of this limit.

Set storage type.

R

R

File System is more efficient.
Default value: database

The following table shows the properties that control the above parameters:
Recommendation

Property

Increase the value of Sterling File Gateway.

fgRouteConcurrentSessionLimit

If you are processing very large files, increase the probe
values to avoid timeout conditions.

v filegateway.bpCompletionProbes.2

If you have a high volume of PGP traffic, you can
improve your performance by specifying a group for the
file gateway.

pgpCmdline2svcname

If you have very large files that will be processed by
PGP, increase the value of the file gateway.

fgRoutePGPCmdLineSocketTimeout

If you have high volumes of FTP traffic, you can
improve your performance by specifying a group.
Decrease the value of evaluation frequency.

v filegateway.bpCompletionSleepMsec.2

filegateway.ftpClientAdapterName

v MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRules
or
v MailboxEvaluateAllAutomaticRulesSubMin

Suppress Duplicate Messages

mailbox.disallowDuplicateMessages=true

Increase the number of steps a business process must
complete prior to returning to the queue.

noapp.AE_ExecuteCycle.#

Increase the time period that a business process can use
a thread, before releasing it to be used for another
business process.

noapp.AE_ExecuteCycleTime.#

Increase the number of concurrent threads.

noapp.MaxThreads

Set storage type.

N/A

EBICS Banking Server: Specific Recommendations
The EBICS Banking Server is installed on an instance of Sterling B2B Integrator,
and shares many of the resources with the latter.
You should, therefore, tune your Sterling B2B Integrator installation first, and then
perform the EBICS Banking Server-specific tuning. Be aware that the changes you
make to the EBICS Banking Server can also affect the performance of Sterling B2B
Integrator.

12

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

The following table describes some of the key parameters that must be configured
to optimize the EBICS Banking Server's performance:
Recommendation

Comments

Allocation of
additional threads to
the HTTP Server
Adapter

You can allocate additional threads to the HTTP Server adapter
when the rate of concurrent requests to the EBICS Banking Server
is moderately high. Complete the following steps to allocate
additional threads to the HTTP Server adapter:
1. Modify the numOfmaxThread parameter in the
http.properties.in file by setting numOfmaxThread to four
times the number of processor cores on the system the HTTP
Server Adapter is running on. For more information about
calculating the settings to tune the performance of your system,
refer to the topic “View and Restore Performance Configuration
Settings” on page 121.
2. Run the setupfiles.sh (setupfiles.cmd for Windows) script to
apply the changes.

Reduction of the disk
I/O amount

In order to reduce the amount of disk I/O on the system, change
the persistence of the following EBICS business processes to Error
Only:
v handleEBICSRequest
v EBICSOrderAuthorisationProcessing
v EBICSOrderProcessing

Storage size

The database space required to store the files processed by the
EBICS Banking Server is approximately 2.5 times the size of the
transacted files. For more information about managing databases in
Sterling B2B Integrator, refer to “Database management for Sterling
B2B Integrator” on page 16.

Purge documents

The document lifespan in an EBICS transaction is set to ten years.
As a result, the business processes associated with the documents
remain in the live system databases, and may occupy a large
memory and slow down the performance of the system.
The Index Business Process service scans the live systems, and
flags the records that have reached their purge eligibility date and
time. To reset the document lifespan, schedule the Index Business
Process to run every ten minutes. The Index Business Process
resets the lifespan after you delete the messages from the mailbox.
For more information about implementing and configuring the
Index Business Process service and scheduled purge, refer to Index
Business Process Service and Purge Service documentation
respectively in the online documentation library.

Database Management
For optimal performance in Sterling B2B Integrator, you must properly plan,
configure and manage your database.

Planning
This section provides information about the tasks elements that have to be
completed prior to the implementation phase. The key planning tasks include, but
are not limited to:

Performance Management

13

v Selecting a certified database management server software and version. Refer to
the Sterling B2B Integrator System Requirements for a list of supported database
configurations.
v Determining the size and configuration of the database server node
v Determining the size and configuration of the database disk subsystem
v Determining the disk technology

Monitoring Disk Space
At the operating system level, it is important to monitor disk space utilization, as
this is one of the most common causes of database freeze up. On various
UNIX/Linux-based platforms, run the df command as a line command or in a
shell script. Various third-party tools are also available.

Server Sizing
At appropriate times in the project lifecycle, you can request a Server Sizing study
from your IBM Professional Services Project Manager or a IBM Sales Executive.
This study starts with the Sterling B2B Integrator Server Sizing Questionnaire. IBM
Performance Engineering creates a sizing document that provides information
about the estimated processor, memory, and network requirements for the
standard/baseline Sterling B2B Integrator. On your part, you must consider
additional requirements such as other workloads on the same node (for example,
additional third-party software, customization, performance monitors, and so on).

Storage and File Systems
This section covers the following topics:
v Capacity Requirements
v Use of Native File Systems
v Monitoring Disk Space

Capacity Requirements
Your disk capacity requirement is a very important input to the disk configuration
planning process. This involves many considerations to ensure survivability,
manageability, scalability, and performance.
The following table provides information about the tasks that you must perform to
ensure that the required behavior is achieved.
Goal

Strategy

Survivability

v Configure disks with the ability to survive single or multiple disk failures (for
example, RAID-1, RAID-5, or RAID-10).
v Configure the disk array with multiple I/O paths to the server to survive I/O path
failures.
v Configure disks to be accessible from multiple server nodes to tolerate single-node
failures.

Manageability

14

If you have limited-time windows to back up the database, select techniques such as
array snapshots or SAN-based (storage area network) mirroring that allow logical
backups.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Goal

Strategy

Scalability and Performance

v Configure the disk array with many small disks instead of a few large disks to
increase the number of I/O paths.
v Configure the disk array with large NVRAM cache to improve read and write
performance.
v Configure the disks with stripping (for example, RAID-0 or RAID-10).
v In some circumstances, you may also want to consider using solid-state disks.

Capacity Requirements: An Example
Let us consider the following example to understand the concept of capacity
requirements better. Assume you require 900 GB of storage and you have disk
arrays or SANs that are made up of 93 GB disks. Let us further assume that the
database is implemented over ninety 10 GB data files.
The following table summarizes the choices for the common disk organizations
and the trade-offs involved.
Technology

Scalability

JBOD

Survivability

Maintainability

Num Disks

Poor. Subject to throughput Poor. Single-disk failure
of individual disks
creates outage and requires
database recovery

Poor. High disk utilization
skew.

10

RAID-0

Excellent. Striping n disks
provides read/write
throughput at n times a
single disk.

Poor. Single-disk failure
creates outage and requires
database recovery.

Excellent. Expect
near-uniform disk
utilization within a logical
unit. Potential LUN
utilization skew.

10

RAID-1

Poor. Similar performance
to that of JBOD.

Better. Can survive
multiple disk failures,
assuming that these occur
in different mirrored sets.

Poor. High disk utilization
skew.

20

RAID-5

Excellent for read (similar
Better. Able to survive a
Excellent. Low disk
to RAID-0). Potentially
single-disk failure. Multiple utilization skew. Possible
poor for write performance. disk failures create an
LUN utilization skew.
outage and require
database recovery.

11

RAID-6

Excellent for read (similar
to RAID-0). Potentially
poor for write performance
as parity calculations need
to happen. The
performance of RAID-6 and
RAID-5 is about the same
and dependent on the
controllers.

Better. Can survive a
double-disk failure. This
gives it an edge over
RAID-5. A failure of more
than two disks creates an
outage.

Excellent. Low disk
utilization skew. Possible
LUN utilization skew.

12

RAID-01

Excellent read/write
performance.

Can tolerate up to two disk Excellent. Low disk
failures as long as both
utilization skew.
failures are not in the same
Possible LUN utilization
mirrored set.
skew.

20

Performance Management

15

Technology

Scalability

Survivability

Maintainability

Num Disks

RAID-10

Excellent read/write
performance.

Can tolerate up to n disk
failures as long as two
failures do not occur in the
same mirrored set.

Excellent. Low disk
utilization skew.

20

Possible LUN utilization
skew.

Use of Native File Systems
Using file systems for storage can simplify administration tasks, although
potentially at some loss of some performance over using raw disks. It is
recommended that you consult with your storage administrator and storage
vendor.
Operating System

Native File System

Windows

NTFS

Linux

EXT3

Solaris

UFS

®

AIX

JFS2

HP-UX

VxFS

Database management for Sterling B2B Integrator
Sterling B2B Integrator uses a database server as a repository for transactional,
reference, and history data that it generates and uses.
Refer to the system requirements for a list of supported database configurations.
This topic covers the following concepts:
v JDBC Connection Pool Overview
v Configuring Parameters for a Database Pool
v Schema Objects

JDBC connection pool overview
Sterling B2B Integrator uses internal connection pooling to minimize delays in the
creation of new connections to the database server. When a connection is
requested, an existing connection is used whenever possible. Internal connection
pooling improves performance by removing the need to go to the driver and
creating and delete a new connection each time one is needed.
Internal connection pooling mechanism implements a connection pool in every
JVM started for the product. In a cluster with multiple nodes, the number of
connections the database must establish is the total of all connections for all the
connection pools.
For example, if you have four JVM instances and each connection pool averages
around 30 connections, your database server must establish 120 database
connections.

16

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

With this implementation, the database reports any idle connections to the system,
which is the expected behavior. JDBC properties can be tuned in the
jdbc.properties file to delete idle connections and minimize usage.
Note: Override the JDBC properties in the customer_overrides.properties file. Do
not modify the jdbc.properties file directly. For more information about the
jdbc.properties file, see the properties file documentation.

Implementation of connection pooling
Each database pool is created with an initial number of connections, as defined by
the initsize property in the jdbc.properties file. As more connections are
required, Sterling B2B Integrator requests additional connections up to the
maximum number defined by the maxsize property. When Sterling B2B Integrator
finishes with a connection, the connection is returned to the pool of connections for
later use.
If Sterling B2B Integrator requires connections beyond the maximum size limit for
each database pool, and every pool is in use, Sterling B2B Integrator can request
new connections up to the value defined by the buffer_size property. Connections
in this “buffer range” (that is, beyond the number of connections that are defined
by the maxsize property) are created as needed, and deleted when the calling
process is completed. To detect this condition, search for warning messages such as
connections exceeded in the noapp.log file. Performance drops if Sterling B2B
Integrator runs in this range for a long time.
The buffer_max value is a hard maximum. When the number of connections that
are defined by buffer_max (maxsize + buffersize) is reached, additional requests
for connections are denied. An error is written to the logs that indicates that the
pool is exhausted and the attempt to create a new connection failed.

Summary
Each JVM can create connections for each of the pools that are defined in the
jdbc.properties file and configured in the customer_overrides.properties file.
Each pool grabs the initial number of connections (initsize) configured.
Because a pool requires additional connections beyond the initial size, it creates
new connections up to the maxsize limit for that pool. Connections that are created
with fewer than the maxsize are returned to that pool for reuse, thus improving
performance.
If a pool is using all the connections up to the maxsize limit, it creates a new
connection as needed within the buffer size limit. Connections beyond maxsize and
below the buffersize are not reused. Each connection is created when needed, and
deleted when no longer needed by the calling process. This method is expensive
and harms performance if Sterling B2B Integrator runs for continued amounts of
time in this state.
When the number of connections (maxsize + buffersize) is reached, new requests
for connections are refused.
You can now manage JDBC pools dynamically. For more information about
dynamically managing JDBC pools, see “Dynamically Manage JDBC Pools” on
page 20.

Performance Management

17

Configuring parameters for a database pool
The following table describes the primary parameters of a database pool and the
recommended value for each parameter:
Parameter

Description and recommended value

initsize

When a JVM is created and connection pool objects are instantiated
for each of the pools, a call is made to the JDBC driver for each
pool and an initial number of connections are created for each
pool. Connections that are created from the initsize are part of
the connections that exist in the pool for reuse, as needed.
Since various JVMs can load the initial number of connections, but
might not really need them, it is recommended that you do not set
the initsize to a large value.
Default value: 0 or 1
Recommended value: 1

maxsize

Maximum size of the connection pool that pertains to a database
pool. After a connection is created up to this value, it is not
deleted. It remains idle until needed.

Buffersize

Maximum number of connections that can be created. Connections
that are created beyond the maxsize value are created and deleted
as needed.
After all the connections are used (maxsize + buffersize), and a
new request for a connection comes in, the new request is denied,
and an error is written stating that a connection cannot be created
and that the connection pool is exhausted.

maxConn

This parameter is not used in Sterling B2B Integrator.

Frequently asked questions
v Q: How many connections will I need?
A: You can start with the recommended settings provided by the tuning wizard
and then monitor the noapp.log file to ensure that you are not close to the
maximum size of the connection pool (maxsize). Monitor the usage over a
period of time and observe if the usage is increasing. If the usage limits exceed
25% of the settings that are recommended by the tuning wizard and the demand
for connections is increasing, contact the IBM Professional Services onsite
consultant or IBM Customer Support.
v Q: Why are connections shown as being idle?
A: Getting a new connection from the database is expensive. Connections are
held in a pool to be available when the system needs them, which means that
connections are often shown as being idle. This method is a performance
trade-off that enables connections to be available when needed.
v Q: Can I kill idle connections?
A: Configure the pool to keep fewer connections, and release connections after a
specified amount of time.

Schema objects
This topic covers the following concepts:
v Placement of Schema Table Objects

18

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

v Placement of Indexes
v Sterling B2B Integrator Database Tables
Placement of Schema Table Objects
The Sterling B2B Integrator installation guide provides directions about how to
create the database, including the necessary changes to some critical parameters.
The DDL statements allow you to create a simple schema that is suitable for
general use. You need to review, and possibly modify, these statements before
production.
Placement of Indexes
The DDL statements create a minimal set of indexes for general use. You might
need to create more indexes to suit your business needs. Contact IBM Professional
Services or IBM Customer Support to create more indexes. You should also
maintain a list of the indexes added and ensure that they are present after you
upgrade Sterling B2B Integrator and monitor its usage. These indexes may or may
not be added to the Sterling B2B Integrator and is specific to your operating
environment.
You might want to create more table spaces for storing indexes in addition to those
table spaces for the base tables. Table spaces should have multiple data files for
I/O load balancing.
Important: Indexes can also be separated out into different storage areas. This
action should be done in coordination with your database administrator. However,
if you are moving tables to different storage areas, do so only in coordination with
IBM Professional Services to prevent upgrade issue in the future.

Database tables that can substantially grow
The following table lists some of the tables that are defined in Sterling B2B
Integrator experience substantial input, output, and rapid growth.
Table name

Table function

DATA_TABLE

These tables hold the binary payload of documents that
are used for processing within Sterling B2B Integrator.

v DOCUMENT

Contain document metadata that is used for searchability
and enablement of various document processing tasks.

v CORRELATION_SET
WORKFLOW_CONTEXT

Contains step status and business process flow
information.

ARCHIVE_INFO

Holds lifespan information that pertains to all business
processes and document storage in the system.

These tables are candidates for moving to a table space or segment that is separate
from the rest of the database.
Important: Move these tables only in coordination with IBM Professional services.
When patches or upgrades that need to re-create a table are installed, the
installation attempts to create them in the default table space.

Performance Management

19

Controlling entries in the CORRELATION_SET table
You can control when correlation entries for different activities of Sterling B2B
Integrator are written to the CORRELATION_SET table. Reducing the number of
records in the CORRELATION_SET table improves the performance of Sterling B2B
Integrator.
The doc_tracking.properties file includes properties that enable or disable
correlation entries for the following activities. The properties are in parentheses.
v Mailbox (makeCorrelationForMailbox)
v FTP (makeCorrelationForFTP)
v SFTP (makeCorrelationForSFTP)
v System tracking extension (makeTrackingExtensions)
The default value for each property is true, which means that correlation entries
are written to the CORRELATION_SET table.
Attention: If makeTrackingExtensions=false, then no mailbox correlation entries
are created, even if makeCorrelationForMailbox=true.
The doc_tracking.properties file is in the install_dir\install\properties
directory.

Dynamically Manage JDBC Pools
Sterling B2B Integrator now has the ability to dynamically add, modify, remove
JDBC Pools and manage JDBC pools with effective dates for passwords.
Adding JDBC Pools:
About this task
This procedure shows how to add JDBC pools using the
customer_overides.properties file.
Procedure
1. In the customer_overrides.properties file, specify the database server name, port
number, database/catalog name, user ID, and password. To encrypt your
database password, use the encrypt_string.sh or encrypt_string.cmd utility in
the bin directory. Then place the encrypted password, prefixed by an
encryption indicator, in the customer_overrides.properties file.
2. To update Sterling B2B Integrator with this new pool information, restart the
application.
Modifying a Database Pool in jdbc.properties:
Procedure
1. In the install_dir/install/properties directory, locate the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file in a text editor.
3. Modify the properties you want to change in the customer pools list of
properties.
Note: You can modify any properties for user added pools. For system pools,
you cannot change the database type (for example, Oracle to MSSQL), but you
can change the database type for customer pools.
4. Save the customer_overrides.properties file.

20

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

5. After modifying the pool properties in customer_overrides.properties, go to
JDBC monitor page and click the Refresh JDBC Pools button, or run the
REFRESHJDBC OPS command from the install root directory: ./bin/opscmd.sh
-cREFRESHJDBC -nnode1
Removing Pool from jdbc.properties:
Procedure
1. In the install_dir/install/properties directory, locate the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. In the customer_overrides.properties file, delete the pool you want to remove.
Note: Verify that all the pool properties are removed for the pool you want to
delete, including, jdbc.properties_*_ext, jdbc_customer.properties,
customer_overrides.properties files and system_overrides.properties.
3. Save the customer_overrides.properties file.
4. After removing the pool properties in customer_overrides.properties, go to
JDBC monitor page and click the Refresh JDBC Pools button, or run the
REFRESHJDBC OPS command from the install root directory: ./bin/opscmd.sh
-cREFRESHJDBC -nnode1
Controlling User and Password Credentials with Effective Dates: You can now
change database passwords on a scheduled basis in Sterling B2B Integrator. When
you add or modify a pool, you now can control user and password credentials
with effective dates. Multiple user and password credentials are associated with a
pool. A date/time entry indicates to Sterling B2B Integrator when to start using
that credential for new connections. This applies primarily to external pools,
although Sterling B2B Integrator database pools will also work.
You can use the following variables for the date format:
v 15:00:00 3/16/09
v 3/16/09 15:00:00
v 3/16/2009 15:00:00
v Sat, 12 Aug 1995 13:30:00 GMT
v Sat, 12 Aug 1995 13:30:00 GMT+0430
Note: Other formats may be used as long as they follow the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF) standard date syntax. For additional information, see
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3339.txt.
Pool Property

Description

newDBPool.password.1 =


You can specify alphabets and combination of alphabets and
numbers for the password. You can use numbers for
newDBPool.password.1 or newDBPool.password.2 as well as
following examples:
v newDBPool.password.a=password_a
v newDBPool.effective.a=1/01/2005 09:35:00
v newDBPool.password.b=password_b
v newDBPool.effective.b=02/01/2009 09:35:00
v newDBPool.password.c=password_c
v newDBPool.effective.c=06/18/2009 11:07:00

Performance Management

21

newDBPool.effective.1 =


You can specify alphabets and combination of alphabets and
numbers for the password. You can use numbers for
newDBPool.password.1 or newDBPool.password.2 as well as
following examples:
v newDBPool.password.a=password_a
v newDBPool.effective.a=1/01/2005 09:35:00
v newDBPool.password.b=password_b
v newDBPool.effective.b=02/01/2009 09:35:00
v newDBPool.password.c=password_c
v newDBPool.effective.c=06/18/2009 11:07:00

System Logs and Error Logs: System Logs
When applicable, the following items are logged in system logs:
v Logging the switch from one credential to the next, as well as the initialization
of the pool dates and user IDs being used (not the passwords).
v Logging if the connection is expired when it returns to the pool.
v Logging if two passwords have the same effective dates. In this case, the system
randomly selects a password and log that two passwords had the same effective
dates. Additional logs on passwords and effective dates may be added.
v Logging when pool properties are changed. If you changed the pool related
property like maxSize, or lifespan the following message appears in the system
log: "for pool name *****  is changed".
Error Logs
The following list provides descriptions of the different types of errors that can be
logged:
v Failed to add the pool 
v Failed to delete the pool 
v Failed to modify the pool 
v Failed to create the connections from the pool 

Oracle Database Configuration and Monitoring
This topic provides information about configuring and monitoring Oracle database.
It also provides information about concepts such as init parameter configuration,
rolling back or undoing changes to the database, database storage, and monitoring
with Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) reports.

Oracle init parameter configuration checklist
The Oracle init parameters have mandatory and recommended settings for Sterling
B2B Integrator performance with an Oracle database.
Mandatory Oracle init parameters:
The Oracle init parameters have mandatory settings for Sterling B2B Integrator
performance with an Oracle database.

22

Parameter

Mandatory value

cursor_sharing

Exact

Character set

AL32UTF8

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Recommended Oracle init parameters:
The Oracle init parameters have recommended settings for Sterling B2B Integrator
performance with an Oracle database.
Parameter

Recommended value

processes

Must be greater than the number of connections that are
required by Sterling B2B Integrator (sum of transactional or
local and NoTrans pools in the jdbc.properties file), and
operational management tools.

v sga_max_size

1 GB to n GB, depending on the amount of physical
memory on your database server. If the server is running
only this database, up to 80% of physical memory.

v sga_target
v pga_aggregate_target

To size SGA (Shared Global Area) pools automatically, see
“SGA pool sizing” on page 25.
timed_statistics

True

optimizer_mode

All_rows

open_cursors

2000 or higher if prepared statement caching is to be used.

Oracle init parameter descriptions:
The Oracle init parameters have mandatory and recommended settings for the
performance of Sterling B2B Integrator with an Oracle database.
Parameter

Description

Number of processes

Maximum number of processes that the Oracle server can create.
Each inbound connection from a client requires an available
process on the Oracle serverand internal processes that run in the
Oracle server itself.
This setting needs to be set high enough to accommodate the
expected peak connections from Sterling B2B Integrator as well as
additional processes for internal server processes plus the possible
usage of buffer connections from the Sterling B2B Integrator pools.
Note that the expected peak connections from Sterling B2B
Integrator are per node, and this number should be multiplied by
the number of nodes in a cluster.
Important: Exceeding the allocated processes can destabilize the
entire Oracle server and cause unpredictable issues.
Normally, the Sterling B2B Integrator logs a report if this has
occurred, by logging an “ORA-00020 maximum number of
processes exceeded” error.

Performance Management

23

Parameter

Description

open_cursors

Number of cursors that the Oracle server can create. Each process
that is servicing a connection will normally spawn two or more
cursors, plus additional cursors that are needed for internal server
processes.
As with the processes, this needs to be set high enough to
accommodate the expected peak connections, multiplied by two,
plus an allocation for possible buffer connections. This should also
be multiplied by the number of nodes in the cluster.
A simple rule of thumb is to set this to four times the number of
processes, four times the number of nodes of Sterling B2B
Integrator, plus an additional 10%.
If the number of cursors is exceeded, Sterling B2B Integrator logs
“ORA-01000: maximum open cursors exceeded.”

Character Set

Controls the storage of character data in the Oracle database. The
UTF8 set most closely matches the default character set for Java
and will prevent any conversion of character data.
AL32UTF8 is the preferred setting for Oracle database.

cursor_sharing

Controls whether SQL sent from a client is reparsed each time, or
if the server can reuse (“share”) the complied plan.
Sterling B2B Integrator requires the setting to be “exact” for both
performance and data integrity.

sga_max_size

Maximum size of the memory allocated to the System Global Area
(SGA). This controls the maximum memory that can be allocated
to the system area of the Oracle instance. The size of the SGA
should never exceed the size of the actual memory (RAM) installed
on the server.
A rule of thumb is that the SGA maximum size should be allotted
as much memory as possible, but should not exceed 80% of the
total memory of the server.

sga_max_target

Target value that Oracle uses for automatic allocation of SGA pool
resources.
Recommended setting is equal to the sga_max_size. The exception
is for extremely large databases, where this may need to be
adjusted manually.

pga_aggregate_target

Specifies the target aggregate Program Global Area memory
available to all server processes attached to the Oracle instance.
These are normally internal Oracle processes, and are not used by
clients connecting to the instance.
Recommended setting is a non-zero value. This allows the Oracle
instance to size the SQL working areas automatically as needed.

timed_statistics

Controls whether database statistics for particular times are logged
by Oracle. This information may be useful to monitor system or
application performance.
Setting timed_statistics to TRUE may incur a slight overall load
increase on the Oracle instance. However, the information it creates
is valuable for diagnosing issues with performance of the instance.

24

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Parameter

Description

optimizer_mode

Controls the mode that the optimizer uses to select the proper
execution path for fulfilling query results, among other functions.
Setting this to an incorrect mode can dramatically affect the overall
performance of the server.
Recommended setting for Sterling B2B Integrator: all_rows

SGA pool sizing:
As an alternative to manually sizing the main SGA pools in an Oracle database,
IBM recommends that you use Automatic Shared Memory Management (ASMM).
This feature controls pool size dynamically at run time, readjusting the sizes of the
main pools (db_cache_size, shared_pool_size, large_pool_size, java_pool_size)
based on existing workloads.
Set the following values to enable Oracle ASMM:
v Use an spfile for the init.ora values
v Set sga_target to a non-zero value
v Set statistics_level to TYPICAL (the default) or ALL
v Set shared_pool_size to a non-zero value

Rolling Back or Undoing Changes in Oracle Database
Oracle database supports AUTO UNDO management. Its use is recommended to
avoid manual monitoring of UNDO segments. Set the
UNDO_MANAGEMENT=AUTO parameter in init.ora. Your database
administrator needs to determine the UNDO_RETENTION setting.
Ensure that the file system where UNDOTBS1 tablespace is located has enough
space to use the AUTOGROW setting. As a starting point, size the undo tablespace
at 20% of the total database size.

Redo Logs
Redo logs are critical for database and instance recovery. Correct redo log
configuration is also critical for performance. We have seen best performance while
implementing redo logs on ASM. The following is recommended:
v Consider implementing redo logs on dedicated disk devices, preferably RAID 10.
v Consider implementing redo log group log files on alternating disks.

Redo File Size
Your choice of redo file size depends on your trade-off between performance and
availability, specifically the time required to recover the Oracle instance in the
event of a failure. For performance, some installations opt to create large redo logs
in order to reduce the frequency of log switches. However, this means potentially
more transactions in the redo logs that must be replayed during recovery.
The general rule for sizing redo log files is to consider the time it takes to switch
log files. Generally, do not switch logs more than once every 20 to 30 minutes.
Issue the following query to see how often the redo log files are changing:
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25

select * from v$loghist order by first_time desc
Following is an example of the output:
THREAD# SEQUENCE# FIRST_CHANGE# FIRST_TIME SWITCH_CHANGE#
1 97 7132082 10/20/2008 11:47:53 PM 7155874
1 96 7086715 10/20/2008 11:32:04 PM 7132082
1 95 7043684 10/20/2008 11:15:07 PM 7086715
1 94 6998984 10/20/2008 11:00:57 PM 7043684
1 93 6950799 10/20/2008 10:48:03 PM 6998984
In this example, the logs are switched every 15 minutes.

Rollback Transaction Errors
If Sterling B2B Integrator is running with Oracle and is under load, the snap shot
too old SQL error may be found in the wf.log file. The SQL error can be resolved
with the following:
v Tune the Oracle database by increasing undo_retention and redo table space.
v If the SQL error is from WFReportService (from the stack trace in wf.log),
change the useNewStateAndStatusLogic property in jdbc.properties and
jdbc.properties.in to false. This will prevent the snap shot too old SQL error, but
it might cause the Recover process to run longer.

Database Storage
This topic provides information about database storage.

ASM
It is recommended that you use Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) to
manage database storage. The benefits of using ASM include:
v Improved I/O performance and scalability
v Simplified database administration
v Automatic I/O tuning
v Reduction in number of objects to manage
For more information, consult these sources:
v ASM documents available on the Oracle Web site.
v Storage vendor best practice papers about how to configure ASM for their
storage products.

Raw Disks
For performance-critical systems, importing only raw devices into ASM is
recommended. For high-volume processing environments, ensure that ASM is
configured with disk devices from high-performance disk storage arrays. Some
characteristics that you should look for include large NVRAM caches in order to
buffer the disk reads and writes, and for efficient RAID implementation.

26

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Configure ASM with External Redundancy to ensure that redundancy is provided
by your storage array.
Raw devices (raw partitions or raw volumes) can be used directly under Oracle on
UNIX-based or Linux-based systems and can help performance. However, raw
disks have the following potential disadvantages:
v Raw devices may not solve problems with file size writing limits.
To display current UNIX file size limits, run the following command:
ulimit -a
v It may not be possible to move files to other disk drives if you are using raw
devices. If a particular disk drive has intense I/O activity, and performance will
benefit from the movement of an Oracle data file to another drive, it is likely
that no acceptably-sized partition or volume exists on a drive with less I/O
activity.
v Raw devices are more difficult to administer than data files stored on a file
system or in an Automatic Storage Management disk group.
When deciding whether to use raw devices, consider the following issues:
v Raw disk partition availability
Use raw partitions for Oracle files only if you have at least as many raw disk
partitions as Oracle data files. If disk space is a consideration, and the raw disk
partitions are already created, match the data file size to the partition size as
closely as possible to avoid wasting space.
You must also consider the performance implications of using all the disk space
on a few disks as opposed to using less space on more disks.
v Logical volume manager
Logical volume managers manage disk space at a logical level and hide some of
the complexity of raw devices. With logical volumes, you can create logical disks
based on raw partition availability.
The logical volume manager controls fixed-disk resources by:
– Mapping data between logical and physical storage
– Enabling data to span multiple disks and to be discontiguous, replicated, and
dynamically expanded
For RAC, you can use logical volumes for drives associated with a single
system, as well as those that can be shared with more than one system of a
cluster. Shared drives enables all the files associated with a RAC database to be
placed on these shared logical volumes.
v Dynamic performance tuning
To optimize disk performance, you can move files from disk drives with high
activity to disk drives with low activity. Most hardware vendors who provide
the logical disk facility also provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that you can
use for tuning.
Refer to your operating system documentation on how to use raw devices with
your OS.

Tablespaces (Single or Multiple)
Prior to production, you should plan the overall storage strategy. The DDLs to
create temporary tablespaces and data tablespaces are left to the discretion of the
customer. General recommendations include:

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27

v Implement these tablespaces as locally managed tablespaces (LMTs) by
specifying extent management as local when creating the tablespace.
v Implement tablespaces with Automatic Space Management by specifying
segment space management as auto.
v With LMTs, you may want to consider creating tablespaces that store small
reference tables with the autoallocate extent allocation model.
v Consider putting large tables into their own tablespace and using the uniform
extent allocation model. Use the default extent size 1 MB.
v Create your temporary tablespace as a temporary data file (temp files). Temp
files are used to store intermediate results, such as from large sort operation.
Changes to temp files are not recorded in the redo logs.

I/O Sub-System Response Time
Sterling B2B Integrator is an On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) application.
As an OLTP application, database response time to the I/O sub-system needs to be
in the single digit range even during the peak periods. The database response time
to the I/O sub-system should be less than:
v 5 ms for logs. 1ms or better is recommended.
v 10 ms or better for data. 5ms is recommended.

Monitoring with the AWR Report
Important: The information in an Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) report
needs to be considered in relation to Sterling B2B Integrator performance. This
information is not meaningful in isolation. You should monitor AWR over a period
of time to establish your steady state performance baseline. You should monitor
AWR even if Sterling B2B Integrator is performing to your satisfaction; doing so
could uncover issues before they become noticeable.
The AWR is used to collect performance statistics, including:
v Wait events used to identify performance problems
v Time model statistics indicating the amount of DB time associated with a process
from the V$SESS_TIME_MODEL and V$SYS_TIME_MODEL views
v Active Session History (ASH) statistics from the V$ACTIVE_SESSION_HISTORY
view
v Selected system and session statistics from the V$SYSSTAT and V$SESSTAT
views
v Object usage statistics
v Resource-intensive SQL statements
The repository is a source of information for several other Oracle database features,
including:
v Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor
v SQL Tuning Advisor
v Undo Advisor
v Segment Advisor
By default, AWR snapshots of the relevant data are taken every hour and retained
for seven days. It is recommended to set shorter intervals, for example, 30 minutes,
because at longer intervals, the issues are less noticeable. Default values for these
settings can be altered with statements such as:

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

BEGIN
DBMS_WORKLOAD_REPOSITORY.modify_snapshot_settings(
retention => 43200, -- Minutes (= 30 Days).
Current value retained if NULL.
interval => 30); -- Minutes. Current value retained if NULL.
END;
/
A typical Sterling B2B Integrator deployment contains characteristics of both
interactive and batch data processing systems, including a high volume of small
transactions that rapidly update the database and periodic long-running
transactions that touch many records.
The key areas to inspect in an AWR report are:
v Top SQL (by CPU or I/O)
v Top wait events
v Buffer cache hit ratio (refer to the topic "Instance Efficiency Percentages")
v I/O contention (hot spots) on disks (refer to the topic " Tablespace IO Stats and
File IO Stats")

Instance Efficiency Percentages
When viewing the Instance Efficiency Percentages area, focus on Buffer Hit % and
Buffer Nowait % as shown in the following figure. These are the key performance
indicators on the Oracle database server. The goal is to keep these values at 95% or
greater, which can typically increase efficiency by increasing buffer cache available
to the DB server.
Note: When Sterling B2B Integrator performs internal maintenance, these values
may be affected.

The following figure shows the buffer pool statistics.

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29

Tablespace IO Stats and File IO Stats
Review the IO Stats area to obtain information about hotspots or drive contention.
Analysis of information such as Buffer Wait and Average Buffer Waits can help you
determine whether you are getting the best performance from your drives, and
identify potential bottlenecks. Separation of objects into their own unique
tablespaces can contribute to performance tuning of specific areas.
Wait Events
The AWR report for Sterling B2B Integrator shows typical wait events as displayed
in the following figure. To see if the wait events are problematic, compare it to a
baseline in your environment. The following figures are an example of what you
can see normally for Sterling B2B Integrator.

The SQL statements that should be inspected are SQL ordered by Gets and SQL
ordered by Reads as shown in the following figure. Again, compare these with the
baseline of the system to determine if any SQL statement is behaving oddly. If yes,
refer to the query plans to determine if the query plan is appropriate.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Occasionally, you may observe full table scans on some tables. It is not a cause for
concern unless the overall system performance is slow or business level SLAs are
not met.

Index and Table Statistics
Database optimizers rely on relatively up-to-date table and index statistics to
generate optimal access plans.
Oracle does not require statistics to be absolutely correct or current, just relatively
correct and representative. You should refresh statistics periodically (several times
in a day or at least one time every day). You can refresh statistics by using the
default job that is provided in Oracle or by creating the custom jobs. Ensure that
you update statistics when there is a significant change in data (20% or more).
Oracle database gathers statistics automatically during its maintenance window (10
p.m. to 2 a.m. on week nights and all day on weekends) for tables with sufficient
changes. Oracle bypasses statistics generation for tables that did not change
significantly.
To manually refresh statistics, use the DBMS_STATS package. This sample
invocation refreshes the statistics for the entire database:
EXECUTE DBMS_STATS.GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS(,CASCADE => TRUE, OPTIONS =>’GATHER AUTO’)

where  = Sterling B2B Integrator schema owner.
One way to determine the update frequency for statistics is when the data for one
customer changes by approximately 20%. The update frequency is governed by the
document's lifespan.
Speak with the Sterling B2B Integrator Administrator to find out more about
document lifespans. Generally, updating statistics one time every 24 hours is
sufficient.

Index Rebuilds
Index rebuilds are also recommended for the Sterling B2B Integrator schema when
the data in the tables changes by approximately 20%. However, the rebuild must
be validated by looking at the system performance as a whole. Online index
rebuilds, which cause minimal impact to the system, is possible.
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31

The Sterling B2B Integrator system administrator must work with the DBA to
identify the indexes that must be rebuilt. You must always rebuild indexes at
schema level.
Sterling B2B Integrator is a high-volume OLTP application, and rarely, there might
be times when you might need to shrink the tables or rebuild indexes. Oracle
documentation provides details about the following tasks:
v Shrinking database segments online
– http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28310/
schema003.htm#ADMIN10161 (Oracle Database 11g Release 1)
– http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18283_01/server.112/e17120/
schema003.htm#ADMIN10161 (Oracle Database 11g Release 2)
– http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/ADMIN/schema.htm#CBBBIADA
(Oracle Database 12c Release 1)
v Rebuilding an existing index
– http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28310/
indexes004.htm#ADMIN11734 (Oracle Database 11g Release 1)
– http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18283_01/server.112/e17120/
indexes004.htm#insertedID2 (Oracle Database 11g Release 2)
– http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/ADMIN/indexes.htm#i1006864 (Oracle
Database 12c Release 1)

Enable BLOB Caching
By default, Oracle database configures itself with the BLOB caching disabled when
you choose Oracle as your database during Sterling B2B Integrator installation.
You can significantly improve performance by enabling the cache on the BLOB
data object,. Run the following commands while connected to the database:
ALTER TABLE DATA_TABLE MODIFY LOB (DATA_OBJECT) (CACHE)
ALTER TABLE TRANS_DATA MODIFY LOB (DATA_OBJECT) (CACHE)
For regular tuning and best practices pertaining to Oracle, refer to the
corresponding Oracle documentation.

Using Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) for High
Availability
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) ensures high availability by supporting the
deployment of a database across multiple machines, thereby reducing the
downtime due to hardware failures or outages, planned or unexpected.
The following diagram shows how all transactions should be sent to one Oracle
RAC node at a time. If that database node goes down, all Sterling B2B Integrator
nodes reconnect to the second available database node. This scenario requires that
load balancing is turned off, and provides better overall system performance.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

The following table lists the features and benefits of Oracle RAC when used with
Sterling B2B Integrator:
Features

Benefits

Load balancing

Oracle RAC supports initial connection time load balancing and runtime
connection load balancing. However, running Sterling B2B Integrator
with load balancing turned on is likely to result in performance issues.
On the client side (jdbc url), you should set the parameter LOAD_BALANCE
to OFF. On the server side, turn off load balancing on the database
service.

SCAN (Single
Client Access
Name)

Available in Oracle RAC 11g R2, SCAN allows you to set up RAC
failover without specifying nodes. Using traditional RAC in Sterling B2B
Integrator, you configure the JDBC URL to name an initial node and a
failover node. With SCAN, you configure the JDBC URL so that SCAN
selects the initial node and fails over to the other available node.
A benefit to using SCAN over traditional RAC is that you do not need
to update the URL when a node name changes. There is, however, a
potential performance degradation as SCAN searches for an available
node.

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33

Features

Benefits

High availability
(Failover)

Oracle RAC supports high availability by eliminating the dependence
on a single server, where the chances of database downtime are more
due to hardware failure.
v Initial connection time failover
In initial connection time failover, the database node availability is
determined while establishing the connection. The connection is
established with the available database node. However, if a database
node goes down while a transaction is in progress, the transaction
will fail and throw a SQLException error, and a new connection will
be established with the available node.
Initial connection time failover can be configured on the JDBC
multi-instance URL on the client side by setting this parameter:
FAILOVER=ON
Sterling B2B Integrator supports two-node Oracle RAC setup.
To establish initial time connection failover in Sterling B2B Integrator,
perform the following tasks:
1. Configure the following properties in ASI node and in
customer_overrides.properties.in file in containers. You can set
values for these properties (in milliseconds) that are suitable for
your operating environment.
Setting a value too low would result in genuine SQL queries
getting terminated before they have a chance to be processed and
return the dataset. A value too high means that the application
threads are holding connections which are waiting on a query
timeout for that duration and are not available for other tasks.
This could result in lower throughput. An optimum setting
depends on the customer's environment.
jdbcService.oraclePool.prop_oracle.jdbc.
ReadTimeout=
jdbcService.oraclePool_local.prop_oracle.jdbc.
ReadTimeout=
jdbcService.oraclePool_NoTrans.prop_oracle.jdbc.
ReadTimeout=
jdbcService.oracleUIPool.prop_oracle.jdbc.
ReadTimeout=
jdbcService.oracleArchivePool.prop_oracle.jdbc.
ReadTimeout=
2. From the install_dir/install/bin (install_dir\install\bin for
Windows) directory, run (UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh or
(Windows) setupfiles.cmd.
3. Restart the ASI and container JVMs to apply the changes.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Features

Benefits

High availability
(Failover),
continued

v Runtime connection failover
When one Oracle RAC node goes down, the active connections from
the node that went down will failover to the active node. When the
node that went down is up and running again, the connections are
not redistributed. You can redistribute the connection pools by setting
lifespan parameter to a value greater than 0, which ensures that
connection pools are terminated after the lifespan value is met and
load balancing occurs when new connections are established.
However, configuring a low value lifespan may lead to connections
being terminated quickly thereby losing the benefit of connection
pool.
To override all the Oracle pools lifespan to a value greater than 0, set
the following value in the customer_overrides.properties file:
jdbcService..
lifespan=180000

Visibility Event
Queues

You can increase the number of visibility queues and event input queue
capacity in customer_overrides.properties to ensure that adapters are
responsive.
To increase the default queue size and the thread counts, perform the
following tasks:
1. Set the following values in the ASI node and in
customer_overrides.properties.in file in containers:
dmivisibility.number_visibility_threads=6
dmivisibility.event_input_queue_capacity=3072
2. From the install_dir/install/bin (install_dir\install\bin for Windows)
directory, run (UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh or (Windows)
setupfiles.cmd.
3. Restart the ASI and container JVMs to apply the changes.

Fast Connection
Failover (FCF)

Sterling B2B Integratordoes not support Fast Connection Failover (FCF).

Transparent
Application
Failover (TAF)

Sterling B2B Integratordoes not support Transparent Application
Failover (TAF).

IBM DB2 for LUW Configuration and Monitoring
This topic provides information about configuring and monitoring IBM DB2® for
LUW (Linux, UNIX, and Windows). It describes the recommended registry
variables and DBM CFG parameters. It also provides details about the storage
subsystem, log configuration, database monitoring, and index and table statistics.

Mandatory settings for IBM DB2 registry variables
Mandatory IBM DB2 registry values are critical for IBM DB2 performance with
Sterling B2B Integrator.

Performance Management

35

Variable

Mandatory value

DB2_SKIPDELETED

ON
Allows index-range queries or table-scan queries to skip
records that are in an uncommitted delete state. This
reduces the amount of lock contention from Read Share
and Next Key Share locks from range queries in tables
with a high frequency of deletes.
When enabled, DB2_SKIPDELETED allows, where
possible, table or index access scans to defer or avoid
row locking until a data record is known to satisfy
predicate evaluation. This allows predicate evaluation
to occur on uncommitted data.
This variable is applicable only to statements using
either Cursor Stability or Read Stability isolation levels.
For index scans, the index must be a type-2 index.
Deleted rows are skipped unconditionally on table scan
access while deleted keys are not skipped for type-2
index scans unless DB2_SKIPDELETED is also set.
Recommended value: ON

DB2_SKIPINSERTED

ON
Allows SELECTs with Cursor Stability or Read Stability
isolation levels to skip uncommitted inserted rows. This
reduces record lock contention on tables with heavy
insert rates.

Recommended settings for IBM DB2 registry variables
IBM DB2 registry values include recommended settings for IBM DB2 performance
with Sterling B2B Integrator.
Variable

Recommended value

DB2_USE_ALTERNATE_
PAGE_CLEANING

ON

DB2_
EVALUNCOMMITTED

ON
Enabling this variable can reduce the amount of
unnecessary lock contention from Read Share and Next
Key Share. By default, DB2 requests share locks on the
index or record before verifying if the record satisfies
the query predicate. Queries that scan a set of records
in tables with high frequency of inserts or updates can
unnecessarily block records that do not belong to its
result set.
When you set DB2_EVALUNCOMMITTED to ON, DB2
performs an uncommitted read on the record to
perform the predicate verification. If the record satisfies
the predicate, DB2 requests a share lock on that record.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Variable

Recommended value

DB2_PARALLEL_IO

Changes the way in which DB2 calculates I/O
parallelism to the tablespace. By default, DB2 sets I/O
parallelism to a tablespace equal to the number of
containers in that tablespace. For example, if the
tablespace has four containers, prefetches to that
tablespace are performed as four extent-sized prefetch
requests.
Set the DB2_PARALLEL_IO variable if you have
implemented containers on stripped devices (for
example, RAID-5, RAID-10, or RAID-01). If you set
DB2_PARALLEL_IO=ON or DB2_PARALLEL_IO=*,
DB2 assumes that containers are implemented on a
RAID 5 (6+1) configuration: six data disks plus one
parity disk.
In this example, prefetches to the four-container
tablespace mentioned above are performed in 24
extent-sized prefetch requests.
To assess the effectiveness of your prefetch parallel I/O
settings, monitor the unread_prefetch_pages and
prefetch_wait_time monitor element with the
snapshot_database monitor. The unread_prefetch_pages
monitor element tracks the number of prefetch pages
that were evicted from the buffer pool before it was
used. A continually growing number indicates that the
prefetch requests are too large, either because the
prefetch size is larger than the pages needed or the
prefetch activities are bringing in too many pages for
the capacity of the buffer pool. In either case, you may
want to consider reducing the prefetch size.
If you have high prefetch_wait_time values, the
application might be waiting for pages.

DB2_NUM_
CKPW_DAEMONS

0
Set this on IBM AIX 5.3 only if you observe a memory
leak during connect authentication within DB2's
authentication daemons (db2ckpwd processes) as a
result of calling the AIX loginsuccess() API.
Symptoms may include excessive memory usage, an
instance crash due to a trap in the db2ckpwd process,
or general authentication failures. Verify by monitoring
the SZ and RSS values for db2ckpwd processes. Use the
ps aux | grep db2ckpwd command and look at the fifth
and sixth columns of output.
DB2 workaround exists for this problem. Set the
following registry variable, and recycle this instance:
db2set DB2_NUM_CKPW_DAEMONS=0
Also see IBM APAR IY78341.

DB2LOCK_TO_RB

STATEMENT

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37

Recommended Settings for DBM CFG Parameters
Let DB2 automatically manage the following parameters for DB2 9.x by accepting
the default values:
v INSTANCE_MEMORY
v FCM_NUM_BUFFERS
v FCM_NUM_CHANNELS
Enabling the following monitor switches is recommended in production:

38

Parameter

Mandatory or
Recommended

Recommended Value

DFT_MON_BUFPOOL

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_LOCK

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_SORT

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_STMT

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_TABLE

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_TIMESTAMP

Recommended

ON

DFT_MON_UOW

Recommended

ON

MON_HEAP_SZ

Recommended

AUTOMATIC

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Parameter

Mandatory or
Recommended

MAXAGENTS

Recommended

Recommended Value
Limits the number of database
manager agents (both coordinator
or subagents) that can run
concurrently. Pick a high enough
number so that the combined
connection requirements from the
application servers, agents,
monitoring tools, and so on do not
exceed the MAXAGENTS limit
during peak processing periods. If
you do, you must restart the DB2
instance to increase this limit.
Recommend value: Must be greater
than the number of connections
needed by Sterling B2B Integrator
(that is, the sum of transactional
(local) plus NoTrans pools in
jdbc.properties file) plus the
connections needed by operational
management tools.
With the use of connection pooling
in the NoApp Server, the number
of database connections is less than
the number of users who are
logged in. Depending on your
anticipated peak workload traffic,
this parameter may range from a
small number such as 25 to a large
number in the thousands.
Monitor the number of concurrent
connections in production
(especially during peak periods) to
ensure that it does not reach the
maximum. When the
MAXAGENTS limit is reached,
DB2 refuses to establish new
connection requests.

Estimation Guidelines for Number of Connections
You can roughly estimate the number of concurrent user connections required for
Sterling B2B Integrator with this formula:
Concurrent (DB2) connections = A + B + C + D
Variable

Description

A

Maximum number of UI-based connections

B

Maximum NoApp Server connection pool max size times the
number of NoApp Server instances (as in a cluster)

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39

Variable

Description

C

Any additional connections that are opened by customized code or
user exits that do not go through the NoApp Server connection
pools. This connection requirement is specific to your
implementation.

D

Number of connections required by the containers.

Benchmarking
Benchmarking your system to validate assumptions and estimates prior to a
production implementation is strongly recommended. During the test, monitor the
connection pool usage levels in each of the application server instances, the
number of agents to run to meet your processing and service levels, and the actual
DB2 database connections established.

Mandatory settings for DB CFG parameters
For optimal performance, certain parameters and values are mandatory for DB2
9.x.
Parameter

Mandatory value

Database Code Set

UTF-8

Recommended settings for DB CFG parameters
For optimal performance, follow the recommended settings for DB2 9.x.
The parameters and values described in the following table are recommended:
Parameter

Recommended value

SELF_TUNING_MEM

Enables the DB2 self-tuning memory manager (STMM) to automatically and
dynamically set memory allocations to memory consumers such as buffer
pools, lock lists, package cache, and sort heap.
Recommended value: ON

DATABASE_MEMORY

Allows DB2 to adjust the amount of database memory depending on load,
memory pressures, and other factors.
Recommended values:
AUTOMATIC (for Windows and AIX)
COMPUTED (for Linux, HP-UX, and Solaris)

LOCKLIST

Allows STMM to dynamically manage memory allocations.
Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

MAXLOCKS

Allows STMM to dynamically manage memory allocations.
Recommended values:
AUTOMATIC
If AUTOMATIC is not supported: 100

PCKCACHESZ

Allows STMM to dynamically manage memory allocations.

SHEAPTHRES_SHR

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

SORTHEAP

40

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Parameter

Recommended value

NUM_IOCLEANERS

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

NUM_IOSERVERS

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

DFT_PREFETCH_SZ

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

MAXAPPLS

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

APPLHEAPSZ

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

APPL_MEMORY

Recommended value: AUTOMATIC

APP_CTL_HEAP_SZ

512
Note: APP_CTL_HEAP_SZ is deprecated in DB2 9.5.

DBHEAP

Amount required depends on the amount of memory available and the
traffic volume.
Recommended value: AUTOMATIC
Note: The default DBHEAP value is inadequate.

LOGFILSIZ

Refer to the topic Log Configuration.
Recommended value: 65536 if configuring 20 transaction logs of 256 MB
(65536 4 K pages)

LOGPRIMARY

Number of primary transaction logs. Refer to the topic Log Configuration.
Recommended value: 40 or more

LOGSECOND

Number of secondary transaction logs. These are allocated by DB2 when it
cannot reuse any of the primary logs due to active transactions. Refer to the
topic Log Configuration.
Recommended value: 12

NUM_LOG_SPAN

Refer to the topic Log Configuration.
Recommended value: LOGPRIMARY - Safety buffer

DFT_DEGREE

Sets the default degree of parallelism for intrapartition parallelism. In
general, online transactional applications such as Sterling B2B Integrator
typically experience a high volume of short queries that do not benefit from
parallel queries.
Recommended value: 1 – Disable intrapartition parallelism

DB2LOCK_TO_RB

Recommended value: STATEMENT

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41

Recommended Settings for DB2 9.7
The following table lists the recommended settings specific to DB2 9.7:
Feature

Description

Currently Committed The DB2 database used the default Cursor
Semantics
Stability (CS) isolation level in all versions
until DB2 9.7. If an application changed a
row and another application tried to read
that row before the first application
committed the changes, the second
application waited until the commit.
You can now set the currently committed
semantics of the CS level, which informs
DB2 that when the second application tries
to read a locked row, it will get an image of
what the row looked like before committing
the change.
In the enhanced currently committed
semantics, only committed data is returned,
as it used to be earlier. However, now read
operation does not wait for the write
operation to release the row locks. Instead,
the read operation returns the data prior to
the start of the write operation.
The currently committed semantics is
turned on by default in the new DB 9.7
database. The new database configuration
parameter, cur_commit is used to override
this behavior.
Currently committed semantics requires
more log space for write operations. In
addition, extra space is required for logging
the first update of a data row during a
transaction, which can have an insignificant
or measurable impact on the total log space
used.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Value
Recommended value:
ON

Feature

Description

Value

Limitations
The following list provides limitations that
apply to the currently committed semantics:
v The target table in sections that is used
for data update or delete operation does
not use currently committed semantics.
v An uncommitted modification to a row
forces the currently committed read
operation to access appropriate log
records and determine the currently
committed version of the row. Although
log records that are no longer present in
the log buffer can be physically read,
currently committed semantics does not
support the retrieval of log files from the
log archive.
v The following scans does not use
currently committed semantics:
–

Statement
concentrator

Catalog table scans

–

Referential integrity constraint
enforcement scans

–

LONG VARCHAR or LONG
VARGRAPHIC column reference scans

–

Range-clustered table (RCT) scans

–

Spatial or extended index scans

DB2 uses less server resources while
processing queries that have parameters
instead of queries that have literal values in
them. DB2 will compile an SQL statement
once and will cache it. It presents the same
query execution plan from the cache the
next time for the same query thereby
utilizing fewer resources to
compile/prepare the same statement.

You can enable
statement
concentrator by
running the following
SQL statement:
db2 update db cfg
for  using
stmt_conc literals

However, it becomes a difficult task when
SQL statements use literal values instead of
parameters matching incoming statements
to what is already present in the statement.
To prevail over this situation, statement
concentrator modifies dynamic SQL
statements at the database server so that
similar, but not identical, SQL statements
can share the same access plan.

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43

Feature

Description

Value

Inline LOBs

Sterling B2B Integrator extensively uses
large objects (LOBs). These LOBs are
usually a few kilobytes in size.

Enable LOB inlining
through the INLINE
LENGTH option on
the CREATE TABLE
statement or the
ALTER TABLE
statement.

The LOB data access performance can be
improved by placing the LOB data within
the rows on data pages instead of the LOB
storage object.
Typically, LOBs are stored in a separate
storage object that is outside the base table.
LOBs can be stored in the formatted rows
of the base table if they are sufficiently
sized. Depending on the page size, the
maximum length of a LOB that can qualify
for in table in-lining is 32660 bytes. Such
LOBs are commonly known as inline LOBs.
Earlier, the processing of such LOBs created
bottlenecks for application. However, now
LOBs improve the performance of queries
that access the LOB data as there is no
additional I/Os required for fetching,
inserting, or updating the data.
LBO inlining is enabled for all LOB
columns in the new or existing tables for
DB2 9.7 and for all existing LOB columns in
an upgrade.

Recommended Settings for DB2 for Linux on System z (5.2.4.0 or
later)
IBM recommends special settings for DB2 when using Sterling B2B Integrator
5.2.4.0 or later on the Linux operating system on System z.
When you are running Sterling B2B Integrator 5.2.4.0 or later using the DB2
database on the Linux operating system on System z (or zLinux), IBM recommends
the following settings:
v SCSI over FCP (fiber channel protocol) disks for data and transaction logs.
v RAID 5 for data logs and RAID 10 or solid state drives (SSDs) for transaction
logs. All volumes should be striped across as many disks as possible. With this
setup, DB2 can be configured to use direct input and output.
An alternative setup is the use of separate extended count key data (ECKD) disks
with PAV (parallel access volumes) or HyperPAV for data and transaction logs. The
PAV and HyperPAV features are available on the IBM DS8000 series of IBM SANs.
This setup tries to overcome the limitations of the typical ECKD disk setup. All
ECKD volumes should be striped.

Storage Subsystem
Prior to production, plan the overall storage strategy. The DDLs to create
temporary tablespaces and data tablespaces are left to the discretion of the
customer. This topic discusses some general recommendations.
The Sterling B2B Integrator installation creates tables and indexes. The tables use
different page sizes: 4K, 8K, and 16K. You should have a tablespace to

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

accommodate tables with these page sizes. DB2 automatically places tables and
indexes in the available tablespaces using its internal logic.

SMS Tablespaces in DB2
In an SMS (System Managed Space) table space, the operating system's file system
manager allocates and manages the space where the table is stored. The storage
model typically consists of many files, representing table objects, stored in the file
system space. The user decides on the location of the files, DB2 controls their
names, and the file system is responsible for managing them. By controlling the
amount of data written to each file, the database manager distributes the data
evenly across the table space containers. By default, the initial table spaces created
at database creation time are SMS.
SMS table spaces are defined using the MANAGED BY SYSTEM option in the
CREATE DATABASE command, or in the CREATE TABLESPACE statement.
Consider two key factors when you design your SMS table spaces:
v Containers for the table space. You must specify the number of containers that
you want to use for your table space. It is crucial to identify all the containers
you want to use, because you cannot add or delete containers after an SMS table
space is created.
v In a partitioned database environment, when a new partition is added to the
database partition group for an SMS table space, the ALTER TABLESPACE
statement can be used to add containers for the new partition.
Each container used for an SMS table space identifies an absolute or relative
directory name. Each of these directories can be located on a different file system
(or physical disk). Estimate the maximum size of the table space with:
Number of containers * maximum file system size supported by the operating
system
This formula assumes that there is a distinct file system mapped to each
container, and that each file system has the maximum amount of space available.
In practice, this may not be the case, and the maximum table space size may be
much smaller. There are also SQL limits on the size of database objects, which
may affect the maximum size of a table space.
v Extent size for the table space
The extent size can only be specified when the table space is created. Because it
cannot be changed later, it is important to select an appropriate value for the
extent size. If you do not specify the extent size when creating a table space, the
database manager will create the table space using the default extent size as
defined by the dft_extent_sz database configuration parameter. This
configuration parameter is initially set based on the information provided when
the database is created. If the dft_extent_sz parameter is not specified in the
CREATE DATABASE command, the default extent size is set to 32.

DMS Tablespaces in IBM DB2
In a DMS (Database Managed Space) table space, the database manager controls
the storage space. The storage model consists of a limited number of devices or
files whose space is managed by DB2. The database administrator decides which
devices and files to use, and DB2 manages the space on those devices and files.
The table space is essentially an implementation of a special-purpose file system
designed to meet the needs of the database manager.

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45

A DMS table space containing user-defined tables and data can be defined as:
v A regular table space to store any table data, and optionally, index data
v A large table space to store long field or LOB data, or index data
When designing your DMS table spaces and containers, you should consider the
following:
v The database manager uses striping to ensure an even distribution of data across
all containers.
v The maximum size of regular table spaces is 64 GB for 4 KB pages, 128 GB for 8
KB pages, 256 GB for 16 KB pages, and 512 GB for 32 KB pages. The maximum
size of large table spaces is 2 TB.
Unlike SMS table spaces, the containers that make up a DMS table space do not
have to be the same size. However, the use of unequal container sizes is not
usually recommended because it results in uneven striping across the containers,
and results in suboptimal performance. If any container is full, DMS table spaces
use the available free space from other containers.
v Because space is preallocated, it must be available before the table space can be
created. When using device containers, the device must also exist with enough
space for the definition of the container. Each device can have only one
container defined on it.
To avoid wasted space, the size of the device and the size of the container
should be equivalent. If, for example, the device is allocated with 5000 pages,
and the device container is defined to allocate 3000 pages, 2000 pages on the
device will not be usable.
By default, one extent in every container is reserved for overhead. Only full
extents are used. For optimal space management, use the following formula to
determine an appropriate size when allocating a container:
extent_size * (n + 1)
In this formula:
– extent_size is the size of each extent in the table space
– n is the number of extents that you want to store in the container
v Device containers must use logical volumes with a "character-special interface,"
and not physical volumes.
You can use files instead of devices with DMS table spaces. No operational
difference exists between a file and a device; however, a file can be less efficient
because of the run-time overheads associated with the file system. Files are
useful when devices are not directly supported, a device is not available,
maximum performance is not required, or you do not want to set up devices.
If your workload involves LOBs or LONG VARCHAR data, you can derive
performance benefits from file system caching.

Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Automatic storage grows the size of your database across disk and file systems. It
removes the need to manage storage containers manually by taking advantage of
the performance and flexibility of database managed storage. In DB2 9.x, automatic
storage is enabled by default.
A database needs to be enabled for automatic storage when it is created. DB2 9.5
and DB2 9.7 enable automatic storage by default when you create new databases.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

You cannot enable automatic storage for a database if it was not created to
accommodate for it. Similarly, you cannot disable automatic storage for a database
that was originally created to use it.
With automatic storage, you no longer need to worry about tasks such as creating
additional table spaces for capacity, adding containers, and monitoring container
growth. When you want to restore a database backup, on a different system (using
different directory or path structures), you can redefine the storage paths, such that
the new paths are used instead of the ones stored in the backup.
The following examples illustrate automatic storage usage on UNIX and Linux
systems.
When a database is created, you can specify the storage pool for use by the
database. If no storage paths are specified, the default database path (dftdbpath) is
used.
CREATE DATABASE test on /data/path1, /data/path2
You can add additional storage paths to the pool:
ALTER DATABASE ADD STORAGE /data/path3, /data/path4
Earlier, when you created tablespaces, you had to specify containers for them. You
can now specify that they automatically use the database storage pool:
CREATE TABLESPACE ts1 MANAGED BY AUTOMATIC STORAGE
You can also define policies for storage growth and limits:
CREATE TABLESPACE ts2
INITIAL SIZE 500K
INCREASE SIZE 100K
MAXSIZE 100M
Note: For performance and simplicity, Automatic Storage Management is
recommended. If this is not possible, define SYSCATSPACE and SYSTOOLSPACE,
temporary tablespaces as SMS, and other tablespaces holding application data as
DMS.

I/O Sub-System Response Time
Sterling B2B Integrator is an On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) application.
As an OLTP application, database response time to the I/O sub-system needs to be
in the single digit range even during the peak periods. The database response time
to the I/O sub-system should be less than:
v 5 ms for logs. 1ms or better is recommended.
v 10 ms or better for data. 5ms is recommended.

Log Configuration
This topic provides information about the following logs:
v LOGFILSIZ, LOGPRIMARY, LOGSECOND
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47

v NUM_LOG_SPAN

LOGFILSIZ, LOGPRIMARY, LOGSECOND
At a minimum, configure 20 transaction logs (LOGPRIMARY=20) of 256 MB
(LOGFILSIZ=65536 4K-pages) for Sterling B2B Integrator.
As an additional precaution, configure at least 12 secondary transaction logs
(LOGSECOND=12). DB2 allocates secondary logs when it cannot reuse any of the
primary logs due to active transactions.
Track the following monitor elements to assess the effectiveness of these settings,
and adjust as needed:
v total_log_used and tot_log_used_top to see how much of the logs are used
v Which workloads are consuming or holding the transaction logs when
LOGPRIMARY approaches the total primary log capacity. If needed, raise the
setting for LOGPRIMARY.
v sec_log_used_top and sec_logs_allocated to see if secondary transaction logs are
used. Investigate how often logging spills over to the secondary logs and what
workloads are running during the spill. If needed, increase LOGPRIMARY to
prevent log spills.

NUM_LOG_SPAN
This parameter limits the number of logs a transaction can span, which prevents
situations where DB2 cannot switch transaction logs because all the transaction
logs are active. For example:
v Someone may have updated a record in IBM Sterling Control Center, but may
have forgotten to commit the change.
v Updates to one or more database records might not get committed due to a
software bug.
Set NUM_LOG_SPAN to a minimum of 12 so that valid long-running transactions
are not prematurely forced, and a maximum of LOGPRIMARY minus a safety
buffer. For example, if LOGPRIMARY=20 and you decide upon a safety buffer of 4,
the maximum NUM_LOG_SPAN=16.

DB2 Monitoring
DB2 includes many facilities for tracing system activity at just about any level of
detail. This section covers the following topics:
v Snapshot Monitors
v Snapshot Monitor Commands
v DB2 Event Monitors
v Use an Event Monitor to Diagnose and Flush Deadlocks
v DB2 Performance Expert

Snapshot Monitors
Information about snapshot monitors is available by searching at
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/.
Snapshot monitors collect information about the state of a DB2 instance and any
databases it controls at a specific point in time. Snapshots are useful for
determining the status of a database system. When taken at regular intervals, they

48

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

can provide information that lets you observe trends and identify potential
problem areas. Snapshot monitoring is performed by executing the GET SNAPSHOT
command from the DB2 Command-Line Processor (CLP).

Snapshot Monitor Commands
To use snapshot monitors, turn on the monitor switches and view data. The
following table describes the command and syntax for specific tasks:
Task

Command and Syntax

Turn on monitor
switches

db2 UPDATE MONITOR SWITCHES USING options
Options are:
lock on
sort on
statement on
table on
timestamp on
uow on
Note: Monitor switches can also be controlled in the database
manager configuration.

Check status of
monitor switches

GET MONITOR SWITCHES

View snapshot data

Switches must be turned on to view data.
GET SNAPSHOT FOR options
Options:
bufferpools on database_name
locks on database_name
dynamic sql on database_name
tables on database_name
applications on database_name
tablespaces on database_name
database on database_name

DB2 Event Monitors
Information about snapshot monitors is available by searching at
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/.
Event monitors are used to monitor events in an area over time, such as by
producing event records at the start and end of multiple events. These records are
useful for resource planning, trend analysis, and so on.

Performance Management

49

The most common uses for event monitors are for connections, locks, and
statements. Output can be written to files, named pipes (useful if writing programs
to retrieve monitor data), or to tables.
Event monitor output can be either blocked or nonblocked. Blocked output ensures
against data loss, but should generally be avoided for systems that produce a large
volume of records and for statement event monitors to avoid crashes.
You can limit the granularity of an event monitor to a single user or application.
Connection events can be used to track system usage on a user basis or application
basis. This data allows you to identify poorly performing programs, the heaviest
users, and usage trends. Daily review facilitates discussions with users about the
activity or about adjusting the DB2 physical design.

Use an Event Monitor to Diagnose and Flush Deadlocks
Sterling B2B Integrator, along with the necessary DB2 registry variables, is
designed to minimize the occurrence of deadlocks. However, deadlocks may still
occur in some situations, including the following:
v Custom BP code may obtain records in a different order.
v DB2 may choose an access plan that retrieves records in a different order.
The following table describes the actions to be performed for specific tasks:
Task

What to Do

Set an event monitor
to help diagnose
deadlocks

Run this command:
db2 -v create event monitor $MON for deadlocks with details
write to file $OUTDIR buffersize 64 nonblocked
db2 -v set event monitor $MON state = 1
Options:
MON – Monitor name (for example, DLMON)
OUTDIR – directory to store deadlock information

Determine that a
View data in the db2diag.log or in the Sterling B2B Integrator logs
deadlock has occurred
Release a deadlock by Run the following command:
flushing buffers
db2 flush event monitor $MON
db2evmon -path $OUTDIR
The flush ensures that the deadlock records in the buffers are
written out. The db2evmon command formats the deadlock
information.

Optim™ Performance Manager Extended Edition
Optim Performance Manager is a performance analysis and tuning tool for
managing a mix of DB2 systems. It can be used to identify, diagnose, solve, and
prevent performance problems.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

For more information about the Optim Performance Manager Extended Edition,
refer to:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/optim/performance-manager-extendededition

DB2 Index and Table Statistics
DB2 uses catalog statistics to determine the most efficient access plan for a query.
Out-of-date or incomplete statistics for a table or an index may slowdown query
execution.
Manual statistics management can be time-consuming. Automatic statistics
collection can run the RUNSTATS utility in the background to collect and maintain
the statistics you require.
To configure your database for automatic statistics collection, set each of the
following parameters to ON:
v AUTO_MAINT
v AUTO_TBL_MAINT
v AUTO_RUNSTATS

Volatile Tables
In some cases, the content of the WORKFLOW_CONTEXT, TRANS_DATA, and
other tables can fluctuate significantly during the day. The resulting statistics,
which represent a table at a single point in time, can be misleading. In such
situations, mark the table as volatile with the following command:
alter table  volatile cardinality
For information about regular tuning and best practices for DB2, refer to the
corresponding IBM documentation.

Update Table Statistics Manually
In rare cases you may need to update statistics for a table manually. Run the
following command for the table in the Sterling B2B Integrator schema:
db2 runstats on table  on key columns with distribution on key
columns and sampled detailed indexes all allow read access

Microsoft SQL Server Configuration and Monitoring
This section provides information about configuring and monitoring Microsoft®
SQL Server® 2005, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008, and Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012.
It describes the recommended instance-specific settings, database-specific settings,
maintenance plan, and system monitoring. It also provides information about
Address Windowing Extensions (AWE), storage subsystem, dynamic management
views, and index and table statistics.

Mandatory settings for Microsoft SQL Server
The default collation of Microsoft SQL Server must match the collation for the
Sterling B2B Integrator database to prevent collation conversions.

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51

The tempdb database that is used by Microsoft SQL Server must be created with the
same collation as the default collation of Microsoft SQL Server. The Microsoft SQL
Server uses the tempdb database for results that are too large to fit in memory.
If the collations of the tempdb database and the Sterling B2B Integrator database
differ, the database engine must convert from the Sterling B2B Integrator collation
to the tempdb collation, and then back again before it sends the results to the
Sterling B2B Integrator server. These conversions might lead to severe performance
issues.
The collation that is required for the Sterling B2B Integrator database is a collation
that most closely matches the character set used by Java. By using this collation,
you can avoid character data conversions before the data is stored in the database
tables. Use the mandatory parameter that is described in the following table when
you configure the collation setting:
Parameter

Value

Database Collation

SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin

Additionally, you must perform these tasks:
v Allow Microsoft SQL Server to manage memory dynamically (default).
v Disable any antivirus software that is running on the Microsoft SQL Server
data, transaction log, and binary files directory.

Recommended instance-specific settings for Microsoft SQL
Server
The use of the Microsoft SQL Server database with Sterling B2B Integrator includes
some recommended instance-specific settings for the database.
Parameter

Value

Max server memory (MB)

500 MB to x MB depending on the amount of physical
memory available on your database server. if the server is
running only this SQL Server instance; x can be up-to 80%
of the physical memory (RAM).

Min server memory (MB)

0

Recommended database-specific settings for Microsoft SQL
Server
The use of the Microsoft SQL Server database with Sterling B2B Integrator includes
some recommended database-specific settings.

52

Parameter

Value

Notes®

IsAutoCreateStatistics

True

This parameter
can be set to
False if you
have a
maintenance
plan.

IsAutoUpdateStatistics

True

This parameter
can be set to
False if you
have a
maintenance
plan.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Notes®

Parameter

Value

Page_verify_option

Checksum (Microsoft SQL Server
default)

READ_COMMITTED_
SNAPSHOT

On

Microsoft SQL Server Memory with Address Windowing
Extensions (AWE)
You can use the Microsoft SQL Server memory (with AWE) when running
Microsoft SQL Server (32 bit) on Windows Server (32 bit).
This is helpful when your server has more than 4 GB of RAM and you want
Microsoft SQL Server to be able to use that. For using Microsoft SQL Server with
AWE, use the recommended values for Min and Max server memory for instance
level settings.
For more information on Enabling AWE Memory for Microsoft SQL Server
Memory, refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site:
v http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190673(SQL.90).aspx (Microsoft
SQL Server 2005)
v https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190673%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
(Microsoft SQL Server 2008)
This feature was removed in Microsoft SQL Server 2012. For more information, see
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2663912.

Row Versioning-Based Isolation Level
(READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT) for Microsoft SQL Server
This feature is available in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and later versions,
This feature can help in the following ways:
v Resolve concurrency issues such as excessive blocking
v Reduce deadlocks
The following T-SQL statement enables the READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT for
a database:
ALTER DATABASE  SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON;
This snapshot option increases the number of I/Os as well as the size of tempdb. It
is important to have tempdb on fast disks as well as to have it sized according to
your workload.
For more information about Using and Understanding Snapshot Isolation and Row
Versioning, refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be
accessed from: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/tcbchxcb(VS.80).aspx.

Recommended Settings for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and 2012
Recommended settings for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server
2012 are provided.
These are shown in the following table:

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53

Feature

Description

Activity Monitor

During troubleshooting, a database administrator (DBA) executes
several scripts or verifies number of sources to collect general
information about the processes being executed and to find out the
source of the problem. Microsoft SQL Server consolidates this
information in detail graphically by running the recently executed
processes.
For more information about Activity Monitor, refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site:
v https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc879320
%28v=sql.105%29.aspx (Microsoft SQL Server 2008)
v https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh212951
%28v=sql.110%29.aspx (Microsoft SQL Server 2012)

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Feature

Description

Data Compression

The following list describes the two type of data compression
supported by Microsoft SQL Server:
v

Row compression
Row compression compresses the individual columns of a table.
Row compression results in lower overhead on the application
and utilizes more space.

v Page compression
Page compression compresses the data pages using row, prefix,
and dictionary compression. Page compression affects
application throughput and processor utilization, but requires
less space. Page compression is a superset of row compression,
which implies that an object or a partition of an object that is
compressed using page compression is compressed at the row
level too.
The amount of compression achieved is dependent on the data
types and the data contained in the database.
Compression, row or page, can be applied to a table or an index in
an online mode without interrupting the availability of Sterling
B2B Integrator. The hybrid approach, where only the largest tables
that are few in number, are compressed, results in best
performance in saving significant disk space and resulting in
minimal negative impact on performance. Disk space requirements
should be considered before implementing compression.
Compressing the smallest objects first minimizes the additional
disk space requirements.
Run the following SQL query to determine how compressing an
object may affect its size:
sp_estimate_data_compression_savings
The following Sterling B2B Integrator tables may be the most likely
candidates for compression:
v DATA_TABLE
v TRANS_DATA
v CORRELATION_SET
v WORKFLOW_CONTEXT
v ARCHIVE_INFO
For more information about implementing row and page
compression, refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site:
v https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280576
%28v=sql.105%29.aspx (Row compression)
v https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280464
%28v=sql.105%29.aspx (Page compression)
v https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280449
%28v=sql.110%29.aspx (Data compression)

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Feature

Description

Hot Add CPU and
Hot Add Memory

Hot Add CPU enables you to add CPUs dynamically to the servers
without shutting down the server or limiting client connections.
Hot Add Memory enables you to add physical memory
dynamically without restarting the server.
For more information about dynamically adding CPU and physical
memory, refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which
can be accessed from:
v http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb964703.aspx (Hot
Add CPU)
v http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175490.aspx (Hot
Add Memory)
Note: The above pages are for Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
However, Hot Add CPU and Hot Add Memory are also supported
in Microsoft SQL Server 2012. For more information, see the High
Availability section at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/
bb630282%28v=sql.110%29.aspx.

Extended Events

The extended events infrastructure enables administrators to
investigate and address complex problems such as excessive CPU
usage, deadlocks, application timeouts, and so on. Extended events
can be correlated with Windows events to obtain more information
of the problem.
For more information about extended events, refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site:
v http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630354.aspx
(Microsoft SQL Server 2008)
v https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630282
%28v=sql.110%29.aspx (Microsoft SQL Server 2012)

Storage Subsystem
Prior to production, you should plan the overall storage strategy.
You must have DDLs to create and place tempdb and the user database for
Sterling B2B Integrator. A typical subsystem configuration would be:
v OS and SQL Server binaries on a RAID 1 disk set
v SQL Server data files on one or more RAID 5 disk sets
v SQL Server transaction logs on a RAID 10 disk set
Consider and ensure the following when planning a storage subsystem:
v Place SQL Server binaries on a separate set of physical disks other than the
database data and log files.
v Place the log files on physical disk arrays other than those with the data files.
This is important because logging is more write-intensive, and the disk arrays
containing the SQL Server log files require sufficient disk I/O to ensure that
performance is not impacted.
v Set a reasonable size for your database. Estimate how big your database will be.
This should be done as part of presales exercise working with IBM Professional
Services.
v Set a reasonable size for the transaction log. The transaction log's size should be
20–25 per cent of the database size.

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

v
v

v
v

v

Leave the Autogrow feature on for the data files and the log files. This helps
the SQL Server to automatically increase allocated resources when necessary.
Set a reasonable size for the Autogrow increment. Setting the database to
automatically grow results in some performance degradation. Therefore you
should set a reasonable size for the Autogrow increment to prevent the database
from growing automatically often.
Set the maximum size for the data files and log files in order to prevent the
disk drives from running out of space.
If you have several physical disk arrays, try to create at least as many files as
there are physical disk arrays so that you have one file per disk array. This
improves performance because when a table is accessed sequentially, a separate
thread is created for each file on each disk array in order to read the table's data
in parallel.
Place the heavily accessed tables in one file group and place the tables' indexes
in a different file group on a different physical disk arrays. This improves
performance, because separate threads will be created to access the tables and
indexes. For more information about Sterling B2B Integrator tables, refer to the
"Schema Objects" and "Sterling B2B Integrator Database Tables" sections in the
topic “Database management for Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 16.

I/O Sub-System Response Time
Sterling B2B Integrator is an On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) application.
As an OLTP application, database response time to the I/O sub-system needs to be
in the single digit range even during the peak periods. The database response time
to the I/O sub-system should be less than:
v 5 ms for logs. 1ms or better is recommended.
v 10 ms or better for data. 5ms is recommended.

Monitoring Microsoft SQL Server Using Microsoft SQL Server
Management Studio
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio is a tool kit for configuring, managing,
and administering all components of Microsoft SQL Server.
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio combines the features of Enterprise
Manager, Query Analyzer, and Analysis Manager.
For more information about Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, refer to the
Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174173(SQL.90).aspx.

Monitoring Microsoft SQL Server Using SQL Server Profiler
SQL Server Profiler is a graphical tool used to monitor an instance of Microsoft
SQL Server.
This tool is a good troubleshooting tool, but should not be enabled for day-to-day
operations because there is an inherent overhead in capturing this data daily. The
data about each event can be captured to a file or a table for analysis at a later
date.
The SQL Server Profiler can be used to:
v Monitor the performance of an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine
v Identify procedures and queries that are executing slowly
v Replay traces of one or more users
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v
v
v
v
v

Perform query analysis
Troubleshoot problems
Audit and review activity
Correlate performance counters
Configure trace problems

For more information about Using the SQL Server Profiler, refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from: https://
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181091%28v=sql.105%29.aspx.
Enable the following events in SQL Server Profiler to capture deadlock-related
information:
v Deadlock graph
v Lock: Deadlock
v Lock: Deadlock Chain
v RPC:Completed
v SP:StmtCompleted
v SQL:BatchCompleted
v SQL:BatchStarting
For more information about Analyzing Deadlocks with SQL Server Profiler, refer to
the Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188246(SQL.90).aspx.
For more information about Troubleshooting Deadlocks in Microsoft SQL Server,
refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlserverstorageengine/archive/2006/06/05/617960.aspx.

Microsoft SQL Dynamic Management Views
The Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) introduced in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
provide DBA information about the current state of the SQL Server machine.
These values help an administrator diagnose problems and tune the server for
optimal performance. For more information about dynamic management views
and functions, refer to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be
accessed from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188754(SQL.90).aspx

Microsoft SQL System Monitor
The performance monitor (Perfmon) or system monitor is a utility used to track a
range of processes and provide a real-time graphical display of the results.
It can also be used to measure SQL Server performance. You can view SQL Server
objects, performance counters, and the behavior of other objects, such as
processors, memory, cache, threads, and processes. For more information about
Monitoring Resource Usage (System Monitor), refer to the Microsoft TechNet Web
site, which can be accessed from: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/
ms191246(SQL.90).aspx.

Microsoft SQL Server Maintenance Plan
A maintenance plan is a set of measures (workflows) taken to ensure that a
database is properly maintained and routine backups are scheduled and handled.

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Microsoft SQL Server maintenance plans can be configured by a wizard in
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, which can help alleviate some of the
burden involved in creating the plan. In Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine,
maintenance plans create an Integration Services package, which is run by an SQL
Server Agent job. The goal of a maintenance plan is to:
v Back up the Sterling B2B Integrator database regularly using either the simple
model or the full recovery model
v Update the statistics on all Sterling B2B Integrator tables and associated indexes
v Rebuild or reorganize indexes on Sterling B2B Integrator tables
v Run database consistency checks
For more information about MS SQL Maintenance Plans, see the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/
ms187658%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
You can use either the simple recovery model or the full recovery model with the
database. If you are unsure about which model to use, use the full recovery model.
Consider the simple recovery model if you are agreeable to the following:
v Point of failure recovery is not necessary. If the database is lost or damaged,
you are willing to lose all the updates between a failure and the previous
backup.
v You are willing to risk the loss of some data in the log.
v You do not want to back up and restore the transaction log, preferring to rely
exclusively on full and differential backups.
v You are willing to perform a differential database backup every day and a full
database backup over the weekends (during low activity period).
For more information about Backup Under the Simple Recovery Model, see the
Microsoft Developer Network Web site: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/
library/ms191164%28v=sql.105%29.aspx or https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/
library/ms186289%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
Consider the full recovery model if you are agreeable to the following:
v You want to recover all the data.
v You want to recover to the point of failure.
v You want to be able to restore individual pages.
v You are willing to incur the cost of additional disk space for transaction log
backups.
v Performance of transaction log backups every 30-45 minutes.
For more information about Backup Under the Full Recovery Model, refer to the
Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms186289%28v=sql.105%29.aspx.
For more information about Transaction Log Backups, refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from: https://
msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f4a44a35-0f44-4a42-91d5-d73ac658a3b0
%28v=sql.105%29 .
Note: The Microsoft Developer Network Web site links provided access pages for
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. To view pages for other versions, such as Microsoft
SQL Server 2012, use the Other Versions feature on the viewed page.
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Microsoft SQL Server Index, Table Statistics, and Index Rebuilds
Your maintenance plan should include updating of statistics and rebuilding or
reorganizing indexes.
If you have a maintenance plan for updating statistics, set IsAutoCreateStatistics
and IsAutoUpdateStatistics, at the database level, to False. This helps control when
the maintenance plan runs, which should be at low load periods. If you have not
included this in your maintenance plan, then set IsAutoCreateStatistics and
IsAutoUpdateStatistics, at the database level to True.
Following is an example of a T-SQL statement for updating the statistics on a table,
including the statistics pertaining to all the indexes on the table:
UPDATE STATISTICS 
When the data in the tables have changed by approximately 20 per cent, index
rebuilds are recommended for the Sterling B2B Integrator database. This must be
validated by looking at system performance as a whole. Online index rebuilds,
which cause minimal impact to the system, are possible. To find out more about
document life-spans, and when the data in the tables change by approximately 20
per cent, speak to the Sterling B2B Integrator system administrator.
You can rebuild indexes either online or offline. Online indexes can be rebuilt, with
the following exceptions:
v Clustered indexes if the underlying table contains LOB data types
v Nonclustered indexes that are defined with LOB data type columns.
Nonclustered indexes can be rebuilt online if the table contains LOB data types,
but none of these columns are used in the index definition as either key or
nonkey columns.
For ease of maintenance, it is easier to either build all the indexes offline because
offline rebuilding does not have the restrictions listed previously, or reorganize the
index.
Following is an example of a T-SQL statement for rebuilding indexes offline:
ALTER INDEX ALL ON  REBUILD
Following is an example of a T-SQL statement for reorganizing indexes offline:
ALTER INDEX ALL ON  REORGANIZE
For more information about Reorganizing and Rebuilding Indexes, refer to the
Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189858(SQL.90).aspx.
For more information about Alter index (Transact-SQL), refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from: http://
msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188388(SQL.90).aspx.

Windows Defragmentation
You must run Windows defragmentation on disks with SQL Server data files and
transaction logs once a month.

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This helps reduce the fragmentation in the SQL Server files at the file system level.
You can create a schedule for this using Windows Task Scheduler.
For more information about the Disk Defragmenter Tools and Settings, refer to the
Microsoft TechNet Web site, which can be accessed from: http://
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc784391(WS.10).aspx.

Microsoft SQL Server Tips
Additional tips are provided pertaining to Microsoft SQL Server in the context of
Sterling B2B Integrator.
v When using Sterling B2B Integrator with Microsoft SQL Server, Windows
Integrated authentication is not supported.
v Ensure that network components such as routers, firewalls, and so on, do not
drop the idle connections between Sterling B2B Integrator and Microsoft SQL
Server where they are on separate physical servers. Sterling B2B Integrator uses
JDBC connection pool, and idle connections are typical.
v It is recommended that you run Microsoft SQL Server and Sterling B2B
Integrator on separate physical servers because this helps improve performance,
ease of maintenance, and recoverability.
v It is important to understand the difference between simple blocking and
deadlocks:
– Blocking is an unavoidable characteristic of Microsoft SQL Server because it
uses lock-based concurrency. Blocking occurs when one session holds a lock
on a specific resource, and a second session attempts to acquire a conflicting
lock type on the same resource. Typically, the time frame for which the first
session locks the resource is small. When it releases the lock, the second
session is free to acquire its own lock and continue processing. This is the
normal behavior of Microsoft SQL Server with Sterling B2B Integrator, and is
generally not a cause for concern. It is a cause for concern only when sessions
are getting blocked for a long time.
– Deadlocks are much worse than simple blocking. A deadlock typically occurs
when a session locks the resources that another session has to modify, and the
second session locks the resources that the first session intends to modify.
Microsoft SQL Server has a built-in algorithm for resolving deadlocks. It will
select one of the deadlock participants and roll back its transaction. This
session becomes the deadlock victim. Microsoft SQL Server has two trace
flags that can be set to capture deadlock-related information. The flags are
Trace Flag 1204 and Trace Flag 1222. These trace flags can be used as an
alternative to using SQL Server Profiler.
For more information about trace flags, see https://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ms188396%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
For more information about Detecting and Ending Deadlocks in Microsoft
SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008, refer to the Microsoft
Developer Network Web site, which can be accessed from:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178104(SQL.90).aspx.
In Microsoft SQL Server 2012, the System Health session detects deadlocks.
See https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff877955%28v=sql.110
%29.aspx for more information.

Java Virtual Machine
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is a platform-independent programming language that
converts Java bytecode into machine language and executes it.
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When you compile a Java source, you get an intermediate Java file called the Java
class. The class file is made up of bytecodes representing abstract instruction codes.
These codes are not directly executable by any computer processor.
To run a Java program, you start a JVM and pass the class file to the JVM. The
JVM provides many services, including loading the class file and interpreting
(executing) the byte codes. The JVM is the core technology that provides the
runtime environment in which a Java application runs.
Each Java program or application runs in its own JVM. For example, if you
configured an application server cluster with ten managed server instances that are
controlled by one administrative instance, your configuration runs 11 JVM
processes.
Since JVM is the underlying processing engine, it is critical that the JVMs are
optimally configured and are running efficiently. Incorrect JVM settings may lead
to poor application performance or JVM outages.
Run the following command to find out the JVM version installed in your system:
$JAVA_HOME/bin/java -version
Note: If your environment handles large concurrent communications traffic, it is
recommended to increase the value of the gmm.maxAllocation property in the
perimeter.properties file, along with increasing the maximum heap size of your
JVM. In such a scenario, set gmm.maxAllocation to a value greater than 384 MB. For
more information about the gmm.maxAllocation property, refer to the inline
comments in the perimeter.properties file.

Garbage Collection Statistics
Garbage Collection (GC) statistics provide heap-related information such as:
v What are the sizes of the different heaps?
v How full is each section of heap?
v How fast is the heap getting full?
v What is the overall overhead of GC to clean the non-live objects?
Collecting and analyzing GC statistics help size the different sections of a heap
correctly. It is recommended that you continuously collect garbage collection
statistics for all the JVMs, even in production. The collection overhead is minor
compared to the benefit. With these statistics, you can tell if:
v The JVM has or is about to run into a memory leak
v Garbage collection is efficient
v Your JVM heap settings are optimal

JVM Verbose Garbage Collection
JVM Verbose garbage collection (GC) statistics are critical and must always be
enabled in production environments. These statistics can be used to understand the
behavior of the JVM heap management and the efficiency of the JVM.

IBM JVM Garbage Collection Example
Following is an example of the GC output for JVM:

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In this example, =
–XX:NewSize controls the
minimum young generation size in
a heap, and the –Xmn sets the size
of the young generation heap.
It is recommended to use the
following formula to compute XX:NewSize and -Xmn values
when the minimum heap size and
maximum heap sizes are modified.

Refer to “Edit Performance Configuration Settings”
on page 123 for the default values for the:
v Initial new heap size for the server JVM
(INIT_AGE)
v Initial new heap size for the container JVM
(INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Maximum new heap size for the server JVM
(MAX_AGE)
v Maximum new heap size for the container JVM
(MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)

v -XX:NewSize = (0.33333* value of
–Xms)
v -Xmn = (0.33333 * value of -Xmx)
-XX:MaxPermSize

Refer to “Edit Performance Configuration Settings”
on page 123 for the default values for the:

Stores all the class code and
v Maximum permanent generation heap size for the
class-like data. The value of the
server JVM (MAX_PERM_SIZE)
parameter should be large enough
v
Maximum permanent generation heap size for the
to fit all the classes that are
container
JVM (MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
concurrently loaded. Sometimes, it
is difficult to determine the actual
value of this parameter because
generally, this region is smaller and
expands slowly, and the utilization
is commonly observed at 99-100
percent of its current capacity. If
you have not configured this region
correctly, the JVM might fail with
the Java.lang.OutOfMemoryError:
PermGen space error.

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Parameter / Description

Default Value

-Xss

Refer to “Edit Performance Configuration Settings”
on page 123 for the default values for the:

Determines the stack size for each
thread in the JVM.

v Maximum Java stack size for any thread for the
server JVM (STATIC_STACK)

Every thread in a JVM gets a stack,
and this value determines the
number of threads you can start in
a JVM. If this value is too large,
you might run into an OOM. Each
time a method is invoked, a stack
frame is created and pushed into
the thread stack. At a minimum, a
stack frame contains a method's
local variables and arguments. If a
thread's actual stack size reaches
beyond this limit, you will get a
java.lang.StackOverflowError
exception.

v Maximum Java stack size for any thread for the
container JVM (STATIC_STACK_CONTAINER)

-XX:CompileThreshold

For both 32-bit/64-bit noapp and container JVMs:

Determines the number of method
invocations and branches before
compiling.

v

Windows = -XX:CompileThreshold=1000

v

Solaris = -XX:CompileThreshold=1000

Setting a low value for this
parameter will trigger the
compilations of hot methods
sooner.
-Xnocatch

For both noapp and container JVMs:

Disables the Java catch-all signal
handler. This option is used to get
clean, native code stack traces.

HP-UX = -Xnocatch

Display HotSpot Statistics for HP JVM
To display HotSpot Statistics for the HP JVM, enable one of the following options:
v -XX:+PrintGCDetails -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps –Xloggc:
-verbose:
This displays the following:
11.010: [GC [PSYoungGen: 196608K->20360K(229376K)] 196608K>20360K(753664K), 0.0514144 secs] 13.987: [GC [PSYoungGen:
216968K->32746K(229376K)] 216968K->48812K(753664K), 0.1052434 secs]
v -Xverbosegc [:help] | [0 | 1] [:file = [stdout | stderr | ]]
This displays the following:
 

Display HotSpot Statistics for Sun JVM
To display HotSpot Statistics for the Sun JVM, enable the following option:
-XX:+PrintGCDetails -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamp –Xloggc:

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This displays the following:
0.000: [GC 0.001: [DefNew: 32192K->511K(33152K), 0.0383176 secs]
32192K->511K(101440K), 0.0385223 secs] 1.109: [GC 1.110: [DefNew:
32703K->198K(33152K), 0.0344874 secs] 32703K->697K(101440K), 0.0346844
secs]
Refer to the corresponding Sun documentation, which can be accessed from the
following Web site:
http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/hotspot/gc/gc_tuning_6.html

HotSpot JVM Heap Monitoring
You may want to monitor the following items in a healthy heap:
v During steady state, you should mostly see minor Garbage Collections (GC)
and an occasional full GC caused by allocation failures.
v The sum of the GC times should not exceed 3 percent of the measurement
interval. For example, in a 1-hour measurement interval, the time taken for all
the GCs should not be more than 108 seconds.
v The JVM will choose to perform a full GC when it realizes that the live objects
in the Eden and Survivor spaces cannot fit in the old generation. The JVM then
tries to free up the space in the old generation by performing a full GC. The full
GC pauses the application. The amount of pause time depends on the GC
algorithm you are using (Sterling B2B Integrator uses the default JVM GC
algorithm, that is, Parallel GC algorithm on 1.6 JDK on server class machines),
and the size of the heap. The JVM will choose to perform a full GC when it
realizes that the live objects in the Eden and Survivor spaces will not fit into the
old generation. In an attempt to free up the space in the old generation, the JVM
will perform a full GC, which pauses the application. The amount of pause time
depends on:
– Type of GC algorithm currently in use. Sterling B2B Integrator uses the
default JVM GC algorithm, that is, Parallel GC algorithm, on 1.6 JDK on
server class machines.
– Size of the heap. Too many full GCs have a negative effect on performance.
If you observe many full GCs, try to determine if your old generation is sized
too small to hold all the live objects collected from the Survivor and Eden
spaces. Alternatively, there may be too many live objects that do not fit into the
configured heap size. If it is the latter, increase the overall heap size.
v If you are monitoring the heap and notice an increase in the number of live
objects, and see that the GC is not able to clear these objects from the heap, you
might run into an Out-Of-Memory (OOM) condition, and there may be a
possible memory leak. In such a situation, take a heap dump at various intervals
and analyze the dump for the leak suspect.

HotSpot JVM Thread Monitoring
Monitoring JVM threads will help you locate thread deadlocks if there are blocked
threads in a Java code or in SQL. It also helps you to understand which part of the
code the threads are blocked in a hung application or running application.
Following is an example of a thread dump:
"Thread-817" daemon prio=10 tid=0x00b9c800 nid=0x667 in Object.wait() [0xa4d8f000..0xa4d8faf0]
at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
- waiting on <0xf678a600> (a EDU.oswego.cs.dl.util.concurrent.LinkedNode)
at EDU.oswego.cs.dl.util.concurrent.SynchronousChannel.poll(SynchronousChannel.java:353)
- locked <0xf678a600> (a EDU.oswego.cs.dl.util.concurrent.LinkedNode)
at EDU.oswego.cs.dl.util.concurrent.PooledExecutor.getTask(PooledExecutor.java:707)

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at EDU.oswego.cs.dl.util.concurrent.PooledExecutor$Worker.run(PooledExecutor.java:731)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:595)
"Low Memory Detector" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001e64e8 nid=0x19 runnable [0x00000000..0x00000000]
"CompilerThread1" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001e5388 nid=0x18 waiting on condition [0x00000000..0xb72fed2c]
"CompilerThread0" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001e4510 nid=0x17 waiting on condition [0x00000000..0xb73febac]
"AdapterThread" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001e3698 nid=0x16 waiting on condition [0x00000000..0x00000000]
"Signal Dispatcher" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001e2928 nid=0x15 waiting on condition [0x00000000..0x00000000]
"Finalizer" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001d6078 nid=0x14 in Object.wait() [0xfdf6f000..0xfdf6fa70]
at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(ReferenceQueue.java:116)
- locked <0xc9e89940> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(ReferenceQueue.java:132)
at java.lang.ref.Finalizer$FinalizerThread.run(Finalizer.java:159)
"Reference Handler" daemon prio=10 tid=0x001d5b20 nid=0x13 in Object.wait() [0xfe04f000..0xfe04f8f0]
at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
at java.lang.Object.wait(Object.java:474)
at java.lang.ref.Reference$ReferenceHandler.run(Reference.java:116)
- locked <0xc9e90860> (a java.lang.ref.Reference$Lock)
"VM Thread" prio=10 tid=0x001d3a40 nid=0x12 runnable
"GC task thread#0 (ParallelGC)" prio=10 tid=0x000d8608 nid=0x2 runnable

The output consists of a header and a stack trace for each thread. Each thread is
separated by an empty line. The Java threads (threads that are capable of executing
Java language code) are printed first. These are followed by information on VM
internal threads.
The header line contains the following information about the thread:
v Thread Name indicates if the thread is a daemon thread
v Thread Priority (Prio)
v Thread ID (TID) is the address of a thread structure in memory
v ID of the native thread (NID)
v Thread State indicates what the thread was doing at the time of the thread
dump
v Address range gives an estimate of the valid stack region for the thread
The following table lists the possible thread states that can be printed:
Thread State

Definition

NEW

The thread has not yet started.

RUNNABLE

The thread is executing in the JVM.

BLOCKED

The thread is blocked, waiting for a monitor lock.

WAITING

The thread is waiting indefinitely for another thread to perform
a particular action.

TIMED_WAITING

The thread is waiting for another thread to perform an action
for up to a specified waiting time.

TERMINATED

The thread has exited.

Note: The thread header is followed by the thread stack.

Performing a Thread Dump
About this task
To perform a thread dump in UNIX (Solaris and HP-UX):

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71

Procedure
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
JVM Monitor.
2. In the JVM MONITOR page, under Thread Dump, next to Take Thread Dump,
click Go!. The Thread Dump pop-up window is displayed.
3. To see the latest Dumps in the View Dumps list, click Go! in the Thread Dump
pop-up window.
4. Close the Thread Dump pop-up window.
5. Under View Dumps, select the Name of the thread dump file and click Go! to
view it. The Download Dumps pop-up window is displayed.
6. Click the Dumps download link.
7. Open or save the file.
8. Close the Download Dumps pop-up window.

What to do next
For Windows, if you have started Sterling B2B Integrator as a Windows service,
use the stacktrace tool to take a thread dump. Follow the same procedure to
perform a thread dump for container JVMs.
For more information, refer to the following Web site: http://www.adaptj.com/
main/stacktrace.
You can use VisualVM in remote mode to take a thread dump on Windows when
you start Sterling B2B Integrator noapp or container in service mode.
Refer to the corresponding VisualVM documentation for information about remote
monitoring of JVM, which is available in the following Web site:
https://visualvm.dev.java.net/

HotSpot Thread Dump Analysis Tools
Following is a list of tools that can be used to analyze thread dumps:
v Thread Dump Analyzer (TDA): (Refer to https://tda.dev.java.net/)
Note: In order to use TDA, you must strip off any starting “< “ symbols in the
thread dump if you are using Sterling B2B Integrator UI to take thread dumps.
v You can also use VisualVM for live monitoring of threads in JVM. (Refer to
https://visualvm.dev.java.net/)

HotSpot JVM DeadLock Detection
In addition to the thread stacks, the Ctrl+Break handler executes a deadlock
detection algorithm. If any deadlocks are detected, it prints additional information
after the thread dump on each deadlocked thread.
Found one Java-level deadlock:
=============================
"Thread2":
waiting to lock monitor 0x000af330 (object 0xf819a938, a java.lang.String),
which is held by "Thread1"
"Thread1":
waiting to lock monitor 0x000af398 (object 0xf819a970, a java.lang.String),
which is held by "Thread2"
Java stack information for the threads listed above:
===================================================
"Thread2":

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at Deadlock$DeadlockMakerThread.run(Deadlock.java:32)
- waiting to lock <0xf819a938> (a java.lang.String)
- locked <0xf819a970> (a java.lang.String)
"Thread1":
at Deadlock$DeadlockMakerThread.run(Deadlock.java:32)
- waiting to lock <0xf819a970> (a java.lang.String)
- locked <0xf819a938> (a java.lang.String)
Found 1 deadlock.

If the Java VM flag -XX:+PrintConcurrentLocks is set, Ctrl+Break will also print
the list of concurrent locks owned by each thread.

HotSpot JVM Blocked Thread Detection
Look for threads that are blocked. Threads might be waiting on SQL or might be
serialized on a synchronized block. If you see threads that are blocked they are
waiting on another thread to complete, it means that you are serializing on some
part of code.

HotSpot JVM Troubleshooting Tips
Java.lang.OutOfMemory errors occur when either the Java heap or the native heap
run out of space. These exceptions may indicate that the number of live objects in
the JVM require more memory than what is available (which can be adjusted by
tuning the heap), or that there is a memory leak (which may indicate a problem
with an application component, the JVM, or the OS). There are many variants of
this error, with each variant having its own cause and resolution.
Generally, java.lang.OutOfMemory (OOM) indicates that insufficient space has
been allocated for a requested object in the heap, or in a particular area of the
heap, even after a garbage collection is attempted. An OutOfMemory exception
does not always indicate a memory leak. It could indicate that the heap parameters
are not configured properly for an application or that the bug is complex, with you
having to troubleshoot different layers of native code.
When an OOM error is from the native code, it is difficult to tell whether it is from
Java heap exhaustion or native heap exhaustion because of low space. The first
step in diagnosing an OOM is identifying whether the Java heap is full or the
native heap is full.

Exception in thread “main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
This error condition might be due to a simple configuration issue. It might be that
the –Xms value configured for this type of application is throwing the error. This
error generally occurs when object allocation fails even after a Garbage Collection
(GC).
This error condition may be because of a memory leak, in which case, the object
references are held by the application even if they are no longer needed. Over a
period of time, this unintentional object growth increases and causes this OOM.
This type of OOM error can also be seen in applications in which excessive
finalizer calls are made. In such applications, where the finalizer call is made, the
GCs cannot reclaim the object space. Instead, they are queued for finalization to
occur, which might happen some time later. In a Sun implementation, the finalizer
call is made by a separate daemon thread. If there are excessive finalize calls, the
finalization thread cannot keep up with the load, and eventually, the heap might
become full and an OOM might occur. For example, applications that create
high-priority threads that cause the finalization to increase at a rate that is faster
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than the rate the finalization thread can process, may generate this error.

Exception in thread “main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen
space
This error is seen when permanent generation is full. Permanent generation is the
area in which the class and method objects are stored. For an application that loads
a large number of classes, the value of –XX:MaxPermSize should be sized
accordingly. Permanent generation also gets used when the java.lang.String intern()
method is invoked on an object of class java.lang.String. Exhaustion of the
permanent generation area may occur if an application interns a large number of
strings.
Generally, java.lang.String maintains the string pool, and when an interned method
is called on a string, it first verifies that an equal string is already present in the
pool. If an equal string exists, java.lang.String returns the canonical representation
of the string, which points to the same class instance; otherwise, java.lang.String
adds the string to the pool.

Exception in thread “main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Requested
array size exceeds VM limit
This error occurs when the application requests the JVM to allocate an array that is
larger than the heap size. For example, if the application requests an allocation of
512 MB array and your heap size is only 256 MB, this error will be seen. This error
may occur because of a low –Xms value, or a bug in the application in which it is
trying to create a huge array.

Exception in thread “main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: request
 bytes for . Out of swap space?
Although the error is an OOM condition, the underlying cause is that the JVM
failed to allocate the requested size from the native heap, and the native heap is
close to exhaustion.
The  in the error message is the size that failed to allocate. The  is
the name of the source module reporting failure. In a few cases, the actual reason
is printed.
In order to troubleshoot this error, use the OS utilities to find the actual cause. One
possible cause is that the OS has been configured with insufficient swap space.
Another possible cause is that other processes in the machine are consuming all the
memory, or possibly a native leak, in which the application or the library code is
continuously allocating memory, and the OS is not releasing it.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: 
(Native method):
If you see this OOM, it means that the native method encountered an allocation
failure. The main difference between this error and the Exception in thread
“main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: request  bytes for . Out
of swap space? error is that the allocation failure in this case occurred in the
JNInative method rather than the JVM code. In order to troubleshoot this error, use
the OS utilities to find the actual cause.

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A Crash, Instead of an OutOfMemoryError
In rare cases, you may have a JVM crash instead of OOM because of the allocation
from the native heap failing because the native code that does not check for errors
returns memory allocation functions. For example, this may occur if the native
code malloc returns NULL (no memory available), and if the native code is not
checking for that error, and references the invalid memory location. If the diagnosis
of this failure results in native code not checking for errors because of memory
allocation failures, the reasons for memory allocation failures should be examined.
The failures may be due to reasons such as insufficient swap space, some other
processes consuming all the memory, or a native leak.

Hung Processes or Looping Processes
Generally, the most common reasons for a hang to occur are deadlocks in
application code, API code, library code, or a bug in the HotSpot VM. However, in
a few cases, the hang might be because of a JVM consuming all the available CPU
cycles, most likely because of a bug, which in turn causes one or more threads to
go into an infinite loop.
If a hang is seen, determine whether the JVM is idle or consuming all the CPU
cycles. You can use the OS utilities to determine the CPU utilization. If you
conclude that the hang process is using the entire CPU, the hang might be because
of a looping thread. On the other hand, if the process is idle, it is most likely
because of deadlock. On Solaris, for example, prstat -L -p  can be used to
report the statistics for all the LWPs in the target process. This will identify the
threads that are consuming a lot of CPU cycles.

Diagnosing a Looping Process
If your observations on CPU utilization indicate that the process is looping, take a
thread dump, and from the thread dump and stack trace, you should be able to
gather information about where and why the thread is looping.
In the thread dump, look for the runnable threads. You will in all probability find
the threads that are looping. In order to be certain about the threads that are
looping, take multiple thread dumps to see if the thread remains busy.

Diagnosing a Hung Process
If you have determined that a process is hanging, and not looping, the cause is
likely to be an application (thread) deadlock.
Take a thread dump and analyze it to find the deadlocked threads.
When you take a thread dump on a HotSpot JVM, the deadlock detection
algorithm is also executed and the deadlock information in the thread dump
printed.
Following is an example of some deadlock output from a document. For more
information, refer to the Java Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Guide.
Found one Java-level deadlock:
=============================
"AWT-EventQueue-0": waiting to lock monitor 0x000ffbf8 (object 0xf0c30560, a
java.awt.Component$AWTTreeLock),
which is held by "main"
"main":
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waiting to lock monitor 0x000ffe38 (object 0xf0c41ec8, a java.util.Vector),
which is held by "AWT-EventQueue-0"
Java stack information for the threads listed above:
===================================================
"AWT-EventQueue-0":
at java.awt.Container.removeNotify(Container.java:2503)
- waiting to lock <0xf0c30560> (a java.awt.Component$AWTTreeLock)
at java.awt.Window$1DisposeAction.run(Window.java:604)
at java.awt.Window.doDispose(Window.java:617)
at java.awt.Dialog.doDispose(Dialog.java:625)
at java.awt.Window.dispose(Window.java:574)
at java.awt.Window.disposeImpl(Window.java:584)
at java.awt.Window$1DisposeAction.run(Window.java:598)
- locked <0xf0c41ec8> (a java.util.Vector)
at java.awt.Window.doDispose(Window.java:617)
at java.awt.Window.dispose(Window.java:574)
at
javax.swing.SwingUtilities$SharedOwnerFrame.dispose(SwingUtilities.java:1743)
at
javax.swing.SwingUtilities$SharedOwnerFrame.windowClosed(SwingUtilities.java:172
2)
at java.awt.Window.processWindowEvent(Window.java:1173)
at javax.swing.JDialog.processWindowEvent(JDialog.java:407)
at java.awt.Window.processEvent(Window.java:1128)
102
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Component.java:3922)
at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Container.java:2009)
at java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Window.java:1746)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Component.java:3770)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:463)
at
java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:2
14)
at
java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:163
)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:157)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:149)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:110)
"main":
at java.awt.Window.getOwnedWindows(Window.java:844)
- waiting to lock <0xf0c41ec8> (a java.util.Vector)
at
javax.swing.SwingUtilities$SharedOwnerFrame.installListeners(SwingUtilities.java
:1697)
at
javax.swing.SwingUtilities$SharedOwnerFrame.addNotify(SwingUtilities.java:1690)
at java.awt.Dialog.addNotify(Dialog.java:370)
- locked <0xf0c30560> (a java.awt.Component$AWTTreeLock)
at java.awt.Dialog.conditionalShow(Dialog.java:441)
- locked <0xf0c30560> (a java.awt.Component$AWTTreeLock)
at java.awt.Dialog.show(Dialog.java:499)
at java.awt.Component.show(Component.java:1287)
at java.awt.Component.setVisible(Component.java:1242)
at test01.main(test01.java:10)
Found 1 deadlock.

Note: In J2SE 6.0, the deadlock detection algorithm works only with the locks that
are obtained using the synchronized keyword. This means that deadlocks that arise
through the use of the java.util.concurrency package are not detected.
In the deadlock output, you can see that the thread main is the locking object
<0xf0c30560>, and is waiting to enter <0xf0c41ec8>, which is locked by the thread
“AWT-EventQueue-0”. However, the thread “AWT-EventQueue-0” is also waiting
to enter <0xf0c30560>, which is in turn locked by “main”.

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Stack Overflow
This error generally occurs when the stack space is exhausted in a JVM. Generally,
this occurs because of:
v A deeply nested application
v An infinite loop within an application
v A problem in the Just-In-Time (JIT) compiled code
Not all instances of this error should be considered as programming errors. In the
context of some applications, you may require a greater value for the stack size
(-Xss), for example, applications having intensive graphics might require more
stack size.
The stack overflow error can be either from the native code or because of an
infinite loop in the Java program.
To determine if the error is in the native code, review the stack trace. In most
cases, the information you get will be difficult to interpret. However, if the error is
due to an infinite loop, you can see the stack trace of the error. Verify whether
there are any recursive method calls, and whether they are deep. If it does not
appear to be an infinite loop, try increasing either the Java stack or the native stack
to resolve the issue.

Taking Heap Dumps and Profiling JVM Using Hprof
A JVM's HPROF can be used get information about CPU usage and heap allocation
statistics, and to monitor contention profiles. You can also get complete heap
dumps and the states of all the monitors and threads in the JVM.
In Sterling B2B Integrator, HPROF can be invoked by adding the following option
as a JVM parameter by using the Sterling B2B Integrator tuning wizard and adding
the below option to the JVM argument suffix option for both noapp and container.
For more details, please refer to “Edit Performance Configuration Settings” on
page 123. Run the setupfiles.sh command (UNX/Linux) or the setupfiles.cmd
command (Windows) and restart ASI and container JVMs.
-agentlib:hprof[=options]
Or
-Xrunhprof[:options]
For more information about how to use HPROF on Sun JVM, refer to the following
Web site:
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/HPROF.html
For more information about how to use HPROF HP JVM, refer to the following
Web site:
http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02697864/
c02697864.pdf
On HP JVM, you can also use –Xeprof to collect profiling data for performance
tuning. For information about –Xeprof, refer to the following Web site:
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http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02697864/
c02697864.pdf
In order to analyze the data using -agentlib:hprof and –Xeprof, you can use
HPJmeter. For more information about this tool, refer to the following Web site:
http://www.hp.com/go/hpjmeter

Introduction to the IBM® JVM Performance and Tuning
Guidelines
The IBM® Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM) contains a number of private and
proprietary technologies that distinguish it from other implementations of JVM.
For instance, the IBM JVM uses mixed-mode interpretation (MMI). When the MMI
detects that bytecodes have been interpreted multiple times, it invokes a
just-in-time (JIT) compiler to compile those bytecodes to native instructions. Due to
the significant performance benefits, the JIT and MMI are enabled by default. The
JVM performance degrades considerably when JIT is disabled. For more
information about the JIT compiler and MMI, refer to the IBM JDK 6.0: Java
Diagnostics Guide.
Refer to the Sterling B2B Integrator System Requirements documentation for the
supported operating system and JVM combination.
This topic describes the processes involved in tuning, monitoring, and performing
basic troubleshooting when deploying the Sterling B2B Integrator using the IBM
JVM.
For information about using the tuning wizard to set the IBM JVM parameters, see
“Edit Performance Configuration Settings” on page 123.

Before You Begin Tuning Your IBM® JVM
Using the Performance Tuning Utility, Sterling B2B Integrator calculates the
recommended settings based on the number of cores and the amount of physical
memory that is being made available to Sterling B2B Integrator.
The resulting performance properties are stored in the tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory. The formulae used to calculate these setting can be
found in the tuningFormulas.properties file in the install_dir/properties directory.
The calculated values should be used as a guideline. Further tuning may be
necessary to attain a well-tuned system. If you are still unable to attain a
well-tuned system, you may want to engage IBM Professional Services. Contact
your Sales Representative for more information about this.

IBM® JVM Default Parameters for Sterling B2B Integrator
The follow table provides the IBM® JVM parameters and the default values you
should use when configuring the system.
Note: For information about using the tuning wizard to set the IBM JVM
parameters, see “Edit Performance Configuration Settings” on page 123.

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Parameter

Description

-Xmns

v Controls the initial size of the new area to the specified value
when using -Xgcpolicy:gencon.
v Corresponds to the JVM short-lived memory (min) value
It is recommended to use the following formula to compute –Xmns
value when the minimum heap size is modified.
-Xmns = (0.33333 * value of -Xms)

-Xmnx

v Controls the maximum size of the new area to the specified
value when using -Xgcpolicy:gencon
v Corresponds to the JVM short-lived memory (max) value
It is recommended to use the following formula to compute –Xmnx
value when the maximum heap size is modified.
-Xmnx = (0.33333 * value of -Xmx)

-Xjit:count

v Controls the compilation threshold of the JIT compiler
v Value given to count causes the Java method to be compiled
after n runs
For 64-bit noapp JVM and 64-bit container JVM:
v Default Value for Linux: 1000
v Default Value For AIX: 1000

-Xgcpolicy:gencon

Controls the behavior of the Garbage Collector. They make
trade-offs between the throughput of the application and the
overall system, and the pause times that are caused by garbage
collection. By specifying the gencon value, the GC policy requests
the combined use of concurrent and generational GC to help
minimize the time that is spent in any garbage collection pause.

IBM® JVM Troubleshooting Tips
This topic describes the various issues that may arise when using the IBM® JVM
and the troubleshooting tip pertaining to each of these errors.

OutOfMemoryError Exceptions and Memory Leaks
OutOfMemoryError exceptions occur when either the Java heap or the native heap
run out of space. These exceptions indicate that there is either a memory leak or
that the number of live objects in the JVM require more memory than is available.
The first step to troubleshooting an OutOfMemoryError exception is to determine
whether the error is caused because of lack of space in either the Java heap or the
native heap. When the OutOfMemoryError is caused because of lack of space in
the native heap, an error message is displayed with an explanation about the
allocation failure. If an error is not present, the exception is likely to have occurred
because of lack of space in the Java heap. In the latter scenario monitor the Java
heap by using the Verbose GC output.
The Java heap is consumed when the Garbage Collector is unable to compact or
free the objects being referenced. Objects that are no longer referenced by other
objects, or are referenced from the thread stacks, can be freed by performing the
garbage collection task. As the number of referenced objects increases, garbage
collection will take place more frequently. With each garbage collection instance,
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less memory will be freed. If this trend continues, the Garbage Collector will not
be able to free enough objects to allocate new objects. When this happens, the heap
will be near 100% utilized and the JVM will fail with an OutOfMemoryError
exception.
Increasing the size of the Java heap may resolve an OutOfMemoryError exception.
However, if the exception is due to a memory leak, increasing the heap size will
not resolve this issue. In this case, further troubleshooting, including analyzing the
contents of the heap using heap dump analysis or a tool such as JProbe® or
OptimizeIt™ is necessary. Refer to the IBM 6.0: Java Diagnostics Guide for more
information about heap dump analysis.

The Application Hangs
The application hangs when either a deadlock occurs or a loop is encountered. A
potential deadlock scenario is one in which multiple threads in the JVM are
blocked and are waiting on the same object resource. Another situation that may
result in a deadlock is when there is a missed notification between threads because
of a timing error. Similarly, a loop may be encountered if there is a missed flag,
which in turn may terminate the loop. A loop can also be encountered if the wrong
limit has been set for the loop iterator. In either of these cases, the thread will fail
to exit in a timely manner.
The recommended approach is to trigger a thread dump and interpret it. The
thread dump provides all the information pertaining to the object resources in the
JVM. A thread dump can be triggered to take a snapshot of all the information
related to the JVM and a Java application at a particular point during execution.
The information that is captured includes the OS level, hardware architecture,
threads, stacks, locks, monitors, and memory.
By default, thread dumps are enabled. A thread dump is triggered when the JVM
is terminated unexpectedly, an OutOfMemoryError is encountered, or when a user
sends specific signals to the JVM. Sterling B2B Integrator also enables users to
trigger a thread dump through the Sterling B2B Integrator UI.

Trigger Thread Dump
To trigger a thread dump for the ASI JVM:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
JVM monitor.
2. In the JVM MONITOR page, under Thread Dump, next to Take Thread
Dump, click Go!.
The Thread Dump Taken page is displayed. It may take some time to generate
the thread dump. During this time you may not be able to access other pages.
If heap dumps are enabled, the delay will be longer before the process is
completed.
3. Click Go! in the Thread Dump pop-up window to have the thread dumps
populated on the JVM MONITOR page.
4. Close the Thread Dump Taken pop-up window.
5. To view the dump, in the JVM MONITOR page, under View Dumps, select the
dump file, and click Go!.
6. In the Dumps download pop-up window, click the Download link to
download the file to the local machine.

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The thread dump can also be found on the host machine in the
install_dir/noapp/bin directory. After the download is complete, close the Dumps
download pop-up window.
To trigger a thread dump for the container JVM:
1. Change your working directory to install_dir.
2. In the command line, enter ps -ef | grep .
This lists the container Java process id.
3. Enter kill -3 .
The thread dump is placed in the install_dir/noapp/bin directory for your
analysis.
Because thread dumps are created in a text format, they do not require any
software to make them human readable. A thread dump is broken into sections.
Following is a brief description of each thread dump tag:
Thread Dump Tag

Description

TITLE

Basic information about the event that caused the thread dump,
along with the timestamp and the generated name.

GPINFO

Contains general information about the operating system. General
Protection Fault (GPF) information is included in this section if the
failure was caused by a GPF.

ENVINFO

Contains the JRE level and details about the environment and
command-line arguments that were used to launch the JVM
process.

MEMINFO

Contains information about the Memory Manager, and free space,
current size of the heap and the garbage collection history data.

LOCKS

Contains information about the locks and monitors being held by
each Java object.

THREADS

Contains a complete list of threads that have not been stopped.

CLASSES

Contains the class loader summaries, including the class loaders
and their relationships.

For more information about interpreting thread dump, refer to the IBM JDK 6.0:
Java Diagnostics Guide.

Heapdumps
Heapdumps are useful for troubleshooting memory-related issues since they
contain all the live objects used by the Java application. With this information, the
objects that are using large amounts of memory can be identified. The contents of a
heapdump can also help a user understand why objects cannot be freed by the
Garbage Collector.
By default, a heapdump is generated in a compressed binary format know as
Portable Heap Dump (PHD). Several tools are available to help analyze the dump.
IBM recommends the use of the Memory Dump Diagnostic for Java (MDD4J) when
performing the heapdump analysis. This tool can be downloaded from IBM
Support Assistant (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/isa/).

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Heapdumps are generated when the Java heap is exhausted by default. They can
also be configured so that they are generated when a user sends a specific signal to
the JVM.
To enable a heapdump, refer to the documentation on JVM parameters for the
server in “Edit Performance Configuration Settings” on page 123.
For more information about heapdumps, refer to the IBM JDK 6.0: Java Diagnostics
Guide.

Monitoring Operations
The Operations functions enable you to monitor the operational status of Sterling
B2B Integrator, its components and services, current threads and system logging,
and to troubleshoot system problems.

Managing System Logs
Sterling B2B Integrator comprises multiple components, including software
applications such as archive tools, Web servers, and database servers. To monitor
the activities of each component, Sterling B2B Integrator generates log files based
on the system's monitoring activity. These log files are one of the tools that enable
you to monitor the way the system operates.
Each operations server on a host has its own operations log file. Log files are
created in the logs directory of the installation directory. To prevent the system log
files from taking up excessive storage space and main memory, Sterling B2B
Integrator generates a log file only when a component runs. This in turn improves
the performance of Sterling B2B Integrator.
Each open log file is closed once every 24 hours (usually at midnight), and a new
file is created. When moving into or out of Daylight Savings Time (DST), you must
stop and restart both Sterling B2B Integrator and its database to ensure that log
files are created with the correct timestamp.
Log files are allowed to grow only up to a maximum size. If a log file reaches its
maximum size, it is closed and another file is created. There is a limit to the
number of log files that can exist simultaneously. If this limit is exceeded, the old
logs files are automatically deleted. If the Sterling B2B Integrator Dashboard
interface links to a deleted log file (which will display a blank page), click the link
to a newer log file.
Note: If you are working in a clustered environment, the log information that is
displayed is determined by the node you select from the Select Node list.

Naming Conventions
This section provides information about the naming conventions to be used in
Sterling B2B Integrator.
Use the following naming convention for a directory:
v UNIX - install_dir/logs/directory
v Windows - install-dir\logs\directory
In this convention:
v install_dir or install-dir refers to the name of the installation directory.

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v logs refers to the primary log directory.
v directory refers to the subdirectory created when you start Sterling B2B
Integrator.
All the old log files are moved to this subdirectory for archiving. The naming
convention to be used for the old log directory is logs_mmddyy_hhmmss.
Use the following naming convention for a log file:
name.log.Dyyyymmdd.Thhmmss_#
In this convention:
v name identifies the type of the log file.
v log refers to the file name extension, which indicates the file type.
v Dyyyymmdd refers to the date in the year, month, and day format. The D at the
beginning refers to Date.
v Thhmmss refers to the time in hours, minutes, and seconds format. The T at the
beginning refers to Time.
v _# is the increment of the log file. If you attempt to write a log file that already
exists, _# is appended to the log file name, allowing you to write a new file and
save the integrity of the existing file.
For example, if mylog.D20041101.T092022 exists, and you try to save a new log
file with the same name, the new file becomes mylog.D20041101.T092022_2,
where _2 indicates that it is the second log in a sequence using the same file
name.
Note: The date and time components in a naming convention may or may not be
present, depending on the type of the log. For example, the noapp.log does not
include date and time information, but ui.log.Dyyyymmdd.Thhmmss includes date
and time information.
Each time Sterling B2B Integrator is started, the log files created since the last time
it was started are archived in a time-stamped subdirectory. New log files, those
created subsequent to the most recent execution of Sterling B2B Integrator, are
written to the install_dir/logs directory.

Viewing Log File Contents
Users of Sterling B2B Integrator can view the contents of both current log files and
old log files.
Note:
v If you are working in a clustered environment, the log information that is
displayed is determined by the node you select from the Select Node list.
v The Sterling B2B Integrator interface displays only the last 2500 lines of a current
log file. To view the entire log, you must have read permission for the file
system on which Sterling B2B Integrator is installed. Open the log file in
read-only mode using a text editor.
To view the current log file contents in Sterling B2B Integrator:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Logs.
2. Click the appropriate log file.
To view the old log file contents in Sterling B2B Integrator:
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1. In the install_dir/logs/log directory, locate the old log file that you want to
view.
2. Open the log file in read-only mode using a text editor.

Analyzing Log File Contents
The contents of a log file provide information about system activities and
problems. The format used for entries written to a log file is [YYYY-MM-DD
HH:MM:SS.ss] loglevel ‘message code' Scope.Subsystem.Name ‘information
string'
[2008-04-22 09:02:43.404] ERROR 000310160001 UTIL.FRAME_POOL.ERR_Pool [Pool] Could not create the initial objects for the pool gentranTPPool
[2008-04-22 09:02:43.405] ERROR 000000000000 GLOBAL_SCOPE [1208869363405] The driver manager could not obtain a database connection.

In this convention:
v YYYY-MM-DD refers to the date in year, month, day format.
v HH:MM:SS.ss refers to the time in hour, minutes, seconds, and hundredths of a
second format.
v loglevel indicates how much information is logged and the relative importance
of the message. A subsystem may log only a subset of these messages (as
defined in the subsystem.loglevel property of log.properties), discarding those
that have a severity that is lower (less severe) than the current log level set for
that subsystem.
Log Level

Description

FATAL

Collects fatal and critical error information.

ERRORDTL

Collects only error conditions, with a detailed description of the
error.

ERROR

Collects only error conditions such as exceptions and error
messages (including errors from the user interface).

WARN

Collects non-fatal configuration messages.

SQLDEBUG

Collects SQL statements that are being executed.

INFO

Collects basic operational information.

TIMER

Collects timing information.

COMMTRACE

Collects communication trace information.

DEBUG

Collects basic debugging statements including system state and
code paths.

VERBOSE

Collects extra debugging statements (like XML information) that
describe and explain what is happening in the system.

ALL

Collects information about all the conditions.

v message code describes the activity or problem, using the following format:
– The first four digits specify the scope (like Workflow, Ops, Util).
– The next digit specifies the log severity level (default conventions use 1 for
error or exception, 2 for debug messages, 3 for warnings, and 4 for
information or all messages.
– The next three digits specify the subsystem (like Workflow Queue or
Workflow Engine).
– The last four digits specify the error number.
v Scope.Subsystem.Name is a text description of the affected part of Sterling B2B
Integrator (such as WORKFLOW, OPS, or UTIL), the Sterling B2B Integrator

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subsystem (such as FRAME_POOL, NOAPP, or SERVER), and what occurred
(such as ERR_Pool or INFO_NamingException1).
v information string is a brief description of the activity that occurred.
Following is an example of this format:
[2006-05-30 11:06:55.661] ALL 000440020297
SERVICES.SERVICES_CONTROLLER.INFO_sdi_getName startup: loading HTTP_SEND_ADAPTER

This indicates that at 11:06:55.661 a.m. on May 30, 2006, Sterling B2B Integrator
was started, and attempted to load the HTTP Send adapter
(HTTP_SEND_ADAPTER). The message also provides information about:
v Scope (Services)
v The affected part of Sterling B2B Integrator (Services Controller)
v What occurred (INFO_sdi_getName)
v Error code (0297)

Changing Log Settings
Sterling B2B Integrator enables you to change the log settings globally and locally.

Changing Log Settings Globally
You can change log settings globally using the customer_overrides.properties file,
which prevents customized property file changes from being overridden by
updates or patches. You can change global settings in the log.properties file. For
more information about the customer_overrides.properties file, refer to Sterling B2B
Integrator Property Files documentation.
Note: The customer override property file is not a part of the initial Sterling B2B
Integrator installation. It must be created and named
customer_overrides.properties.
To change the property file settings using the customer_overrides.properties file,
perform the following tasks:
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, either create or locate the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file using a text editor.
3. Specify the settings for the global log properties described in the following
table. These properties are displayed in the following format:
logService.Property=Value
v logService identifies the log.properties file in the
customer_overrides.properties file.
v Property is the global property of the log.properties file that you want to set.
See the following table for a list of properties.
v Value is the property setting of the log.properties file.
Property

Description

newloggers

Specifies whether to allow new log files to be created when the
maximum log file size setting has been exceeded. Valid values:
v true – Allow new logs to be created (Default)
v false – Do not allow new logs to be created
Example: logService.newloggers=true
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Property

Description

defaultlog

Specifies the name of the default log. Default is systemlogger.
Example: logService.defaultlog=logtype

logtype.maxnumlogs

Specifies the maximum number of logs to retain before deleting the
old logs. Default is 10.
Examples:
logService.defaultlog.maxnumlogs=15 sets the maximum number
of a log type specified as the default log (systemlogger, by default)
to 15.
logService.uilogger.maxnumlogs=20 sets the maximum number of
UI type logs to 20.

The following table provides the log type name for each log file name defined
by default in the log.properties file and extension files. If you have changed the
file name, use the original file name to find the log type name.

86

File Name of Log

Log Type

(As Shown on the System Logs Screen)

(For the customer_overrides.properties file)

alerterlogger.log

alerterlogger

archive.log

archivelogger

Authentication.log

AuthenticationLogger

cdinterop.log

cdinteroplogger

cdinterop_cdjava.log

cdinteropcdjavalogger

ceuinterop.log

ceulogger

common3splogger.log

common3splogger

delete.log

deletelogger

ebXML.log

ebXMLlogger

EDIINT.log

EDIINTLogger

event.log

event

ftp.log

ftplogger

ftpclient.log

psftpclientlogger

http.log

httplogger

httpclient.log

httpclientlogger

jetty.log

jettylogger

lifecycle.log

lifecycleLogger

mailbox.log

mailboxlogger

mgmtdash.log

neo

noapp.log

noapplogger

ocsp.log

ocsplogger

oftp.log

oftplogger

ops_exe.log

opslogger

Perimeter.log

PSLogger

pipeline.log

pipelinelogger

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

File Name of Log

Log Type

(As Shown on the System Logs Screen)

(For the customer_overrides.properties file)

report.log

reportlogger

resourcemonitor.log

resourcemonitorlogger

mif.log

rnlogger

sap.log

saplogger

schedule.log

schedulelogger

Security.log

SecurityLogger

servicesctl.log

sclogger

sftpclient.log

sftpclientlogger

sftpserver.log

sftpserverlogger

si_exe.log

silogger

sql.log

sqllogger

system.log

systemlogger

system.log

purgelogger

test.log

testlogger

tracking.log

tracking

txtrace.log

txtracelogger

ui.log

uilogger

ui_performance.log

ui_perf_logger

webdav.log

webdavlogger

WebSphereMQSuite.log

wsmqSuiteLogger

webx.log

webxlogger

wf.log

wflogger

wfexception.log

wfexception_logger

wfstatistics.log

wfstatistics

4. Save and close the customer_overrides.properties file.
5. Stop the Sterling B2B Integrator and restart it to use the new values.

Changing Log Settings for an Individual Log Type
For each log, you can specify the following information:
v Location of the log file
v The number of lines pertaining to the log file to be saved
v The amount of details to log
Note: If you are working in a clustered environment, the information that is
displayed is determined by the node you select from the Select Node list.
To
1.
2.
3.

change the log settings for an individual log type:
From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Logs.
Click the icon next to the log type whose log settings you want to change.
In the Log Settings page, specify the settings for the options described in the
following table:
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87

Option

Description

Location

Specifies the absolute path for the log file.

Rollover Interval

If newloggers is set to false, the rollover interval specifies the point
at which the oldest lines in the log file are deleted as new lines are
created. If newloggers is set to true (default), the rollover interval
is the maximum number of lines allowed in the log file before a
new file is created. Select one of the following rollover interval
values:
v 50000 lines
v 100000 lines
v 150000 lines
v 200000 lines
Note: Here, the term “lines” refers to logical lines (entries) and not
physical lines. For example, following is a “line”:
[2005-07-11 08:12:07.679] ALL 000440020297
SERVICES.SERVICES_CONTROLLER.INFO_sdi_getName
startup: loading HTTP_SEND_ADAPTER
FtpConfig.logConfiguration()
client configuration: ftpListenPort=[10021]
localDataPortCollection=[null]
localControlPortCollection=[null]
minThreadPoolSize=[3]
maxThreadPoolSize=[6]
systemCertificateId=[null]
caCertificatesIds=[null]
passphrase=[******]
cipher=[Strong]
sslOption=[SSL_NONE]
sslAllowed=[false]
sslRequired=[false]
sslImplicit=[false]
cccAllowed=[false]
cccRequired=[false]
clusterNodeName=[Node1]
perimeterServerName=[local]
nonTerminationCharsToTotalCharsRatio=[0.9]

Logging Level

Specifies the amount of details to log. Select one of the following
values:
v On – Set the logging level to ALL, which includes debugging
(creates larger files)
v Off – Set the logging level to ERROR (Default), which only logs
errors (creates smaller files)
Note: Setting the logging level to ALL may generate an excessive
amount of debugging information. You should lower the logging
level after you have retrieved the debugging information you
require.

4. Click Save.

Changing Log File Location
Sterling B2B Integrator enables you to modify the location of the log files. Perform
the following tasks:
1. Modify the LOG_DIR setting in sandbox.cfg.
2. Run the setupfiles.sh script to apply the changes.

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However, the following log files created by the Sterling B2B Integrator dashboard
interface are not moved to the changed location indicated in sandbox.cfg:
v jetspeed.log
v jetspeedservices.log
v torque.log
v turbine.log
v access.log
To modify the location of these log files, run the deployer.sh script. This script
rebuilds and redeploys the Web ARchive (WAR) files of the dashboard interface.
The locations of the log files created by the service configuration are hard coded in
the configuration. As a result, the location of the einvoicing.log files cannot be
changed by modifying the setting in sandbox.cfg. To modify the location of these
log files, you must modify the settings at the service configuration level.

Log File Types
The log files in Sterling B2B Integrator can be classified under various types. The
following table lists these types along with a description of the same.
Note: If you are working in a clustered environment, the log information that is
displayed is determined by the node you select from the Select Node list.
Log Type

Log Name

Description

Operations Security

opsSecurity.log

Used by the security components.
Indicates problems with startup,
passwords, and passphrases.

Operations Server

ops.log

Used by the operations server.

opsServer.log

Receives all the log messages the
operations servers generate during
startup.

Central Operations Server

IBM Sterling Gentran:Server® for UNIX
Data Adapter

Logs activities of the Sterling
Gentran:Server for UNIX adapter.
You cannot turn logging on or off for
Sterling Gentran:Server for UNIX
data adapter.
Note: The Sterling Gentran:Server for
UNIX logs are displayed only if you
have Sterling B2B Integrator
configured for Sterling
Gentran:Server for UNIX.

Application Logs
Adapter Server

servicesctl.log

AFT Routing

aftrouting.log

Used by the service controller
component.

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89

Log Type

Log Name

Description

Alerter

alerterlogger.log

Logs notification failures and Alert
own errors in the Alert Service. When
debug is turned on, the alerter log
type also logs all the alert
information, such as defined alerter
and filter information.

Archive

archive.log

Used by the archive components.

Business Process
Exceptions

wfexception.log

Tracks the exceptions that occur
while a business process is running.

Business Process
Execution

wf.log

Captures information that is specific
to running a business process.

Business Process Policy
Statistics

wfstatistics.log

Contains workflow policy statistics
generated by the workflow
scheduling policy. Although the
actual content depends on the
scheduling policy in place, the
business process policy statistics log
type basically contains XML
timestamps followed by XML
records.

IBM Sterling
Connect:Direct® Secure
Perimeter Adapter

cdsp.log

Sterling Connect:Direct
Server Adapter Protocol
Layer

cdinterop_cdjava.log

Used by the Sterling Connect:Direct
Server adapter.

Sterling Connect:Direct
Server and Requester
Adapter and Services

cdinterop.log

Used by the Sterling Connect:Direct
Server and Requester Adapter and
related services

IBM Sterling
Connect:Enterprise®
Server Adapter and
Services

ceuinterop.log

Used by the Sterling
Connect:Enterprise Server adapter.

Crypto

crypto.log

CSP2 FTP Adapter

cspftp.log

CSP2 Http Adapter

csphttp.log

Dashboard

mgmtdash.log

Used by the Dashboard component.

Delete Resources

delete.log

Logs information about resources that
have been deleted from Sterling B2B
Integrator.

Document Tracking

tracking.log

Logs document tracking activities.

ebXML Business Process
Execution

ebXML.log

Logs ebXML business process
execution activities.

EDI Log

edi.log

EDIINT

EDIINT.log

AS1 and AS2
Embedded Engine

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embeddedEngine.log

Used by the EDIINT components.

Log Type

Log Name

Description

Event Framework

event.log

Logs event framework activities for
events completed in Sterling B2B
Integrator.

FTP Client Adapter and
Services

ftpclient.log

Used by the FTP Client Adapter and
related services.

FTP Server

ftp.log

Used by the FTP server components.

Sterling Gentran:Server
for UNIX Lifecycle

lifecycle.log

Used by the Sterling Gentran:Server
for UNIX Lifecycle components when
loading lifecycle records.

Sterling Gentran:Server
system.log
for UNIX Lifecycle Purge
Service

Used by the Sterling Gentran:Server
for UNIX Lifecycle purge components
when purging lifecycle records.

HTTP Client Adapter
and Services

httpclient.log

Used by the HTTP Client Adapter
and related services.

HTTP Server Adapter

http.log

Used by the HTTP Server Adapter.

Integrator
Administration

ui.log

Used by the Sterling B2B Integrator
interface.

Jetty HTTP Server

jetty.log

Used by the Jetty HTTP Server.

JMX Agent

jmx.log

Log.ResourceMonitorLog resourcemonitor.log

Used by the Resource Monitor.

Mailboxing Subsystem

mailbox.log

Used by the mailbox components in
Sterling B2B Integrator.

OCSP

ocsp.log

Used by the Online Certificate Status
Protocol.

Odette FTP Adapter
Administration

OdetteFTP.log

OFTP Administration

oftp.log

Logs OFTP administration activities.

Perimeter Services

Perimeter.log

Used by the perimeter server
components in Sterling B2B
Integrator.

Pipeline

pipeline.log

Used by the pipeline components.

Platform

platform.log

Report

report.log

Reporting Services

bizIntel.log

Resource Monitor

resourcemonitor.log

RosettaNet Business
Process Execution

rnif.log

Used by the RosettaNet™
components.

SAP Adapter
Administration

sap.log

Used by the SAP components.

SAP XI Adapter
Administration

sapxi.log

Schedule

schedule.log

Schedule Monitor

schedulemonitor.log

Security

security.log

Used by the reporting components.

®

Logs scheduling activities.

Used by the security components.
Indicates problems with startup and
component licensing.

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91

Log Type

Log Name

Description

SFTP Client Adapter and sftpclient.log
Services

Used by the SFTP Client adapter and
related services.

SFTP Common Log

common3splogger.log

Logs SFTP security errors.

SFTP Server Adapter

sftpserver.log

Used by the SFTP Server adapter.

SQL Manager

sql.log

Logs queries sent to the database by
the SQL Query service.

IBM Sterling Secure
Proxy

secureproxy.log

System

system.log

Used as a general logging service,
typically the default system log.

noapp.log

Used on an application
server-independent system as a
general activity log.

System Output/Error
Redirect

noapp.log

Used to provide additional system
log information.

Translation Log

tx.log

Translation Trace Output txtrace.log

Used as a logging service that helps
with map debugging. This log
contains debugging messages that
show how the translator traversed
the maps definition and matched
each block of data against the map.

User Authentication

Authentication.log

Logs user authentication attempts
and activities.

Visibility

visibility.log

Web Extension

webx.log

Web Services Security

wssec.log

WebDAV Server

webdav.log

WebSphereMQ Suite

WebSphereMQSuite.log

Used by the WebSphereMQ Suite
Async Receiver adapter and related
services.

Windows Service GI

si_exe.log

Log file created by the Sterling B2B
Integrator Windows service.

Windows Service Ops
log

ops_exe.log

Log file created by the Opserver
Windows service.

WorkFlow Deadline

bpdeadline.log

WS-Reliability Routing

wsrm.log

Used by the Web Extensions
components in Sterling B2B
Integrator.

The following table describes the log files pertaining to the Sterling B2B Integrator
Windows service:

92

Log Name

Description

ScheduleBackup.log

Temporary file that is created when Sterling
B2B Integrator Windows service stops.

Backuplogs.log

Temporary file that is created when Sterling
B2B Integrator Windows service stops.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Log Name

Description

ScheduleStopOps.log

Temporary log file that can be ignored.

The following table describes the log files pertaining to the DMZ perimeter server:
Log Name

Description

PSLogger.Dyyyymmdd.Thhmmss

Logs perimeter server information for the
DMZ perimeter server.

StartupPS.log

Logs startup activities for the DMZ
perimeter server.

Auditing
In Sterling B2B Integrator, you can find information about the creation,
modification, and deletion of a Sterling B2B Integrator resource, using the
AUDIT_ADMIN table. Resources include business processes, certificates (CA,
trusted, system), maps, and schemas. You can access the AUDIT_ADMIN table
through a simple database query.
The AUDIT_ADMIN table contains the following information:
v The date and time of a resource operation.
v The resource that was created, modified, or deleted.
v The resource operation (creation, modification, or deletion).
v The User ID of the user who performed the operation.
The AUDIT_ADMIN table also contains information about when a user obtains or
releases a lock on a resource using the Lock Manager, if the type of modification
cannot be determined in the Lock Manager.
You can generate reports (by Resource Type or User ID) from the AUDIT_ADMIN
table. Use the following procedure to generate an Admin-Audit Report:
1. In the Administration Menu, select Operations > Reports.
2. In the Search section of the screen that is displayed, select the Admin Audit
type.
3. Click source manager icon adjacent to the report you want to generate:
v AdminAuditByObjectType (by Resource Type)
v AdminAuditByPrincipal (by User ID)
4. In the Report Source Manager page that is displayed, click the execute icon.
The Admin-Audit Report is displayed.
The Admin-Audit Report (whether by Report Type or User ID), includes the
following columns. The AUDIT_ADMIN table field name is displayed within
parentheses after the column name.
v Action Type (ACTION_TYPE)
Example: Modified
v Action Value (ACTION_VALUE)
Example: Message Purge
v Principal (PRINCIPAL)
Example: UserID
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v Resource Name (OBJECT_NAME)
Example: Message Maintenance
v Resource Type (OBJECT_TYPE)
Example: User News
v Time (TIME)
Example: 07/15/2008 12:48:54 PM
The AUDIT_ADMIN table also includes the ARCHIVE_DATE field, which is the
earliest date on which the data can be purged.
The audit process tracks the following resources:
v Accounts
v Application Configurations
v Business Processes
v Digital Certificates
v Communities
v ebXML Specifications
v Extended Rule Libraries
v Maps
v Mail Boxes
v PGP Profiles
v Proxy policies
v Proxy Setmaps
v Perimeter Servers
v Report Configurations
v Schedules
v XML Schemas
v Security Tokens
v Service Configurations
v SSH Resources
v SWIFTNet Routing Rules
v Trading Partner Data
v Web Resources
v Web Services
v WSDL
v Web Templates
v XSLTs

Monitoring a Business Process Thread
A thread is a basic unit of program execution. Threads perform the actual work in
a process. A process can have several threads working concurrently, for example,
transferring a file to one node using FTP, and to another node using HTTP. The
Activity Engine is that part of a business process workflow engine (WFE) that calls
the business process service, takes the results from the service, and immediately
starts the next business process service cycle.
You can monitor the threads related to business processes in Sterling B2B
Integrator using the Thread Monitor. The Thread Monitor lists all the threads that

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

are currently running in the Activity Engine. This information is useful for
troubleshooting business processes that have either stopped or are hanging. You
can also stop a thread from the Thread Monitor.
Note: Whenever possible, stop business processes using the options provided in
the Business Process Monitor. These options allow you to maintain the state and
the status information.

Monitoring a Thread
To monitor threads, from the Administration menu, select Operations > Thread
Monitor. Sterling B2B Integrator displays the following information for each
thread:
v The state of the thread.
v The ID of the thread. (Click the ID number for more information about the
thread.)
v The type of the thread:
– Business Process – Click the ID number in the ID column to display the
Business Process Detail page.
– RMI (Remote Management Interface) – Click the ID number in the ID column
to display the Business Process Detail page.
– Harness – Click the ID number in the ID column to display the Business
Process Detail page.
– Schedule – Click the ID number in the ID column to display the Schedule
settings.
v The processing priority assigned to the thread
v The date and time at which the thread was registered
Note: You can also view thread details from the System Troubleshooting screen
(Operations > System > Troubleshooter).

Interrupting a Thread
Important: Before using the Thread Monitor to interrupt a thread, contact IBM
Customer Support for assistance. Else, unexpected processing results may occur,
which may in turn affect other processes. It is recommended that you interrupt the
business processes from the Business Process Monitor.
To interrupt a thread, click the Interrupt icon adjacent that thread. This instructs
the thread to immediately interrupt processing without waiting for any steps to
complete or exit with an error. In most cases, the thread will be interrupted
immediately, but the display in the Thread Monitor will not be changed
immediately. The thread will be marked as interrupted later.
Note: In some situations, it may not be possible to interrupt a thread, and your
attempt may not succeed. Interrupting a thread does not stop the service the
thread is using. The service is still available for Sterling B2B Integrator to use in
other business processes.

Stopping a Thread
Important: Before using the Thread Monitor to interrupt a thread, contact IBM
Customer Support for assistance. Else, unexpected processing results may occur,
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95

which may in turn affect other processes. It is recommended that you interrupt the
business processes from the Business Process Monitor.
To stop a thread, click Stop icon adjacent to the thread that is to be stopped. This
instructs the thread to immediately stop processing without waiting for any steps
to complete or exit with an error. In most cases, the thread will stop immediately.
However, this will not immediately change the display in the Thread Monitor. The
thread will eventually be marked as interrupted.
Note: In some cases, it is not possible to stop a thread, and your attempt will be
unsuccessful. Stopping a thread does not stop the service that is performing that
thread. The service is still available for Sterling B2B Integrator to use in other
business processes.

Setting the Refresh Option for the Thread Monitor
By default, the Thread Monitor is set to automatically refresh every 15 seconds. To
turn this option off, clear the Automatically refresh every 15 seconds check box.

Monitoring Messages
In Sterling B2B Integrator, business processes use messages to communicate with
each other. Certain business processes create Produce and Consume messages.
While the Produce business processes produce messages that are to be consumed,
the Consume business processes wait for messages from the Produce business
processes.
Sometimes the handoff from the Produce business processes to the Consume
business processes does not occur. Either the produced message has no waiting
Consume process, or the waiting Consume process waits without success for the
Produce message. Use the Message Monitor to track unsuccessful message
handoffs within Sterling B2B Integrator.
It is recommended that you keep the following considerations in mind when
monitoring messages within Sterling B2B Integrator:
v The Message Monitor pages of the Sterling B2B Integrator interface display only
those messages associated with a failed Produce or Consume activity. Messages
that are successfully produced or consumed are not monitored.
v Messages are tied closely to business processes. You can search for messages by
business process name, type of business process (Produce or Consume), and date
and time on which the associated business process step invokes the Produce or
Consume activity. However, messages also have identities that are separate from
business processes. Messages have names, and their names can be used as
search input.
v Sometimes Produce and Consume business processes have to choose between
messages having the same name. Let us for example consider that two Produce
processes run at different times; both produce a message named OutMsg1. Thus,
there are two messages named OutMsg1 in Sterling B2B Integrator, but with
different start date/times. When a Consume process detects the two messages, it
consumes the OutMsg1 with the later start date/time. The situation also works
in reverse. Two Consume processes request an identically named message
(InMsg1). When a Produce process produces InMsg1, it produces InMsg1 for the
Consume process with the earlier start date/time.

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v Unsuccessful messages remain in Sterling B2B Integrator until an appropriate
Produce or Consume business process step completes the message handoff and
uses the message.
Note: Unsuccessful messages never expire or time out.

Searching for a Message
To search for a message in Sterling B2B Integrator:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > Message Monitor.
2. In the Message Monitor screen that is displayed, select one of the following
search criteria and click Go!
v Message Name – Displays messages whose names contain the specified
character or string.
v Start Date: and End Date: – Displays messages for which the related
business process step invokes either the Produce or Consume activity at the
specified start date and time. The start date and time that are displayed by
default depends on whether Sterling B2B Integrator has outstanding
unsuccessful messages.
– If there are no unsuccessful messages in Sterling B2B Integrator, the Start
Date: field displays the current system date and time minus one minute,
and the End Date: field displays the current system date and time plus
one minute.
– If there are unsuccessful messages in Sterling B2B Integrator, the Start
Date: field displays the date and time of the unsuccessful message with
the earliest start date and time, minus one minute, and the End Date: field
displays the date and time of the unsuccessful message with the latest
start date and time, plus one minute.
v Alphabetically or by message type (ALL, Producer, or Consumer) – Displays
those messages initiated by business processes that:
– Have names starting with a particular letter or number selected from the
Alphabetically list. Default is ALL (all business processes).
– Are either Produce or Consume processes, or both (ALL).
3. Review the information pertaining to the listed messages. This information is
displayed in the following columns:
v Type – Type of business process associated with the message, either Produce
or Consume.
v ID – ID of the business process associated with the message. Click an ID in
this column to display the Business Process Details page of the business
process.
v Process Name – Name of the associated Produce business process or
Consume business process. Click a process name in this column to display
the BPML of the business process.
v Message Name – Name of the unconsumed message.
v Start Time – Start date and time of the associated step within the business
process.

Reviewing System Information
Use the System Troubleshooting page (Operations > System > Troubleshooter) to
review system information and troubleshoot system issues in Sterling B2B
Integrator.
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97

From the System Troubleshooting page, you can perform the following tasks:
v View system information on different nodes from any node in a clustered
environment.
v Refresh system status.
v Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
v View database usage statistics.

v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v

Note: If IBM DB2 is your database, the database usage statistics are always
displayed as unavailable in the System Troubleshooting page.
View business process queue and usage statistics.
Terminate a business process.
View system classpath information.
View system JNDI tree information.
View environment statistics, including cache and memory used.
View adapter information.
View perimeter server information.
View when the archive, index, and purge tasks were completed.

The System Troubleshooting page provides quick access to system information. It
provides links to key areas of system information instead of loading all of the
system information at once. The system information for each area will be displayed
in a pop-up window, which reduces the loading time of the System
Troubleshooting page.
The following table provides a general description of each area. The subsequent
sections provide further details about each area.
Area

Information

Stop the System

Stops the whole Sterling B2B Integrator cluster using the softstop
script. After that, you still need to call the hardstop script to stop
the whole system. Compare with the Soft Stop command.

Select Node

The Select Node list is displayed only if you are working in a
clustered environment. Your selection determines which node's
information is displayed in the rest of the System Troubleshooting
page.
The select node list enables you to select a node in a clustered
environment, which in turn decides the node whose information is
to be displayed in the System Troubleshooting page.
For example, if you have two nodes in a cluster (Node 1 and Node
2) and you want to view the System Troubleshooting page for
Node 2, select Node 2 from the list and the System
Troubleshooting page for Node 2 displays. If you want to view
Node 1 information, select Node 1 from the list and the System
Troubleshooting information for Node 1 displays.

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Area

Information

Host Information

The Host Information displays the following information:
v Start time
v Uptime
v Host
v Location
v State
v Memory available
v Active threads

Sterling
Gentran:Server

This area is displayed only if you have configured your system for
Sterling Gentran:Server Data Manager support.
The Sterling Gentran:Server area displays the following
information:
v Host
v Location
v State
v Controllers
v Adapters

Classpath

Displays the Sterling B2B Integrator classpath.

JNDI Tree

Displays the JNDI tree in Sterling B2B Integrator.

Soft Stop

Stops a node of Sterling B2B Integrator using the softstop script
interactively through the UI. Compare with the Stop the System
command.

Database Usage

Displays the database space usage, database services (business
process eligibility for archive, index, and purge), and environment
pool usage.
Note: For Oracle, the database usage indicator calculates free space
used based on Oracle extents. The name of this area changes along
with the database that you are running. For example, oraclePool is
for an Oracle database.

Business Process
Queue Usage

Displays business process queue usage statistics such as cache disk
usage, cache memory usage, queue statistics, and cache statistics.

Business Process
Usage

Displays count of business processes by its state.

Cache Usage

Displays size and hit rate for object caches.

Threads

Displays active processes at a thread level.

Clean-Up Processes
Monitor

Displays the time since the archive, index, purge, and recovery
tasks were completed.

Controllers

The state and name of each controller or server in the Sterling B2B
Integrator installation.
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Area

Information

Adapters

Displays list of all the adapters in the system and their status.
Note: Click an adapter name to view details about its status in the
Service Settings page.

Perimeter Server
Status

The information in this area is displayed only after you have
added a perimeter server to Sterling B2B Integrator.
The Perimeter Servers area displays the following information:
v Cluster node name (in a clustered environment only)
v Whether the perimeter server is on or off
v State, either enabled or disabled
v Name of the perimeter server
v Last activity

Stopping Sterling B2B Integrator from the System
Troubleshooting Page
You can stop Sterling B2B Integrator using the System Troubleshooting page, using
either a soft stop (which allows all the business processes to complete) or a hard
stop (which stops the system and all the processing immediately). After a soft stop,
you must still perform a hard stop to stop the system. For more information about
the soft stop process, refer to “Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 110.
Important: Using the Soft Stop option stops only the Sterling B2B Integrator
interface immediately, while all the business processes that are in progress run
until complete. After all the current business processes are completed, you will
need to perform a hard stop to fully stop Sterling B2B Integrator. To stop the
system and all the processing immediately, use the Stop the System option. All
processes that have not been completed will stop and have to be restarted.
To stop Sterling B2B Integrator using the System Troubleshooting page:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click Soft Stop
(for an interactive soft stop) or Stop the System (for an immediate soft stop).
Important: A soft stop does not stop all JVMs and system processing. To fully
stop the system, you must perform a hard stop after the soft stop is complete. For
instructions, see “Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 120.

Viewing the Host Information
Host Information displays the current operational status of the processing
environment for your installation of Sterling B2B Integrator. The System
Troubleshooting page displays separate information for each installation.
Note: If you are working in a clustered installation of Sterling B2B Integrator, the
information that displays is determined by the node you select from the Select
Node list.
To view Host Information:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.

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2. In the System Troubleshooting page, click Host Information.
The following information is provided for each installation:
v The cluster node name, if you are working in a clustered installation of Sterling
B2B Integrator.

v
v
v
v
v

Note: The cluster node list displays only if you are working in a cluster. After
you set up your cluster, the select cluster node list displays.
Host - The name of the host on which a specific installation resides.
Location - The location or path of the installation.
State - The running state of the installation, either Active (available for
processing) or Inactive.
Memory in use - The amount of memory used by Sterling B2B Integrator.
Active threads - The number of concurrent threads that are active.

Viewing the System Classpath
You can view the system classpath for debugging purposes and to verify whether
third-party libraries are available in the classpath.
To view the system classpath:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click Classpath.
Information about the System Class Path and the Dynamic Class Loader is
displayed.

Viewing the System JNDI Tree
You can view the system JNDI tree for debugging purposes and to verify whether
the expected resources, for example, adapters or pool names, are in the JNDI tree.
To view the system JNDI tree:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click JNDI Tree.
The system JNDI tree displays the JNDI name and class name pairs.

Viewing a Node JNDI Tree in a Clustered Environment
You can view a specific node's JNDI tree for debugging purposes and to verify
whether the expected resources, for example, adapters or pool names, are in the
JNDI tree. This option is available only in a clustered environment.
To view a node's JNDI tree in a clustered environment:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click node#,
where # is the number of the node you want to view information about.
The node's JNDI tree displays JNDI name, class name pairs, and the node
name.

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Viewing the Database Usage Statistics
Database usage statistics show how your database is performing, including
database insert information, database capacity, and environment pool usage.
Sterling B2B Integrator uses pools to store database connections. To change pool
settings, you must manually edit the configuration files and restart the system.
Note: Database usage statistics are not available for DB2.
To view database usage statistics:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click Database
Usage.
Note: If you have the displayGraphics property, which is located in the
install_dir/properties/ui.properties file, set to true, the Database Usage page is
displayed in graphic format. Otherwise, the Database Usage page is displayed
in text format. The default is true for Linux®, Sun™, HP, and Microsoft
Windows® operating systems. The default is false for IBM AIX® and IBM
iSeries® operating systems.
The Database Usage report is displayed with the following information for each
unit test of the database:
v Average time taken to perform a given number of database inserts in a unit
test
v Number of inserts performed to the database in a unit test
Note: You can change the value of the dbAccessLoopCnt property in the
install_dir/properties/ui.properties.in file. After making the changes, in the
install_dir/bin directory, run the setupfiles script.
v Size of the inserts performed to the database in the unit test.
Note: You can change the value of the dbAccessDataSize property in the
install_dir/properties/ui.properties.in file. After making the changes, in the
install_dir/bin directory, run the setupfiles script.
v Size of the database and the amount of the database used (in megabytes):
– Green – Normal range
– Yellow – Warning range
– Red – Critical range
v Number of business processes that are waiting to be archived, indexed, or
purged
v Size (in megabytes) of the following pools and the number of requests that
had to wait for the following pools:
– gentranTPPool
– databaseArchivePool
– databasePool
– databasePool_local
– databasePool_NoTrans
– databasePool_Select
– databaseUIPool

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Note: The database part of the pool names changes depending on the
database you are using, for example, if the database is Oracle, you will see
oraclePool.

Viewing the Business Process Queue Usage
The Business Process Queue Usage page enables you to diagnose problems with
your business process queues.
To view Business Process Queue Usage:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2.
In the System Troubleshooting page, click Business Process Usage.
The page provides the following queue information:
v The amount of memory available for cache and the amount consumed.
v The amount of disk space available for cache and the amount consumed.
v The average wait time based on priority.
v The average business process execution cycle time based on priority. The
average business process execution cycle time may include the execution
times of several steps. It captures the average time that business processes
are active on threads before being rescheduled.
v The number of business processes in priority queues.
v The number of business processes that ran without being cached and the
number that are currently in cache. Cache location is also specified so that
you can determine the number of business processes that were found in the
soft reference cache, in the disk cache, and in the memory cache.
v Number of business processes within the data size ranges that have been
processed.

Viewing the Business Process Usage
The Business Process Usage page enables you to review the state of a business
process and the process count. If a link is enabled in the Process Count area, you
can select it to view affected business processes and manage them.
To view Business Process Usage:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2.
In the System Troubleshooting page, click Business Process Usage.
The page provides the information about the following business process states
and the process count:
v ASYNC_QUEUED
v Active
v Halted
v Halting
v Waiting
v Waiting_On_IO
v Interrupted_Man
v Interrupted_Auto

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Viewing Cache Usage Information
Sterling B2B Integrator uses caches to hold information that is frequently requested
by the system. For each cache, the Cache Usage report displays statistics pertaining
to the count, number of requests, and number of successful hits. To change cache
settings, refer to the information provided in “Performance Tuning Utility” on page
120. You can view the cache usage information to monitor the use of various cache
types.
To view cache usage:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the Application Status area of the System Troubleshooting page, click Cache
Usage.
The Cache Usage report displays the following information for each cache type:
v Cache name – Name of the cache
v Count – Number of objects in the cache
v Requests – Number of times an object was requested from the cache,
irrespective of whether it was found or not.
v Hits – Number of times an object was requested from the cache, and was
found successfully.

Viewing Threads
The Threads pop-up window displays active processes at a thread level.
To view threads in Sterling B2B Integrator:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the Application Status area of the System Troubleshooting page, click
Threads.
The Threads report is displayed.

Viewing the Clean-Up Processes Monitor Details
You can view details about the time that has lapsed since the completion of
different cleanup processes, including archiving, purging, and indexing. This helps
you view, at a single location, information about whether these processes are
running and completing.
To view the Clean-Up Process Monitor details:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, in the System Status area, click Clean-Up
Processes Monitor.
The Clean-Up Processes Monitor Details window displays the status, workflow
(or cleanup process) name, the date and time at which the workflow was last
run, and the workflow ID.
The Status column has the following values:
v Red – More than four times the scheduled interval has elapsed without a
successful launch by the scheduler.
v Yellow – More than three times the scheduled interval has elapsed without a
successful launch by the scheduler.
v Green – Less than three times the scheduled interval has elapsed since a
successful launch by the scheduler.

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v Gray – Either the process has never completed any scheduled instance or has
never been scheduled.
Note: Red or Yellow status may mean that the process is not able to complete
the data cleanup tasks. If this condition continues even after you have taken
steps to resolve the errors, contact IBM Customer Support.

Refreshing a Controller
You can refresh the controllers that are running in your environment using the
System Troubleshooting page.
To refresh a controller:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, click Controllers. The Controllers pop-up
windows appears and displays the state of the controller and name of the
controller.
3.
Click Refresh icons (arrows) next to the Controller you want to refresh.
The controller is refreshed.

Viewing Adapter Information
You can view the adapters by its state that are currently active or stopped, to
verify accuracy or to plan changes as needed.
To
1.
2.
3.

view adapter settings:
From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
In the Troubleshooting page, click Adapters.
In the Adapters page, click the name of the adapter that you want to view.

Enabling an Adapter
You can enable a disabled adapter using the System Troubleshooting page.
To
1.
2.
3.

enable an adapter:
From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
In the Troubleshooting page, click Adapters.
In the Adapters page, next to the adapter that you want to enable, in the
On/Off column, select the check box.

Disabling an Adapter
You can disable an enabled adapter using the System Troubleshooting page.
To
1.
2.
3.

disable an adapter:
From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
In the Troubleshooting page, click Adapters.
In the Adapters page, next to the adapter that you want to disable, in the
On/Off column, select the check box.

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Viewing the Perimeter Server Status
The Perimeter Servers area of the System Troubleshooting page displays the
following information about each of your perimeter servers:
v Name of the cluster node with which the perimeter server is associated
v State of the perimeter server, Enabled or Disabled
v Name of the perimeter server
v Date and time of the last activity the perimeter server performed
Notes:
v If you are working in a clustered environment, the information that is displayed
is determined by the node you select from the Select Node list.
v If you are not using a perimeter server, the perimeter server name is displayed
as local, and the server state is Enabled.
Enabling a Perimeter Server
You can enable a disabled perimeter server using the System Troubleshooting page.
To enable a perimeter server:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the Perimeter Servers area of the System Troubleshooting page, under the
On/Off column, select the check box adjacent to the perimeter server you wan
to enable.
Disabling a Perimeter Server
You can disable an enabled perimeter server using the System Troubleshooting
page.
To disable a perimeter server:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the Perimeter Servers area of the System Troubleshooting page, under the
On/Off column, select the check box adjacent to the perimeter server you want
to disable.

Monitoring Node Status
If you are working in a clustered environment, information is available about all
the nodes in the cluster.
To view node status information:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Cluster > Node
Status. The Node Status page displays the information described in the
following table:

106

Heading

Description

Name

Displays the names of the nodes.

URL

Displays the uniform resource locator of node.

Troubleshooter

Provides a link to the System Troubleshooter.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Heading

Description

Token Node

Indicates whether this is a token node.
v True – Indicates that this is the token node.
v False – Indicates that this is not the token node.

Creation Time

Displays the date and time on which a node was created.

Status

Displays the status of a node.
v Active – Indicates that a node is working and is available for
processing.
v Node went down – Indicates that a node is not working and is
not available for processing.
v Node completely down – Indicates that all the services of a node
have been stopped completely.
v Starting Ops – Indicates that a node is starting up, but is not
available for processing.
Notes:
v If it is indicated that a node has gone down, in the
install_dir/bin directory of the node, run the hardstop.sh (for
UNIX) or the hardstop.cmd (for Windows) script, and then run
the run.sh (for UNIX) or the startWindowsService.cmd (for
Windows) script. This stops all processing, and restarts the node.
v Rerun the script of a node when its status is Node completely
down. You can monitor the status of the restarted node in the
other nodes of the cluster too.

2. To view more details about a node, click the name of the node in the Node
Status page. This displays a details page containing the information described
in the following table:
Heading

Description

Node Name

Displays the name of the node.

URL

Displays the uniform resource locator of node.

Token

Indicates whether this is a token node.
v True – Indicates that this is the token node.
v False – Indicates that this is not the token node.

Creation Time

Displays the date and time on which a node was created.

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Heading

Description

Status

Displays the status of a node.
v Active – Indicates that a node is working and is available for
processing.
v Node went down – Indicates that a node is not working and is
not available for processing.
v Node completely down – Indicates that all the services of a node
have been stopped completely.
v Starting Ops – Indicates that a node is starting up, but is not
available for processing.
Notes:
v If it is indicated that a node has gone down, in the
install_dir/bin directory of the node, run the hardstop.sh (for
UNIX) or the hardstop.cmd (for Windows) script, and then run
the run.sh (for UNIX) or the startWindowsService.cmd (for
Windows) script. This stops all processing, and restarts the node.
v Rerun the script of a node when its status is Node completely
down. You can monitor the status of the restarted node in the
other nodes of the cluster too.

Location

Displays the directory path on which the node is installed.

Role

States the role of the node.

Operation Controller
Host

Displays the name of the server acting as the Operation Controller
Host.

Operation Controller
Port

Displays the port number of the Operation Controller.

Sterling B2B
Integrator Version

Displays the version of Sterling B2B Integrator that is installed in
the node.

JVM Version

Displays the version number for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM™).

JVM Vendor

Shows the vendor who provided the JVM™.

The information described in the following rows is displayed only if queueWatcher=true in
the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file.
Multicast Info

Provides information about the communication mechanism across
nodes. This is used to provide load factor and status information
about a node to all the other nodes in a cluster.
Clustering uses the JGroups communication toolkit, which
supports the following communication protocols, which can be
configured during deployment:
v UDP (User Datagram Protocol) (IP multicast)
v TCP

Engine Queue
Content

Provides a link to the Engine Queue Content page for the node
and queue. This page contains details about active threads, and the
items in the queue that are waiting for a thread.
Use the drop-down menu to select the queue you want to review

Distribution Size

Provides a link to the Distribution Size page. This page contains
the following information:
v Scheduling policy details
v Soft reference cache details
v Queue details (for each queue)

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Monitoring Deprecated Resources
Sterling B2B Integrator includes a tool that helps you monitor resources that will
be deprecated in future releases. The deprecated resources include services,
adaptors, business processes, and maps. Following are the reasons for the
deprecation:
v An existing resource has been replaced by an improved version of the same
resource.
v An existing resource has become obsolete because of changes in the behavior of
Sterling B2B Integrator.
Note: Resources that have been identified for deprecation will continue to be
supported by Sterling B2B Integrator.
Manage the deprecated resources as follows:
1. Identify the deprecated resources using the Sterling B2B Integrator Resource
Deprecation Report.
2. Remove and replace the deprecated resources.

Identifying Deprecated Resources
To
1.
2.
3.

identify the deprecated resources, perform the following tasks:
From the Administration menu, select Operations > Reports.
In the Reports screen, under the Lists section, select the alphabet D.
Click Go!. The Reports page displays all the reports starting with the alphabet
D.
4. For the Deprecation Report, click the source manager icon.
5. Select the format in which you want the report output, for example, PDF,
HTML, or XLS.
6. Click the execute icon.
The Sterling B2B Integrator Resource Deprecation Report is displayed,
containing the columns described in the following table:
Column Heading

Description

Resource Name

The name of the resource that will be deprecated.
Examples:

Resource Type

v

B2B_FTP_CLIENT_ADAPTER

v

DeenvelopeGSType

v

Reconcile997Type

The type of resource that will be deprecated.
Example: service_instance

Date Deprecated

The date on which the resource will be deprecated.
Example: 2/20/13 8:00 AM

Notes

Information about how the deprecated resource will be replaced.
Examples:
v

Replaced by FTP Client Adapter

v

Use the DeenvelopeEDIFACT service

v

Use the DeenvelopeX12 service

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Note: Simply viewing a business process is not sufficient to identify the resources
that are being used in deprecated business resources. Some predefined business
processes determine the resources to be used, only at runtime. For example, some
EDI enveloping and deenveloping business processes determine which map to use
at runtime based on header information.

Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator
A soft stop of Sterling B2B Integrator allows existing processes the opportunity to
complete or be saved for resumption after restart.
This can save you time by eliminating the need to manually resume processes after
a restart. You can run a soft stop from either the UI or from the command line.
A soft stop provides the ability to interactively step through the shutdown process.
It allows the following to happen during a shutdown:
v The transfer of running business processes to other cluster nodes or to the
database for recovery.
v The ability to control the completion of queued business processes.
v The ability to show the status of adapter activity and open sessions.
The individual steps of a shutdown are as follows. The soft stop allows you to
control the execution of the individual steps required for graceful shutdown.
1. A node is marked unavailable so that it does not accept jobs from other nodes.
2. The unavailable node information is broadcast to other cluster nodes so that
each node knows which nodes are in the process of shutting down.
3. Adapters are signaled information about the shutdown so that they can stop
accepting new requests.
4. The resource monitor is shut down.
5. The scheduler is shut down. For clustered installations, schedules are moved
to another live cluster node.
6. All new live business processes are blocked from their queues and are
re-directed to other live cluster nodes or are saved to the database with a
status of HALTED_SOFTSTOP for autorecovery.
7. The business process drain policy and completion policy are used to
redistribute business processes to other live cluster nodes or save them to the
database with a status of HALTED_SOFTSTOP for autorecovery if there is no
other live node or if it is a standalone installation.
v The completion policy determines if you finish the whole business process;
the execution cycle of the business process; or the step of the business
process.
v The drain policy determines what you need to do with the business
processes in the business process queue (drain all business processes; drain
not started business processes; drain not started business processes that
have no open servers session against adapters; or drain no business
processes).
8. The business processes remaining on the queue are allowed to complete.
9. The system waits for all business processes to be completed.
10. The user can watch the adapter activity/sessions and manually control when
to shut down adapters. Some adapters will not stop immediately. These
adapters will defer shutdown to allow existing transfers to complete. The
status of these adapters can be seen via the ! icon in the adapter list.

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Note: You can also shut down adapters using the graceful adapter shutdown
tool. For more information, see Graceful Adapter Shutdown.
11. The JVM is exited.
Note: When you run the interactive soft stop process, it should continue until
the JVM is exited. You should not try to undo any of the soft stop actions to
bring back the system.
Important: The soft stop only stops the noapp and ops JVMs. To stop the
remaining Sterling B2B Integrator JVMs and stop the system processing, you
must manually run a hard stop after the soft stop is complete.
12. After a cluster node restarts, processes that are saved in the database as
HALTED_SOFTSTOP are started/resumed automatically.

Completing a Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the
System Troubleshooter
You can perform a soft stop from the system troubleshooter in the UI.

About this task
To perform this procedure from the command line, see “Completing a Soft Stop of
Sterling B2B Integrator from the Command Line” on page 115.
Important: A soft stop of Sterling B2B Integrator using the system troubleshooter
is not subject to timeout values and the soft stop will run as long as necessary for
all current process to finish processing.
To complete a soft stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the system troubleshooter:

Procedure
1. Log in to the system troubleshooter (Operations > System > Troubleshooter).
2. If running a cluster, select a node to shut down at the Select Node field. If you
need to shut down the container node along with the ASI node, you must first
shut down the container node and then the ASI node, because shutting down
the ASI node first will disable the soft stop UI for the container node.
In a clustered installation, you also can soft stop the container node by going to
the Troubleshooter UI of the other live ASI node in the cluster and soft
stopping the container node from there.
3. Click Soft Stop.
The soft stop page opens in a new popup window.

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4. On the soft stop page, perform the following actions in the lettered sequence.
When you run the interactive soft stop process, it should continue until the
JVM is stopped. You should not try to undo any of the soft stop actions to
bring back the system.

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a. Mark Node Unavailable In cluster installations, this is used to prevent
business processes from coming from other nodes to the node that is
marked unavailable.
b. Notify Adapters This is used to notify all adapters that the server is
shutting down so that adapters will stop taking new external requests.
Note: This does not stop the adapters, which happens at the Stop All
Adapters step later in this process.
For the container node, you will see the adapter session status with two
lists:
v A list of the business processes with a client adapter in session.
v A list of the running and queued business processes invoked by server
adapters.
For the ASI node, the list of business processes with a client adapter session
will show after you click the button Execute BPs On Queues. If a business
process is a sub business process of the business process with a client
adapter session, it will not inherit the client adapter session information
from its parent, so it will not show up in the list. It is recommended that
you use in-line invoking to invoke a sync BP.
The Transport Sessions section lists the business processes with active
transport sessions. Those business processes are invoked by the adapters on
the node that is being shut down. When the business process finishes, it
will disappear from the list.

c. Stop Resource Monitor This is used to stop the resource monitor.
d. Stop Scheduler This is used to stop the scheduler in both clustered and
standalone installations. In a clustered installation, this is used to move
schedules to another live cluster node. A table lists the active schedules for
the node.
e. Block Queues
This is used to stop the execution of business processes on a queue and not
let nodes send any new business processes to it.
When you block a queue, if the business process completion policy is Finish
Current Step, the executing business process will exit after it finishes the
current step.
If the policy is Finish Current Execution Cycle, the executing business
process will exit after it finishes the current execution cycle.
If the policy is Finish Business Process (the default value), the executing
business process will not exit until it finishes.
Note: The Finish Current Step option does not stop a business process that
is in the middle of an open communication session. Instead, the softstop
waits until the session is terminated. Following termination, the business
process will be marked HALTED_SOFTSTOP or move to another available
node.
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For example, a business process starts a Sterling Connect:Direct Begin
Session service, and then a sleep service is active for 5 minutes. During that
time, a softstop is triggered with the Finish Current Step completion policy.
The BP will not be marked HALTED_SOFTSTOP or move to another node
until the Sterling Connect:Direct End Session service is executed. This
allows BP sessions to complete successfully without interruption.
f. Drain Queues
This is used to distribute the business processes in the queue to other live
nodes (cluster installations only) or save them to the database for recovery
(cluster and noncluster installations).
If the drain policy is Drain ALL BPs, then both started and unstarted
business processes are distributed or saved. If it is Drain Not Started BPs
(the default value), then just unstarted business processes are distributed or
saved. If it is Drain No BPs, then no business processes are distributed or
saved. If it is Drain Not Started BPs and No Open Session BPs, then the
business processes that are unstarted and with no open server session are
distributed or saved. Processes that are distributed to other queues use the
same queue number.
Note: If the business process completion policy in the Block Queues step is
Finish Business Process (the default value), then the specified drain policy
will be honored. If the business process completion policy is Finish Current
Step or Finish Current Execution Cycle, then the drain policy will be Drain
ALL BPs.
The following graphic shows an example of the results of selecting the
Drain Not Started BPs option.

g. Execute BPs On Queues This is used to allow the business processes on the
queue to complete. The following graphic shows an example of this action.
v The BPs Execution Summary section shows the business process activity
for all queues.
v In the BPs In Execution section, you can do the following:
– Click Show Service/Adapter Activity Status to show all
service/adapter activity information. You can access the same
information from the Administration UI by clicking Business Process
> Monitor > Current Activities.
– Click Show business process Execution Thread Status to show all
threads executing business processes. You can access the same
information from the Administration UI by clicking Operations >
Thread Monitor.
If there are business processes executing that you no longer want to
wait for, they can be terminated via the Show business process
Execution Thread Status link, using the Stop or Interrupt buttons.

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v The BPs In Queue section gives detailed information about business
process activity. If there are business processes remaining in the queue
that you no longer want to wait for, they can be drained by clicking the
Force Drain BPs link that appears in the BPs In Queue section when
business processes are in the queue.
v The Client Sessions section lists business processes that have an open
client session with adapters. You need to wait for those business
processes to complete before you proceed to the next step to stop all
adapters.

h. Stop All Adapters
This is used to shut down all adapters until you reach a timeout (in
seconds) that is specified in the shutdown.timeout_for_adapters property in
the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in property file. If the
timeout value is zero, the adapters will not shut down gracefully.
Note: You can also shut down adapters using the graceful adapter
shutdown tool. For more information, see Graceful Adapter Shutdown.
i. Stop JVM This is used to stop the Java Virtual Machine of a node in both
clustered and standalone installations.
Important: The soft stop only stops the noapp and ops JVMs. To stop the
remaining Sterling B2B Integrator JVMs and stop the system processing, you
must manually run a hard stop after the soft stop is complete.

What to do next
Important: A soft stop does not stop all JVMs and system processing. To fully
stop the system, you must perform a hard stop after the soft stop is complete. For
instructions, see “Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 120.

Completing a Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the
Command Line
Use the softstop command to stop Sterling B2B Integrator gracefully. Unfinished
jobs will be distributed to other nodes or saved to the database to automatically
resume after startup.

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About this task
For individual steps of the graceful soft stop, refer to the documentation on the
opscmd command.
Important: The individual steps of a soft stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the
command line are subject to timeout values, stored in the shutdown.* properties of
the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in property file.

Procedure
1. In the installation directory of Sterling B2B Integrator, navigate to the bin
subdirectory.
2. Run the softstop.sh (UNIX) or softstop.cmd (Windows) command with the
following options:
Note: The default values for many of these options are stored in the
shutdown.* properties of the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in
property file.
v node_name
The cluster node name, like node1 or node2.
v all
Shuts down the whole cluster.
v allLocalNodes
Shuts down all of the local nodes of an application instance, including
container nodes.
Note: If you shut down all of the nodes and the ActiveMQ process is still
running, you need to run hardstop.sh to kill it. This applies to shutting
down the whole cluster.
v [-tq timeout_for_queues]
Timeout value in seconds for all business processes on the queue to finish.
v [-ta timeout_for_adapters]
Timeout value for stopping all adapters.
Note: You can also shut down adapters using the graceful adapter shutdown
tool. For more information, see Graceful Adapter Shutdown.
v [-dp bp_drain_policy]
– 1 - Distribute all business processes on the queue to other nodes or save
them to the database.
– 2 - Distribute all not-started business processes on the queue to other
nodes or save them to the database.
– 3 - Let all the business processes on the queue be processed until a
timeout for the shutdown.
– 4 - Distribute all business processes on the queue, that have not started
and have no open sessions against adapters, to other nodes or save them
to the database.
v [-cp bp_completion_policy]
If bp_completion_policy is 1 or 2, then bp_drain_policy is set to 1.
– 1 - Complete the current business process step.
– 2 - Complete the current business process execution cycle.

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– 3 - Complete the current business process.

What to do next
Important: A soft stop does not stop all JVMs and system processing. To fully
stop the system, you must perform a hard stop after the soft stop is complete. For
instructions, see “Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 120.

Soft Stop opscmd Commands
You can use opscmd commands to run commands from the command line for each
step of the soft stop process.
The following opscmd commands allow you to run commands from the command
line for each step of the soft stop process. The chart shows the UNIX command.
For Windows, use the opscmd.cmd command with the same parameters.
Action

Command

Marking a node
unavailable

opscmd.sh -cMarkNodeUnavailable -pname=node_name

Marking a node
available

opscmd.sh -cMarkNodeAvailable -pname=node_name

Block a queue or all
queues

opscmd.sh -cBlockQueue -pname=node_name -pid={queue_id | all}
[ -pbpCompletionPolicy={1 | 2 | 3} ]
queue_id can be 1-9 or (for all queues).

Unblock a queue or
all queues

opscmd.sh -cUnblockQueue -pname=node_name -pid={queue_id |
all}

Drain a queue or all
queues

opscmd.sh -cDrainQueue -pname=node_name -pid={queue_id | all}
[-pbpDrainPolicy={1 | 2 | 3 | 4}]
Note: If the business process completion policy is the default value
of Finish Business Process (pbpCompletionPolicy=1), then the
specified drain policy will be honored. If the business process
completion policy is Finish Current Step (pbpCompletionPolicy=2)
or Finish Current Execution Cycle (pbpCompletionPolicy=3), then
the drain policy will be Drain ALL BPs.
Note: This is an asynchronous command. Use the
cGetDrainQueueStatus command to see the status of the queue
draining.

See the status of the
queue draining

opscmd.sh -cGetDrainQueueStatus -pname=node_name
-pid={queue_id | all}

Move Schedules to
another node and
stop the scheduler

opscmd.sh -cStopScheduler -pname=node_name
[-pFailoverNodeName=node_name]
Note: If the failover node is not specified, the system will
automatically pick one for you, if possible.

Signal adapters for
softstop

opscmd.sh -cPrepareStopAllAdapters -pname=node_name

Stop all adapters
Note: You can also
shut down adapters
using the graceful
adapter shutdown
tool. For more
information, see
Graceful Adapter
Shutdown.

opscmd.sh -cStopAllAdapters -pname=node_name
[-pTimeoutForAdapters=time_out_in_seconds]

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Action

Command

List all active
adapters.

opscmd.sh -cListActiveAdapters -pname=node_name
If the adapter type is stateless, this command will list only one
instance of the adapter, even though it may have many
configurations for each node. If the adapter type is stateless, only
one instance (configuration) is applicable for each service type.
If the adapter type is stateful, then all the active instances are listed
for this command for each adapter.

Stop resource monitor opscmd.sh -cStopResourceMonitor -pname=node_name
List all active business
processes invoked by
server adapters that
have not sent the
business process
result back yet

opscmd.sh -cGETTRANSPORTSESSIONBPS [-pname=node_name]
-pid={queue_id | all} -padapterNodeName=adapter_node_name

List all business
processes that have
not closed sessions
with client adapters
on the node that is
being shut down.

opscmd.sh -cGETCLIENTSESSIONBPS [-pname=node_name]
-padapterNodeName=adapter_node_name

Execute business
processes on a queue
or on all queues.

opscmd.sh -cExecuteBPsOnQueue -pname=node_name -pid={queue_id
| all} [-ptimeoutForQueues=timeout_out_in_seconds]
Note: This is an asynchronous command. Use the
cGetExecuteBPsOnQueueStatus command to see the status of BP
execution.

See the status of the
business process
queues execution.

opscmd.sh -cGetExecuteBPsOnQueueStatus -pname=node_name
-pid={queue_id | all}

Stop the JVM of a
node

opscmd.sh -cSTOPJVM -pname=node_name

Shut down a node or
a whole cluster

opscmd.sh -cSHUTDOWN [-pname=node_name]
[-pBPCompletionPolicy={1 | 2 | 3}] [-pBPDrainPolicy={1 | 2 |
3 | 4}] [-pTimeoutForQueues=time_out_in_seconds]
[-pTimeoutForAdapters=time_out_in_seconds]
Note: If a node is not specified, the whole cluster is shut down.
Note: If the optional parameter BPCompletionPolicy,
BPDrainPolicy, TimeoutForQueues, or TimeoutForAdapters is not
specified, the default property value will be used from the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in file.

Where adapter_node_name is the name of the node that is being
shut down. If -pname is not specified, all ASI nodes will be
scanned. The list of business processes returned by this command
have a client session with the adapters on the node.

Where adapter_node_name is the name of the node that is being
shut down. If -pname is not specified, all ASI nodes will be
scanned.

Important: A soft stop does not stop all JVMs and system processing. To fully
stop the system, you must perform a hard stop after the soft stop is complete. For
instructions, see “Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator” on page 120.

Graceful Adapter Shutdown
Sterling B2B Integrator supports clean adapter shutdown. That is, when stop
adapter is issued, the system allows the adapter to clean up its own session before
it gets removed from the system.
Only a few stateful adapters support this feature, for example, swiftAdapter.

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The progress of shutting down the adapter can be viewed via UI pages. The
progress information is available in the following pages:
v In the System Troubleshooting page:
– Soft Stop link > Stop All Adapters section
– Adapters link
– Clicking on the adapter name
v In the Services Configuration page:
– List and Search results
– Clicking on the adapter name

Graceful Adapter Shutdown through the User Interface
The following steps can be performed in both the service configuration and
adapters pages.
v To get to the adapter page, click Operations > System > Troubleshooter >
Adapters.
v To get to the service configuration page, click Deployment > Services >
Configuration, and then search for the adapter.
List the running stateful adapters by clicking the Adapter link.
1. Shut down an adapter by de-selecting the checkbox under the Enable column.
The following message appears in the Advanced State column:
Stopping

2. Click on the icon in the Advanced State column.
A popup window appears with two sections:
v System Audit Information
This shows the status changes along with a timestamp of the whole
shutdown process.
v Adapter Advanced State Information
When the adapter finishes its current session, and shutdown is completed,
the following message appears:
Adapter adapter_name is currently unavailable

Graceful Adapter Shutdown through the Command Line
1. Navigate to the bin subdirectory of your installation directory.
2. Shut down the adapter by running the command:
opscmd.sh -cSTOPADAPTER -nnode1 -pid=adapter_name
3. Check on the status of the shutdown by running the command:
opscmd.sh -cGETADAPTERADVSTATE -nnode1 -pid=adapter_name Run this
command until the status message changes from Adapter is preparing to
shutdown to Adapter adapter_name is currently unavailable.
4. Confirm that the adapter has been shut down by running the command:
opscmd.sh -cGETADAPTERADVSTATE -nnode1 -pid=adapter_name
The following message should appear:
Adapter adapter_name is currently unavailable
The adapter session is finished and shutdown is complete.

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Hard Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator
A hard stop of Sterling B2B Integrator immediately stops the system without
waiting for business processes to finish.

About this task
Hard stops may result in loss of data in unfinished processes.
To perform a hard stop:

Procedure
1. Navigate to /install_dir/install/bin.
2. Enter ./hardstop.sh (UNIX) or hardstop.cmd (Windows).
3. Enter your passphrase.

Performance Tuning
Sterling B2B Integrator provides a utility to help with performance tuning. You can
also perform manual performance tuning.

Performance Tuning Utility
The performance tuning utility provided with Sterling B2B Integrator helps
calculate the tuning parameter values and configure Sterling B2B Integrator for
you.
Using the Performance Tuning utility, you can tune and configure Sterling B2B
Integrator according to your business requirements. You can change the queue
settings, memory allocations, JVM settings, and pool settings. However, note that
you cannot use the utility to tune your business processes. For more information
about tuning business processes, refer to the Business Process Modeling Guide.
In the future, if you apply patches to Sterling B2B Integrator, it will not overwrite
the performance tuning changes made by the Performance Tuning utility.
Note: The suggested performance configuration settings are based on standard
calculations. You should test the performance configuration settings in a test
environment with appropriate load and then apply the settings in the production
environment.
There are performance trade-offs that may occur based on your performance
configuration settings. However, you can decide to increase or decrease the values
based on your specific requirements. Following is a list of such scenarios that may
occur, but not limited to:
v If you increase memory for server nodes and container nodes, the system will
allocate maximum memory for the JVMs thereby reducing the amount of
memory allocated to other applications. It may even lead to JVMs holding excess
amount of memory, which could have been used by other applications.
v If you increase cache settings, it may increase the speed of disk read operations,
but might affect other resources waiting for memory.
v If you increase the values in queue settings, business processes may be executed
swiftly, but it might affect the read or write operations to the database

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v

If you increase the threads, the number of business processes that can run
concurrently may increase, but it might lead to performance degradation as it
might consume excess memory.

This section provides information about viewing, restoring, and editing
performance configuration settings through performance tuning utility.

View and Restore Performance Configuration Settings
You can view current performance configuration settings to verify if a particular
performance configuration setting is correct and restore previous performance
configuration settings.

View Performance Configuration Settings
You can view the current performance configuration settings to verify if they are
correct. The Performance Tuning page displays all settings that are currently set
and suggested changes. The suggested changes displayed in this page are also
displayed if you are tuning the performance using the performance tuning utility.
For more information about using the performance tuning utility, refer to the topic
“Edit Performance Configuration Settings” on page 123.
To view your performance configuration settings:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Tuning.
2. In the Performance Tuning page, under View, next to View Performance
Configuration, click Go!.
3. In the Performance Settings page, review the performance configuration
settings, which include information on:
v 1) System
v 2) JVM Parameters for Server
v 3) JVM Parameters Container Nodes
v 4) BP Queue
v 5) Cache
v 6) Purge Settings
v 7) Database Connection Pool
v 8) Queue Settings
v 9) Memory
4. Click Return to return to the Performance Tuning page.

Restore Performance Configuration Settings
You can manually restore performance configuration settings to return Sterling B2B
Integrator to the previous performance state. In the Restore Tuning page, the
properties that will change if you restore the previous performance configuration
settings are displayed in blue color text and bold format.
The User ID, along with the user name, and the time when the last performance
configuration settings were last edited are displayed under the Restore tab in
Performance Tuning page.

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You can restore your performance configuration settings only once. If you try
restoring the performance settings more than once, there will be no changes in the
settings. You can restore the performance configuration settings under the
following conditions, but not limited to:
v Previous performance setting was more efficient than the current setting.
v When you are testing performance by setting optimum values, restoring to the
previous setting is convenient.
v Testing under varying load conditions to benchmark performance configuration
settings.
To restore your performance configuration settings:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Tuning.
2. In the Performance Tuning page, under Restore, next to View/Restore Previous
Configuration, click Go!.
3. On clicking Go, the Performance Tuning UI lock-enabled message is displayed:
Performance Tuning UI lock enabled. Lock will be released only by
clicking on Cancel or Finish in the wizard.
Click OK. If the lock is not released or if you close the page without clicking
Cancel or Finish, you must use the Lock Manager function to release the lock.
4. In the Restore Tuning Configuration page that is displayed, the properties that
will change if you restore the previous performance configuration settings are
displayed in blue color text and bold format. Review the performance
configuration settings and perform one of the following tasks:
v To abandon restoring the previous performance configuration settings, click
Cancel.
v To restore the previous performance configuration settings, click Finish. The
Restore Tuning Properties page appears after the restoration is complete. The
following message appears: The system update completed successfully.
If you restore the previous configuration settings, click Return to return to
the Performance Tuning page.
5. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
6. From the System Troubleshooting page, click Soft Stop. This runs the softstop
script, allowing all active business processes to complete on a node before
stopping the system. The script is run through a series of interactive steps in
the UI. For more information about the softstop process, refer to “Completing a
Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the System Troubleshooter” on page
111.
7. From the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (Windows) setupfiles.cmd
The performance configuration changes populate the initial setup files that are
used during startup.
8. From the install_dir/bin directory, start Sterling B2B Integrator by running one
of the following commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) run.sh
v (Windows) startWindowsService.cmd
Sterling B2B Integrator starts and the previous performance configuration
settings are applied. The properties in the tuning.properties file will have the
same values as the corresponding properties in the

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tuningPreviousSetting.properties file. In addition, the
tuningPreviousSetting.properties file will have these properties:
v jdbcService.[database]UIPool.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]UIPool.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]UIPool.maxsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_NoTrans.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_NoTrans.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_NoTrans.maxsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_local.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_local.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_local.maxsize
v jdbcService.[database]ArchivePool.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]ArchivePool.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]ArchivePool.maxsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_Select.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_Select.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool_Select.maxsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool.buffersize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool.initsize
v jdbcService.[database]Pool.maxsize

Edit Performance Configuration Settings
You can edit performance configuration settings using a tuning utility.
To reach the level of performance you require, you may have to allocate the
following items in higher or lower quantity to specific components of Sterling B2B
Integrator:
v System memory
v JVM parameters for server
v JVM parameters for container nodes
v BP Queue
v Cache
v Purge settings
v Database connection pools
v Queue settings
You can use the Performance Tuning Utility to edit the performance configuration
using the settings calculated by the system. Alternatively, if you have specific
requirements, you can edit the existing performance configuration without using
the settings calculated by the system.
The settings modified using the performance tuning utility are stored in the
tuning.properties file, which updates other properties files with the modified
values. However, if you change the settings in other properties files, they are not
updated in the tuning.properties file. If you are manually changing the
performance configuration settings, ensure that you make the changes only in the
tuning.properties file.

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If you are running in a cluster environment, you should apply performance
configuration settings for each node separately by running the performance tuning
utility in all the nodes.
After editing the tuning.properties file, you need to do the following to pick up
the new property values:
1. In the tuningFormulas.properties file, change the TUNING_PROPS_UPDATED
property to TRUE.
2. Run the setupfiles.sh or setupfiles.cmd command.
3. Run the run.sh or startWindowsService.cmd command.
To edit your performance configuration:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Tuning.
2. In the Performance Tuning page, under Edit, next to Edit Performance
Configuration, click Go!.
3. On clicking Go!, the Performance Tuning UI lock-enabled message is
displayed:
Performance Tuning UI lock enabled. Lock will be released only by
clicking on Cancel or Finish in the wizard.
4. Click OK. If the lock is not released or if you close the page without clicking
Cancel or Finish, you must use the Lock Manager function to release the lock.
5. In the System page that is displayed, decide whether you want to use the
current settings.
v If yes, click Next.
v If no, enter information in the following fields and click Next.
Tuning Formula or Default
Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if
there is no tuning formula)

Physical memory (MB) allocated to Platform

Not applicable

Amount of memory allocated for use in processing
operations.
It is recommended that you use a minimum value of
512-1024 MB for this field, based on your system. Although
there is no minimum value for this field, a value lower
than the recommended setting could harm performance.
tuning.properties Property:
MEMORY

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Tuning Formula or Default
Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if
there is no tuning formula)

Number of Server Nodes

Not applicable

The number of server nodes installed.
CAUTION:
This cannot be changed from the default value of 1,
regardless of the number of nodes in the installation.
Note: The Number of Server Nodes field is not displayed
in iSeries environment.
tuning.properties Property:
NUM_ASI_NODES
Number of Container Nodes

Not applicable

The number of container nodes installed.
Ensure that you enter the correct number of container
nodes installed. If you change the number of container
nodes, the performance tuning utility will not install
additional container nodes. The performance tuning utility
will suggest changes to the number of nodes entered in this
field instead of the actual number of nodes installed, which
if accepted will lead to unnecessary resource allocation.
If you add a container to the system after the initial
installation, you will have to ensure that the proper amount
of memory has been allocated to the container nodes, using
the Physical Memory Allocated to Container (MB) field on
the JVM Parameters for Container Nodes page.
Note: Number of Container Nodes field is not displayed in
iSeries environment.
tuning.properties Property:
NUM_CONTAINER_NODE
Allocate memory for BI Listeners

Default value: False

Select True from the drop-down list if you want to allocate
memory for BI listeners from the physical memory
allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
By default, 256 MB memory is allocated for BI listeners.
If you select False from the drop-down list, the memory for
BI listeners will not be allocated from the physical memory
allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator which may lead to
improper memory management.
tuning.properties Property:
IS_DEDUCT_MEM_BI

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Tuning Formula or Default
Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if
there is no tuning formula)

Allocate memory for Active MQ

Default value: False

Select True from the drop-down list if you want to allocate
memory for Active MQ messaging service from the
physical memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
By default, 512 MB memory is allocated for the Active MQ
messaging service.
If you select False from the drop-down list, the memory for
Active MQ messaging service will not be allocated from the
physical memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator, which
may lead to improper memory management.
tuning.properties Property:
IS_DEDUCT_MEM_ACTIVEMQ
Allocate memory for SAP Adapter

Default value: False

Select True from the drop-down list if you want to allocate
memory for the SAP Adapter from the physical memory
allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
By default, 256 MB memory is allocated for the SAP
Adapter.
If you select False from the drop-down list, memory for the
SAP Adapter will not be allocated from the physical
memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator, which may
lead to improper memory management.
tuning.properties Property:
IS_DEDUCT_MEM_SAPADAPTER
Allocate memory for Command Line Adapter
Select True from the drop-down list if you want to allocate
memory for Command Line Adapter from the physical
memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
By default, 128 MB memory is allocated for the Command
Line Adapter.
If you select False from the drop-down list, the memory for
Command Line Adapter will not be allocated from the
physical memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator, which
may lead to improper memory management.
tuning.properties Property:
IS_DEDUCT_MEM_CLADAPTER

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Default value: False

Tuning Formula or Default
Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if
there is no tuning formula)

Memory will be allocated for Ops Server

Not applicable

The memory will be automatically allocated to the ops
server. You cannot edit the memory allocated to the ops
server.
By default, 128 MB memory is allocated for the ops server.
tuning.properties Property:
MEMORY_OPS

Click Next.
6. In the JVM Parameters for Server page that is displayed, decide whether you
want to use the current settings or the suggested settings.
Note: Click Fill Current displayed in all pages to retain the current settings.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields:

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Physical Memory Allocated to Server (MB)

Default value (MB): 1536

Amount of physical memory allocated to
each server node.
Note: Ensure that the physical memory
allocated to server nodes, container nodes,
and maximum permanent generation size
for both server nodes and container nodes
should not exceed the physical memory
allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.

A minimum of 1536 MB is allocated to each
server node out of the total physical
memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.

tuning.properties Property:
MEMORY_ASI

However, if there is additional physical
memory available after allocating minimum
memory to all the server nodes and the
container nodes, the memory is split
between server nodes and container nodes.
By default, the server nodes are allocated
with three-fourths out of the available
memory and the container nodes are
allocated with one-fourths out of the
available memory. The additional memory is
calculated using the following formula:
((((Physical memory allocated to Platform (Number of server nodes * Minimum
memory allocated to the server nodes)) (Number of server nodes * Maximum
permanent generation size allocated to
server nodes)) - (Number of container nodes
* Maximum permanent generation size
allocated to container nodes)) – Memory
allocated to the ops server)
For example, let us consider that two server
nodes and one container node is present.
After allocating memory to the two server
nodes and one container node, 200 MB
additional memory is available, each server
node is allocated 75 MB memory and the
container node is allocated 50 MB memory.
You can also change the additional memory
allocation ratio. The additional memory
allocation ratio is calculated using the
following formula:
(((Additional memory available - Physical
memory allocated to container nodes) *
0.75)/Number of server nodes)

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Initial Heap Size (MB)
Controls the initial size of a Java heap
allocated to each server JVM.
If this is tuned correctly, it can reduce the
overhead associated with garbage collection
by improving the server response time and
throughput.
If you see a large number of minor garbage
collections, the default value set to this
parameter might be too low. Try increasing
it.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HP-UX.INIT_HEAP)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX-64.INIT_HEAP)
v IBM AIX 32-bit: (AIX.INIT_HEAP)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX-64.INIT_HEAP)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit: (SunOS.INIT_HEAP)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS-64.INIT_HEAP)
v Linux 32-bit: (Linux.INIT_HEAP)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux-64.INIT_HEAP)
v Windows 32-bit: (Windows.INIT_HEAP)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.INIT_HEAP)
v IBM iSeries OS/400®: (OS400.INIT_HEAP)
v IBM OS/390®: (OS390.INIT_HEAP)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].INIT_HEAP

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the formulae are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 3068 MB, it
allocates 3068 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 3068 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v HP-UX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3068,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(0.5 * Physical memory allocated to server
node)
v IBM AIX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3328,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <=
1024, 512, round(0.5 * MEMORY_ASI)))
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 3900 MB, it
allocates 3900 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 3900 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v Sun Solaris 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3900,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
v Linux 32-bi:
(0.5 * Physical memory allocated to server
node)
v Linux 64-bit:
=if (MEMORY_ASI >= 2036,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <=
1024, 512, round(0.5 * MEMORY_ASI)))
v Windows 32-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 1536, 768, if
(MEMORY_ASI <= 1024, 512, round(0.5 *
MEMORY_ASI)))
v Windows 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 1536,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <=
1024, 512, round(0.5 * MEMORY_ASI)))
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 2048 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v IBM OS/390:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 2048 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Maximum Heap Size (MB)
Controls the maximum size of a Java heap
allocated to each server JVM.
If this parameter is tuned correctly, it can:
v Reduce the overhead associated with the
garbage collection and the risk of
encountering an Out-Of-Memory (OOM)
condition
v Improve the server response time and
throughput
If you see a large number of garbage
collections, try increasing the value. Based
on the Operation System (OS), and whether
it is a 32-bit JVM or 64-bit JVM, and the
available memory, the maximum value that
you can go up to will change.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HP-UX.MAX_HEAP)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX-64.MAX_HEAP)
v IBM AIX 32-bit: (AIX.MAX_HEAP)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX-64.MAX_HEAP)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit: (SunOS.MAX_HEAP)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.MAX_HEAP)

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the formulae are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 3068 MB, it
allocates 3068 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 3068 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v HP-UX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3068,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 3328 MB, it
allocates 3328 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 3328 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v IBM AIX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3328,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))

v Linux 32-bit: (Linux.MAX_HEAP)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux-64.MAX_HEAP)
v Windows 32-bit: (Windows.MAX_HEAP)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.MAX_HEAP)
v IBM iSeries OS/400: (OS400.MAX_HEAP)
v IBM OS/390: (OS390.MAX_HEAP)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].MAX_HEAP

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131

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 3900 MB, it
allocates 3900 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB.
v Sun Solaris 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 3900,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, can set a maximum heap limit of 4
GB for MEMORY_ASI))
v Linux 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 2036 MB, it
allocates 2036 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 2036 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v Linux 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 2036,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))
v Windows 32-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 1280, 1280, if
(MEMORY_ASI <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_ASI))
v Windows 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_ASI >= 1536,
MEMORY_ASI, if (MEMORY_ASI <= 512,
512, MEMORY_ASI))
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 2048 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.
v IBM OS/390:
If memory allocated to the server node is
greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates 512 MB. If
the memory allocated is greater than 512
MB, but lesser than 2048 MB, it allocates
the memory allocated to each server node.

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Initial Size of New (Nursery) Heap (MB)

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
(0.33333 * Initial size of heap memory
allocated to the server node)

Controls the initial size of the new heap area
allocated to each server JVM.
AIX 64-bit: AIX-64.INIT_AGE=256
It is used with the throughput/parallel
collector instead of the JVM built-in tuning
the parameter provides.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HP-UX.INIT_AGE)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX-64.INIT_AGE)
v IBM AIX 32-bit: (AIX.INIT_AGE)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX-64.INIT_AGE)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit: (SunOS.INIT_AGE)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS-64.INIT_AGE)
v Linux 32-bit: (Linux.INIT_AGE)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux-64.INIT_AGE)

Linux 64-bit: Linux-64.INIT_AGE=256
Windows 32-bit:
Windows.INIT_AGE=round(0.33333 *
Windows.INIT_HEAP)
HP 64-bit: HP-UX64.INIT_AGE=round(0.33333 *
HP-UX-64.INIT_HEAP)
Sun 64--bit: SunOS64.INIT_AGE=round(0.33333 *
SunOS-64.INIT_HEAP)
Windows 64-bit: Windows64.INIT_AGE=round(0.33333 *
Windows-64.INIT_HEAP)

v Windows 32-bit: (Windows.INIT_AGE)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows-64.INIT_AGE)
v IBM iSeries OS/400: (OS400.INIT_AGE)
v IBM OS/390: (OS390.INIT_AGE)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].INIT_AGE

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Maximum Size of New (Nursery) Heap
(MB)

(0.5 * Maximum size of heap memory
allocated to the server node)

Controls the maximum size of the new heap AIX 64-bit: AIX-64.MAX_AGE=512
area allocated to each server JVM.
Linux 64-bit: Linux-64.MAX_AGE=512
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in Windows 32-bit:
Windows.MAX_AGE=round(0.33333 *
the following list:
Windows.MAX_HEAP)
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HP-UX.MAX_AGE)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX-64.MAX_AGE)
v IBM AIX 32-bit: (AIX.MAX_AGE)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX-64.MAX_AGE)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit: (SunOS.MAX_AGE)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS-64.MAX_AGE)
v Linux 32-bit: (Linux.MAX_AGE)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux-64.MAX_AGE)
v Windows 32-bit: (Windows.MAX_AGE)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows-64.MAX_AGE)
v IBM iSeries OS/400: (OS400.MAX_AGE)
v IBM OS/390: (OS390.MAX_AGE)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].MAX_AGE

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HP 64-bit: HP-UX64.MAX_AGE=round(0.33333 *
HP-UX-64.MAX_HEAP)
Sun 64-bit: SunOS64.MAX_AGE=round(0.33333 *
SunOS-64.MAX_HEAP)
Windows 64-bit: Windows64.MAX_AGE=round(0.33333 *
Windows-64.MAX_HEAP)

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Maximum Permanent Generation Size
(MB)
Controls the maximum size of the
permanent generation heap allocated to the
server JVM. It stores all the class code and
class-like data.
The value of the parameter should be large
enough to fit all the classes that are
concurrently loaded. Sometimes, it is
difficult to determine the actual value of this
parameter because generally, this region is
smaller and expands slowly, and the
utilization is commonly observed at 99-100
percent of its current capacity. If you have
not configured this region correctly, the JVM
might fail with the error.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, Sterling B2B Integrator allocates
the following values (in MB):
v HP-UX (32-bit and 64-bit): 512
v IBM AIX (32-bit and 64-bit): 384
v Sun Solaris (32-bit and 64-bit): 384
v Linux (32-bit and 64-bit): 384
v Windows 32-bit: 256
v Windows 64-bit: 384
v IBM iSeries OS/400: 384
v IBM OS/390: 384

Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HP-UX.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX64.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v IBM AIX 32-bit: (AIX.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX64.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Linux 32-bit: (Linux.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux-64.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Windows 32-bit:
(Windows.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
v IBM OS/390: (OS390.MAX_PERM_SIZE)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].MAX_PERM_SIZE

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135

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Thread Stack Size (KB)
Controls the maximum Java stack size for
any thread.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture (in KB):
v HP-UX 32-bit: 384
v HP-UX 64-bit: 512

tuning.properties Property:

v IBM AIX (32-bit and 64-bit): 256

[operating system].STATIC_STACK

v Sun Solaris (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v Linux (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v IBM iSeries OS/400 (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v IBM OS/390 (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v Windows (32-bit and 64-bit): 256

Enable Heap Dump on Out of Memory
Select True from the drop-down list if you
want to generate a heapdump when the
server JVM encounters an out of memory
error.
Heapdumps are useful for troubleshooting
memory-related issues since they contain all
the live objects used by the Java application.
With this information, the objects that are
using large amounts of memory can be
identified. The contents of a heapdump can
also help a user understand why objects
cannot be freed by the Garbage Collector.
By default, the dump file is generated from
where the JVM was started (the
install_dir/bin directory).
If you select False from the drop-down list,
heapdumps are not generated when the
server JVM encounters an out of memory
error.
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_HEAP_DUMP_OOB

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Default value: True

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Enable Heap Dump on Sigquit/Ctrl-break

Default value: True

Note: This field is not supported in the 1.6
version of the Sun JDK. It will display if you
are using the IBM JDK.Select True from the
drop-down list if you want to request a
heapdump for the server JVM using Sigquit
command or pressing Ctrl+Break for server
JVM.
By default, the dump file is generated from
where the JVM was started (the
install_dir/bin directory).
If you select False from the drop-down list,
heapdumps are not generated if you run
Sigquit command or press Ctrl+Break.
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_HEAP_DUMP_SGTQCRTLBRK
Enable VerboseGC

Default value: False

Select True from the drop-down list if you
want to generate verbose garbage collection
data for server JVM.
JVM Verbose garbage collection (GC)
statistics are critical. It is recommended to
enable verbose garbage collection when you
are debugging your instance. These statistics
can be used to understand the behavior of
the JVM heap management and the
efficiency of the JVM.
If you select False from the drop-down list,
verbose garbage collection will be disabled.
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_VERBOSE_GC
JVM Arguments Prefix

Default value: BLANK

Determines the arguments set as JVM
parameters before other JVM flags are set for
server JVM.
Ensure that you enter correct values in this
field. Else, the server JVM might fail to start.
For example, -XX:SurvivorRatio parameter
optimizes the object creation and object
preservation ratio.
tuning.properties Property:
JVM_ARGS_PREFIX

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137

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

JVM Arguments Suffix

Default value: BLANK

Determines the arguments set as JVM
parameters after other JVM flags are set for
server JVM.
Ensure that you enter correct values in this
field. Else, the server JVM might fail to start.
For example, -Xnoclassgc parameter
disables dynamic class unloading.
tuning.properties Property:
JVM_ARGS_SUFFIX

Click Next.
7. In the JVM Parameters for Container Nodes page that is displayed, decide
whether you want to use the current settings or the suggested settings.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields:

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Physical Memory Allocated to Container
(MB)
Amount of physical memory allocated to
each container node.
Ensure that the physical memory allocated
to server nodes, container nodes, and
maximum permanent generation size for
both server nodes and container nodes
should not exceed the physical memory
allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
If you add a container to the system after
the initial installation, you will have to
ensure that the proper amount of memory
has been allocated to the container nodes,
using this field.
tuning.properties Property:
MEMORY_CONTAINER

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Default value (MB): 512
A minimum of 512 MB is allocated to each
container node out of the total physical
memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator.
However, if there is additional physical
memory available after allocating minimum
memory to all the server nodes and the
container nodes, the memory is split
between server nodes and container nodes.
By default, the server nodes are allocated
with three-fourths out of the available
memory and the container nodes are
allocated with one-fourths out of the
available memory. The additional memory is
calculated using the following formula:
((((Physical memory allocated to Platform (Number of server nodes * Minimum
memory allocated to the server nodes)) (Number of server nodes * Maximum
permanent generation size allocated to
server nodes)) - (Number of container nodes
* Maximum permanent generation size
allocated to container nodes)) – Memory
allocated to the ops server)
For example, let us consider that two server
nodes and one container node is present.
After allocating memory to the two server
nodes and one container node, 200 MB
additional memory is available, each server
node is allocated 75 MB memory and the
container node is allocated 50 MB memory.
You can also change the additional memory
allocation ratio. The additional memory
allocation ratio is calculated using the
following formula:
(((Additional memory available - Physical
memory allocated to container nodes) *
0.25)/Number of container nodes)

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139

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Initial Heap Size (MB)
Controls the initial size of a Java heap
allocated to the container JVM.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HPUX.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(AIX.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
(Linux.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit:
(Windows.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM OS/390:
(OS390.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating
system].INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER

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(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the formulae are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 3068 MB, it
allocates 3068 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v HP-UX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3068, 3068,
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3068,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v IBM AIX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3328,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3900, 3900,
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v Sun Solaris 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 1536,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 1024, 1024,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
v Linux 32-bit:
(0.5 * Physical memory allocated to
container node)
v Linux 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 2036,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v Windows 32-bit:
(0.5 * Physical memory allocated to
container node)
v Windows 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 1536, 768,
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, round(0.5 *
MEMORY_CONTAINER)))
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v IBM OS/390:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.

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141

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Maximum Heap Size (MB)
Controls the maximum size of a Java heap
allocated to the container JVM.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HPUX.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(AIX.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
(Linux.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit:
(Windows.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v IBM OS/390:
(OS390.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating
system].MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER

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(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the formulae are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 3068 MB, it
allocates 3068 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v HP-UX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3068,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 3328 MB, it
allocates 3328 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 512 MB, it allocates the memory
assigned to the container node.
v IBM AIX 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3328,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 3900 MB, it
allocates 3900 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v Sun Solaris 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 3900,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
v Linux 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 2036 MB, it
allocates 2036 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v Linux 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 2036,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v Windows 32-bit:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 1536 MB, it
allocates 1536 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v Windows 64-bit:
if (MEMORY_CONTAINER >= 1536,
MEMORY_CONTAINER, if
(MEMORY_CONTAINER <= 512, 512,
MEMORY_CONTAINER))
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.
v IBM OS/390:
If memory allocated to the container node
is greater than or equal to 2048 MB, it
allocates 2048 MB. Else, if the memory
allocated to container node is lesser than
or equal to 512 MB, it allocates the
memory assigned to the container node.

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Initial Size of New (Nursery) Heap (MB)

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
(0.33333 * Initial size of heap memory
allocated to the container node)

Controls the initial size of the new heap area
v HP 32-bit: HPallocated to the container JVM.
UX.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * HPBased on your operating system and
UX.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HPUX.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v HP-UX64-bit: (HP-UX64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(AIX.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX-64.IN
IT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
(Linux.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit: (Windows.IN
IT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM OS/
390(OS390.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating system].INIT_AGE_CONTAINER

v HP 64-bit: HP-UX64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * HP-UX64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v AIX 32-bit: AIX.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
AIX.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v AIX 64-bit: AIX64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * AIX64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun 32-bit:
SunOS.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
SunOS.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun 64-bit: SunOS64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * SunOS64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
Linux.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
Linux.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: Linux64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * Linux64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit:
Windows.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
Windows.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: Windows64.INIT_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * Windows64.INIT_HEAP_CONTAINER)

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Maximum Size of New (Nursery) Heap
(MB)

(0.5 * Maximum size of heap memory
allocated to the container node)

Controls the maximum size of the new heap
area allocated to the container JVM.
Based on your operating system and
architecture the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HPUX.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(AIX.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
(Linux.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit:
(Windows.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)
v IBM OS/390:
(OS390.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER)

v HP 32-bit: HPUX.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * HPUX.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v HP 64-bit: HP-UX64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * HP-UX64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v AIX 32-bit:
AIX.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333*
AIX.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v AIX 64-bit: AIX64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333* AIX64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun 32-bit:
SunOS.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
SunOS.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Sun 64-bit: SunOS64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * SunOS64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
Linux.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
Linux.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: Linux64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * Linux64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)

v Windows 32-bit:
Windows.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 *
[operating system].MAX_AGE_CONTAINER
Windows.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)
tuning.properties Property:

v Windows 64-bit: Windows64.MAX_AGE_CONTAINER=
round(0.33333 * Windows64.MAX_HEAP_CONTAINER)

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Maximum Permanent Generation Size
(MB)
Controls the maximum size of the
permanent generation heap (stores all the
class code and class-like data) allocated to
the container JVM.
Based on your operating system and
architecture, the parameters are provided in
the following list:
v HP-UX 32-bit: (HPUX.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Based on your operating system and
architecture, Sterling B2B Integrator allocates
the following values (in MB):
v HP-UX (32-bit and 64-bit): 192
v IBM AIX (32-bit and 64-bit): 128
v Sun Solaris (32-bit and 64-bit): 128
v Linux (32-bit and 64-bit): 128
v Windows (32-bit and 64-bit): 128
v IBM iSeries OS/400: 128
v IBM OS/390: 128

v HP-UX 64-bit: (HP-UX64.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 32-bit:
(AIX.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v IBM AIX 64-bit: (AIX64.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 32-bit:
(SunOS.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v Sun Solaris 64-bit: (SunOS64.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 32-bit:
(Linux.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v Linux 64-bit: (Linux64.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v Windows 32-bit:
(Windows.MAX_PERM_SIZE_
CONTAINER)
v Windows 64-bit: (Windows64.MAX_PERM_SIZE_
CONTAINER)
v IBM iSeries OS/400:
(OS400.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
v IBM OS/390:
(OS390.MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER)
tuning.properties Property:
[operating
system].MAX_PERM_SIZE_CONTAINER
Thread Stack Size (KB)
Controls the maximum Java stack size for
any thread.

Based on your operating system and
architecture (in KB):
v HP-UX (32-bit and 64-bit): 384
v IBM AIX (32-bit and 64-bit): 256

tuning.properties Property:

v Sun Solaris (32-bit and 64-bit): 256

[operating
system].STATIC_STACK_CONTAINER

v Linux (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v IBM iSeries OS/400 (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v IBM OS/390 (32-bit and 64-bit): 256
v Windows (32-bit and 64-bit): 256

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Enable Heap Dump on Out of Memory

Default value: True

Select True from the drop-down list if you
want to generate a heapdump when the
container JVM encounters an out of memory
error.
Heapdumps are useful for troubleshooting
memory-related issues since they contain all
the live objects used by the Java application.
With this information, the objects that are
using large amounts of memory can be
identified. The contents of a heapdump can
also help a user understand why objects
cannot be freed by the Garbage Collector.
By default, the dump file is generated from
where the JVM was started (the
install_dir/bin directory).
If you select False from the drop-down list,
heapdumps are not generated when the
container JVM encounters an out of memory
error.
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_HEAP_DUMP_OOB_CONTAINER
Enable Heap Dump on Sigquit/Ctrl-break

Default value: True

Note: This field is not supported in the 1.6
version of the Sun JDK. It will display if you
are using the IBM JDK.Select True from the
drop-down list if you want to request a
heapdump for the container JVM using
Sigquit command or pressing Ctrl+Break
for container JVM.
By default, the dump file is generated from
where the JVM was started (the
install_dir/bin directory).
If you select False from the drop-down list,
heapdumps are not generated if you run
Sigquit command or press Ctrl+Break .
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_HEAP_DUMP_
SGTQCRTLBRK_CONTAINER

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Enable VerboseGC

Default value: False

Select True from the drop-down list if you
want to generate verbose garbage collection
data for container JVM.
JVM Verbose garbage collection (GC)
statistics are critical. It is recommended to
enable verbose garbage collection when you
are debugging your instance. These statistics
can be used to understand the behavior of
the JVM heap management and the
efficiency of the JVM.
If you select False from the drop-down list,
verbose garbage collection will be disabled.
tuning.properties Property:
ENABLE_VERBOSE_GC_CONTAINER
JVM Arguments Prefix

Default value: BLANK

Determines the arguments set as JVM
parameters before other JVM flags are set for
container JVM.
Ensure that you enter correct values in this
field. Else, the container JVM might fail to
start.
For example, -Xalwaysclassgc parameter
enables dynamic class unloading on every
instance of garbage collection.
tuning.properties Property:
JVM_ARGS_PREFIX_CONTAINER
JVM Arguments Suffix

Default value: BLANK

Determines the arguments set as JVM
parameters after other JVM flags are set for
container JVM.
Ensure that you enter correct values in this
field. Else, the container JVM might fail to
start.
For example, -Xlp parameter enables large
page support.
tuning.properties Property:
JVM_ARGS_SUFFIX_CONTAINER

Click Next.
8. In the BP Queue page that is displayed, decide whether you want to use the
current settings or the suggested settings.

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v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields:
Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Number of Processor Cores

Not Applicable

Number of processor cores in the system,
where each core is an independent
processing engine.
tuning.properties Property:
PROCESSORS
Desired Global Threads

JMS_LISTNERS = (PROCESSORS * 4)

Number of active business processes that
can run concurrently. This field changes the
JMS_LISTNERS property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Typically, you require higher values with
more CPUs, and lower values with fewer
CPUs. Too many threads cause thrashing, in
which the hard disk is used a lot for virtual
memory, and performance slows down.
tuning.properties Property:
JMS_LISTNERS
In memory cache size (MB) for small
contexts

NOAPP.JMS_PAGING_HIGH = 100

Amount of memory allocated to the business
process queue. After Sterling B2B Integrator
reaches this limit, it writes all the messages,
except active messages, to disk. This field
changes the JMS_PAGING_HIGH property
in the tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Increasing this value too much reduces the
amount of memory available for the other
components of Sterling B2B Integrator, such
as caches and general processing.
tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.JMS_PAGING_HIGH

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149

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Disk cache size (MB) Maximum
Maximum amount of disk space used to
store the business process context when it is
being moved from memory. This limit
ensures that Sterling B2B Integrator does not
consume all the available disk space. This
field changes the JMS_PAGING_MAX
property in the tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
NOAPP.JMS_PAGING_MAX = round(2 *
Maximum Java heap size allocated to the
server JVM)

tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.JMS_PAGING_MAX
Memory Cache Threshold (MB)

Default value: 16384

Amount of threshold memory size for
caching a context in the in-memory cache
versus the disk cache.
The distribution of context sizes tends to
look vaguely like an “M” with one cluster of
small contexts and another cluster of larger
contexts. If this value is set large, the value
for memory cache size should also be large.
A moderate multiple of the disk block size
seems to work very well in many cases.
tuning.properties Property:
BP_SIZE
Use Shadow Cache
Select True from the drop-down list if you
want to enable shadow cache.
It is used to retain business process objects
in the memory as long as JVM permits.
When the thread is available for the business
process to run, the object is retrieved from
the memory instead of the disk.
Use Shadow Cache plays an important role
during load balancing in a cluster
environment. It uses soft reference for
caching workflow context objects.
If you select False from the drop-down list,
shadow cache will be disabled and space
will not be allocated to retain business
process objects in the memory.
tuning.properties Property:
USE_SHADOW_CACHE

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Default value: True

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Shadow Cache Size (MB) Maximum

Default value: 1

Amount of soft reference in memory to
retain business process objects in the
memory as long as JVM permits. When the
thread is available for the business process
to run, the object is retrieved from the
memory instead of the disk.
You can set maximum shadow cache size,
but it is used only if you enable shadow
cache.
tuning.properties Property:
MAX_SHADOW_CACHE_SIZE
Distribution Cache Maximum

Default value: 5000

Determines the maximum number of
business processes in queue on node2. If the
number of business processes on node2
queue exceeds this number, node1 will not
transfer any more business processes to
node2.
tuning.properties Property:
DISTRIBUTION_CACHE_MAX
Distribution Cache Minimum
Determines the number of business
processes that must be in queue before this
node will make any processes eligible for
distribution.

DISTRIBUTION_CACHE_MIN =
(PROCESSORS * 4)

tuning.properties Property:
DISTRIBUTION_CACHE_MIN

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Broadcast Interval (ms)

Default value: 6000

Determines how often (in milleseconds) a
multicast message is sent out by a node
about the current state of the node.
The multicast message provides load factor
and current status information about a node
to all other nodes in the cluster.
Clustering uses the JGroups communication
toolkit, which supports the following
communication protocols, which can be
configured during deployment:
v UDP (User Datagram Protocol) (IP
multicast)
v TCP
tuning.properties Property:
MULTICAST_INTERVAL
Switch Interval (ms)
Determines the time interval (in
milliseconds) that a business process must
be queued after distribution to a node before
the business process is eligible for
distribution to another node again.
This is for load balancing in a cluster
environment.
tuning.properties Property:
SWITCH_INTERVAL

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Default value: 180000

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Workflow in transit list timeout (ms)

Default value: 20000

Allows the business process to transfer from
one node to another without the Recover
process interrupting the business process. In
a cluster, when a business process is
switched to another node due to a heavy
load, the workflow id will be "seen" by the
Recover process as still in the queue on this
node for the amount of time (in
milliseconds) specified by this parameter.
This allows the business process to finish
transfering to the other node without the
Recover process interrupting the business
process.
Increase this value if the Recover process is
interrupting business processes during a
heavy load in a clustered environment. This
may make the UI list the business process as
'in queue' but the business process can
actually be running. This will not interfere
with the running result. It may only delay
displaying the business process state on the
UI.
Setting this value to 0 will prevent this
functionality from being used and will keep
an extra thread that performs part of this
functionality from being started.
tuning.properties Property:
WF_IN_TRANSIT_TIMEOUT_LIST

Click Next.
9. In the Cache page that is displayed, decide whether you want to use the
current settings or the suggested settings.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields:

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153

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Translation Maps
The number of translation maps that can
exist in the cache. This field changes the
MAP_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Note: Increasing the cache size for items
that are not used frequently may degrade
performance. Increase the cache size for
items that are used frequently to improve
performance.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 10
translation maps can exist in the cache. Else,
if the memory allocated to server node is
lesser than or equal to 1024 MB but greater
than 768 MB, 50 translation maps can exist
in the cache. If the memory allocated to the
server node is greater than 1024 MB, then
100 translation maps can exist in the cache.

tuning.properties Property:
MAP_CACHE
Envelopes
The number of envelopes that can exist in
the cache. This field changes the
ENVELOPE_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Note: Increasing the cache size for items
that are not used frequently may degrade
performance. Increase the cache sizes for
items that are used frequently in order to
improve performance.

If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 50 envelopes
can exist in the cache. Else, if the memory
allocated to server node is lesser than or
equal to 1024 MB but greater than 768 MB,
250 envelopes can exist in the cache. If the
memory allocated to the server node is
greater than 1024 MB, then 500 envelopes
can exist in the cache.

tuning.properties Property:
ENVELOPE_CACHE
Other EDI
The number of EDI objects that can exist in
the cache. This field changes the
EDI_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Note: Increasing the cache size for items
that are not used frequently may degrade
performance. Increase the cache sizes for
items that are used frequently to improve
performance.
tuning.properties Property:
EDI_CACHE

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If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 25 EDI
objects can exist in the cache. Else, if the
memory allocated to server node is lesser
than or equal to 1024 MB but greater than
768 MB, 50 EDI objects can exist in the
cache. If the memory allocated to the server
node is greater than 1024 MB, then 100 EDI
objects can exist in the cache.

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Workflow Definition
The number of workflow definition objects
that can exist in the cache. This field
changes the WFD_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
tuning.properties Property:
WFD_CACHE
User Cache
The number of user definition objects that
can exist in the cache. This field changes the
USER_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
tuning.properties Property:
USER_CACHE
Group Cache
The number of user group definition objects
that can exist in the cache. This field
changes the GROUP_CACHE property in
the tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.
tuning.properties Property:
GROUP_CACHE
Permission Cache
The number of permission definition objects
that can exist in the cache.
Permission cache controls the number of
cache protectors and stores information on
user permissions. This field changes the
PERM_CACHE property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 50 workflow
definition objects can exist in the cache. Else,
if the memory allocated to server node is
lesser than or equal to 1024 MB but greater
than 768 MB, 100 workflow definition
objects can exist in the cache. If the memory
allocated to the server node is greater than
1024 MB, then 120 workflow definition
objects can exist in the cache.
If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 50 user
definition objects can exist in the cache. Else,
if the memory allocated to server node is
lesser than or equal to 1024 MB but greater
than 768 MB, 100 user definition objects can
exist in the cache. If the memory allocated to
the server node is greater than 1024 MB,
then 120 user definition objects can exist in
the cache.
If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 50 user
group definition objects can exist in the
cache. Else, if the memory allocated to
server node is lesser than or equal to 1024
MB but greater than 768 MB, 100 user group
definition objects can exist in the cache. If
the memory allocated to the server node is
greater than 1024 MB, then 120 user group
definition objects can exist in the cache.
If memory allocated to the server node is
lesser than or equal to 768 MB, 1000
permission definition objects can exist in the
cache. Else, if the memory allocated to
server node is lesser than or equal to 1024
MB but greater than 768 MB, 2000
permission definition objects can exist in the
cache. If the memory allocated to the server
node is greater than 1024 MB, then 2400
permission definition objects can exist in the
cache.

tuning.properties Property:
PERM_CACHE

Click Next.
10. In the Purge Settings page that is displayed, decide whether you want to use
the current settings or the suggested settings.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields:

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155

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Number Of Purge Deadlock Retries

Default value: 30

Controls the number of repeated attempts to
start the purge process before aborting.
tuning.properties Property:
PURGE.DEADLOCK_RETRIES
Maximum Purge Threads

Default value: 1

Controls the maximum number of threads
that can be allocated to the purge process.
tuning.properties Property:
PURGE.MAX_PURGE_THREADS
Purge Documents on Disk

Default value: True

Select True from the drop-down list to purge
the documents on file system disk space,
along with database disk space.
It is recommended to purge documents on
the disk, else the disk space may get filled
up.
For more information about purging, refer to
Purge Service documentation.
If you select False from the drop-down list,
the documents are purged only in the
database disk space.
tuning.properties Property:
PURGE.PURGE_DOCS_ON_DISK

Click Next.
11.
In the Database Connection Pool page that is displayed, decide whether you
want to use the current settings or the suggested settings.
Note: Sterling B2B Integrator restart is not required if you modify settings in
this page.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the following fields and click Next.
Transactional pool connections are used by the workflow engine to manage
database operations during a workflow step. Commands issued to a
transactional connection are not committed to the database until the end of
the workflow step, allowing rollback if the workflow step fails.
Non-transactional pool connections are used when rollback is not required.

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The pool size must be large enough to process business processes without
waiting for a connection. In addition, if you have many File System
adapters, you may have to increase the value of this property to improve
performance.
Database connection pool values are initially displayed by obtaining the
values from jdbc.properties file and jdbc_customer.properties file. When you
set the connection pool properties, such as initial connections, maximum
connections, and buffer size, the performance tuning utility updates
system_overrrides.properties file, which will be created if it does not exist.
Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Default Document Storage
Determines the storage type for document
objects constructed without a storageType
property. Valid values in the New field at
the top of the table:

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
jdbcService.defaultDocumentStorageType =
DB

v FS - Stores the document data on the local
file system
v DB - (Default) Stores the document data
in the database
tuning.properties Property:
jdbcService.defaultDocumentStorageType

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157

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Connection Pool Name

Not applicable

Determines the database connection pool
name. A database connection pool is created
to manage multiple connections where each
connection connects to the same database.
You can create custom connection pools
apart from those present in Sterling B2B
Integrator. If you create your own custom
connection pools, you should add the
connection pool name in language properties
file.
The following connection pool types can be
created:
v UI
v Archive
v Default
v Select
v Non-transactional - Number of
connections that are reserved and
available for general data requests (for
example, retrieving data) when Sterling
B2B Integrator starts. If Sterling B2B
Integrator uses all the connections
concurrently, it creates a new connection
until it reaches the maximum number of
connections. When Sterling B2B Integrator
reaches the value specified in this field, it
must wait for a connection to be returned
to the pool before processing the data
request.
When a connection is no longer in use,
the connection is returned to the available
connection pool and can be reused.
v Local

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Depending on the database, replace the db
with the database name. For example, if you
Determines the initial number of connections are using Oracle as your database, enter
to be reserved in the database connection
oracle. Default values are provided in the
pool.
following list:
Initial Connections

Based on the connection pool, the
parameters are provided in the following
list:

v Local: jdbcService.dbPool_local.initsize = 1

v Local: (jdbcService.dbPool_local.initsize)

v Non-transactional:
jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.initsize = 1

v Select: (jdbcService.dbPool_Select.initsize)
v Non-transactional:
(jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.initsize)
v Default: (jdbcService.dbPool.initsize)
v Archive:
jdbcService.dbArchivePool.initsize)

v Select: jdbcService.dbPool_Select.initsize =
0

v Default: jdbcService.dbPool.initsize = 1
v Archive: jdbcService.dbArchivePool.initsize
=1
v UI: jdbcService.dbUIPool.initsize = 4

v UI: (jdbcService.dbUIPool.initsize)
Maximum Connections
Determines the maximum number of
connections to be reserved in the database
connection pool.
Based on the connection pool, the
parameters are provided in the following
list:
v Local: (jdbcService.dbPool_local.maxsize)
v Select: (jdbcService.dbPool_Select.maxsize)
v Non-transactional:
(jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.maxsize)
v Default: (jdbcService.dbPool.maxsize)
v Archive:
(jdbcService.dbArchivePool.maxsize)

Depending on the database, replace the db
with the database name. For example, if you
are using Oracle as your database, enter
oracle. Default values are provided in the
following list:
v Local: jdbcService.dbPool_local.maxsize =
30
v Select: jdbcService.dbPool_Select.maxsize =
20
v Non-transactional:
jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.maxsize = 30
v Default: jdbcService.dbPool.maxsize = 30
v Archive:
jdbcService.dbArchivePool.maxsize = 20
v UI: jdbcService.dbUIPool.maxsize = 20

v UI: (jdbcService.dbUIPool.maxsize)

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159

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Buffer Size
Determines the number of additional
connections reserved by the database
connection pool. These additional
connections are released when there is an
unexpected demand for more connections.
The buffer connections are created in
addition to the maximum connections
reserved.
Based on the connection pool, the
parameters are provided in the following
list:
v Local: (jdbcService.dbPool_local.buffersize
= 500)
v Select:
(jdbcService.dbPool_Select.buffersize =
500)

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
Depending on the database, replace the db
with the database name. For example, if you
are using Oracle as your database, enter
oracle. Default values are provided in the
following list:
v Local: jdbcService.dbPool_local.buffersize
= 500
v Select: jdbcService.dbPool_Select.buffersize
= 500
v Non-transactional:
jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.buffersize =
500
v Default: jdbcService.dbPool.buffersize =
500
v Archive:
jdbcService.dbArchivePool.buffersize = 500
v UI: jdbcService.dbUIPool.buffersize = 500

v Non-transactional:
(jdbcService.dbPool_NoTrans.buffersize =
500)
v Default: (jdbcService.dbPool.buffersize =
500)
v Archive:
(jdbcService.dbArchivePool.buffersize =
500)
v UI: (jdbcService.dbUIPool.buffersize = 500)

Click Next.
If you have purchased additional adapters, you may have to increase the
database pools to reduce the chances of a business process or adapter having
to wait for a database connection.
12. In the Queue Settings page that is displayed, decide whether you want to use
the current settings or the suggested settings.
Note: Sterling B2B Integrator restart is not required if you modify settings in
this page.
v If yes, click Fill Suggested.
v If no, enter information in the fields in the following columns:
Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)

Queue Name

Not applicable

Name of the queue. Nine queues (Queue 1
to Queue 9) enable flexible management of
your workload.

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Initial Steps in the first Execution Cycle

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
The default values for each queue are
provided in the following list:

Number of steps executed before returning a
v Queue 1:
business process to the queue on its first
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_1 =
execution cycle. This field changes the
ASYNC_BP
ASYNC_BP property in the tuning.properties
file in the install_dir/properties directory.
v Queue 2:
The parameters for each queue are provided
as follows:
v Queue [queue number]:
(NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_[queue
number])
tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_[queue number]

NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_2 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 3:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_3 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 4:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_4 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 5:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_5 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 6:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_6 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 7:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_7 =
ASYNC_BP
v Queue 8:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_8 = 10
v Queue 9:
NOAPP.INITIAL_CYCLES_9 =
ASYNC_BP

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Number of Steps in the Execution Cycle
Number of business process steps that are
run before returning to the queue. This field
changes the BP_STEPS property in the
tuning.properties file in the
install_dir/properties directory.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
The default values for each queue are
provided in the following list:
v Queue 1:
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_1 = 1000
v Queue 2:
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_2 = 100

If your business processes contain loops, you v Queue 3:
may have to increase this property to
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_3
improve performance. If you find that you
v Queue 4:
have to increase this number, you must
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_4
streamline your business processes to
v
Queue 5:
remove unnecessary loops.
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_5
If you set this value too low, your business
v Queue 6:
processes may not be able to complete
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_6
processing before they are returned to the
queue, allowing another business process to v Queue 7:
complete some or all of its processing. This
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_7
slows processing time and causes
v
Queue 8:
bottlenecks in Sterling B2B Integrator.
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_8
The parameters for each queue are provided v Queue 9:
as follows:
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_9
v Queue [queue number]:
(NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_[queue number])
tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.EXEC_CYCLE_[queue number]

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= 100
= BP_STEPS
= BP_STEPS
= 10
=5
=2
= 50

Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Minimum Threads

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
The default values for each queue are
provided in the following list:

Minimum number of threads available for
v Queue 1:
the queue. The threads will be honored even
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_1 =
if they are higher than MaxThreads (global
maximum queue threads). The minimum
v Queue 2:
number of threads cannot be higher than the
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_2 =
maximum number. The fairness calculation
v Queue 3:
does not apply for minimum threads.
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_3 =
The parameters for each queue are provided v Queue 4:
as follows:
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_4 =
v Queue [queue number]:
v Queue 5:
(NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_[queue
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_5 =
number])
v Queue 6:
tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_6 =
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_[queue number]

0
0
0
1
1

JMS_LISTNERS
v Queue 7:
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_7 = (2 *
JMS_LISTNERS)
v Queue 8:
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_8 = (2 *
JMS_LISTNERS)
v Queue 9:
NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_9 = 2

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Maximum Threads
Maximum number of threads available for
the queue.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
The default values for each queue are
provided in the following list:
v Queue 1:

NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_1 = 1
The parameters for each queue are provided v Queue 2:
as follows:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_2 = (round(
v Queue [queue number]:
JMS_LISTNERS / 4) + 1)
(NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_[queue
v Queue 3:
number])
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_3 = (round(
JMS_LISTNERS / 2) + 1)
tuning.properties Property:
v Queue 4:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_[queue number]

NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_4 =
JMS_LISTNERS
v Queue 5:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_5 = (2 *
JMS_LISTNERS)
v Queue 6:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_6 =
JMS_LISTNERS
v Queue 7:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_7 = (2 *
JMS_LISTNERS)
v Queue 8:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_8 = (2 *
JMS_LISTNERS)
v Queue 9:
NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_9 = 4

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Tuning Formula or Default Value
Field / Description
Resource Allocation
Amount of resources to allocate to a specific
queue for fair share scheduling. For
example, if you have only two queues
configured, queue 1 for a few small business
processes, and queue 2 for many large
business processes, you can set the amount
of resources available for each queue by a
percentage. You can set queue 1 with a
resource allocation of 10 and queue 2 with a
resource allocation of 90. This ensures that
queue 2 has more resources for processing,
which in turn improves processing time and
ensures efficient use of system resources.
This value can be different for each queue.
Note: Set the resource allocations according
to the percentage of use for each queue and
the importance of processing completed on
each queue. If you have higher priority
items on one queue, increase the resource
allocation to that queue in order to increase
processing capability. Apply a lower
percentage of resources to lower priority
queues or less used queues in order to keep
resources free for higher priority processing.

(Default value is provided if there is no
tuning formula)
The default values for each queue are
provided in the following list:
v Queue 1:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_1 =
10
v Queue 2:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_2 =
20
v Queue 3:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_3 =
40
v Queue 4:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_4 =
50
v Queue 5:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_5 =
50
v Queue 6:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_6 =
60
v Queue 7:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_7 =
90

The parameters for each queue are provided
v Queue 8:
as follows:
N OAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_8 =
v Queue [queue number]:
120
(NOAPP.RESOURCE_
v Queue 9:
ALLOCATION_[queue number])
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_9 =
50
tuning.properties Property:
NOAPP.RESOURCE_ALLOCATION_[queue
number]

Click Next.
13. In the Confirm page that is displayed, click View all settings to review the
changes you made to the performance configuration. The All Settings pop-up
window is displayed.
Click Close to close the All Settings pop-up window.
The Confirm page displays both the properties modified, properties that
require restart and properties that do not require restart.
14.
In the Confirm page, perform one of the following tasks:
v To change your performance configurations, click Back.
v To abandon the performance configurations you carried out, click Cancel.
v To save the performance configurations you carried out, click Finish.
15. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System >
Troubleshooter.
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165

16. From the System Troubleshooting page, click Soft Stop. This runs the softstop
script, allowing all active business processes to complete on a node before
stopping the system. The script is run through a series of interactive steps in
the UI. For more information about the softstop process, refer to “Completing
a Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the System Troubleshooter” on
page 111.
17. In the tuningFormulas.properties file, change the TUNING_PROPS_UPDATED
property to TRUE.
18. From the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (Windows) setupfiles.cmd
The performance configuration changes populate the initial setup files that are
used during startup.
19. From the install_dir/bin directory, start Sterling B2B Integrator by running one
of the following commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) run.sh
v (Windows) startWindowsService.cmd
Sterling B2B Integrator starts and the updated performance configuration
settings are applied.

Manual Performance Tuning
You may find that you have to tune some application server-independent (ASI)
properties that are not tuned into the Performance Tuning Utility. You can
manually tune these properties in the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties file
and related extension (*.ext) files in Sterling B2B Integrator.
This topic provides information about tuning your ASI environment, scheduling
policies, tuning queues, and changing persistence levels. It also provides
information about concepts such as customizing property files, changing system
logging, enabling trusted domains for schemas, managing system recovery, and
optimizing system performance for Sterling e-Invoicing.
Note: For large volume operations pertaining to FTP, Mail Box, Advanced File
Transfer, and IBM Sterling File Gateway, set the number of open file descriptors to
at least 4096, using the command ulimit -n 4096.

Tuning Your ASI Environment
You can tune your application server-independent (ASI) system using the
properties found in the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file, or in the
noapp.properties_gis_ext.in file (for the persistence_level property).
Properties that you may have to tune include:
SchedulingPolicyName
Set of rules that Sterling B2B Integrator uses to make decisions about how to
manage the workload. Valid values are:
v BasicSchedulingPolicy
v FairShareSchedulingPolicy
Note: For more information about scheduling policy, refer to the topic
“Scheduling Policy” on page 172.

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MemCacheSize
Size, in megabytes, of the in-memory cache used for small objects. This cache
can speed up execution by eliminating the necessity for data to be retrieved
from the database or disk.
DiskCacheSize
Maximum size of the disk cache, so that your cache does not increase beyond
your available disk space.
DiskCachePath
Directory to use for caching objects.
MemCacheThreshold
Threshold size, in bytes, for caching a context in the in-memory cache versus
the disk cache. In general, the distribution of context sizes tends to look
vaguely like an “M”, with one cluster of small contexts and another cluster of
larger contexts. If this value is large, the value of MemCacheSize should also
be large. A moderate multiple of the disk block size seems to work well in
many cases.
MaxThreads
Total number of concurrent threads that Sterling B2B Integrator is allowed to
use. Verify this number against the licensed number of threads.
AE_ExecuteCycle.#
Number of steps for a business process to complete prior to returning to the
queue. Higher values will accelerate individual business process execution,
while lower values enable smoother multitasking. Interactive use favors a
lower number of steps while batch processing favors a higher number of steps.
This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
AE_ExecuteCycleTime.#
Maximum time period, in milliseconds, for which a business process can use a
thread for, before releasing it for use by another business process. This value
will override the value set for the AE_ExecuteCycle. This is intended to ensure
that a series of unusually slow steps do not tie up a thread completely. This
value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
QueueDepth.#
Maximum number of business processes that can be in a queue at a given
time. Generally, this value should be left at the default value of 10,000, unless
you anticipate having more that 10,000 business processes in the queue at the
same time. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
MaxPoolSize.#
Maximum number of threads executed for a specific queue. The MaxThreads
value overrides this value if this value is set higher than the MaxThreads
value. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
Note: Setting all the queues' MaxPoolSize parameters to the maximum threads
available does not mean that you will have faster processing. Depending on
your system resources, setting the MaxPoolSize value too high may cause the
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queues to back up and degrade performance. A good place to start is 4 times
the number of your CPUs. Interactive use tends to favor more threads, while
batch or document processing tends to favor fewer threads.
CacheThreshold.#
Number of business processes that must be in the queue before any business
process is cached. In addition, this value is the minimum number of business
processes in the queue before any rescheduling occurs. This value can be
different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
In general, setting this value high improves performance by keeping more
business process contexts in memory when they are placed in the queue. To
estimate the amount of memory that will be consumed, multiply this value by
the average size of your business process contexts. You can obtain the average
context size using the Sterling B2B Integrator System Troubleshooter. For more
information about reviewing system, refer to the topic Reviewing System
Information.
There is a tradeoff between performance and memory consumption. Setting
this value too high can result in one of the following:
v Leave Sterling B2B Integrator with insufficient memory in some
circumstances
v Cause some business processes to remain in the queue for too long without
being examined for rescheduling
Note that in most cases, even if this value is set low, business process contexts
will usually be recovered from one of the in-memory caches and not from the
disk.
MinPoolSize.#
Minimum number of threads reserved for a specific queue. The sum total of
the queues' MinPoolSize values must be equal to or less than the MaxThreads
value. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
JavaPriority.#
Java priority of the threads running business processes. This enables you to set
some queues to run more slowly to reduce the issues associated with heavily
used computers being unresponsive to the user interface. This value can be
different for each queue. Not all JVMs handle this the same way, with some
not respecting it at all (particularly, the IBM AIX® JVM).
.# indicates the queue number.
EnableDeadlines.#
Enables or disables deadline support for a particular queue. Having deadlines
enabled controls both notifications and the execution order in the queue. If
enabled, business processes with deadlines are executed before those without
deadlines. Valid values are:
v false – Disables deadline support for a queue.
v true – Enables deadline support for a queue.
This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.

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Rescheduling.#
Enables or disables rescheduling support for a queue. Valid values are:
v false – Business processes are not rescheduled in a queue.
v true – Business processes are rescheduled in a queue.
This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
ReschedulingInterval.#
Time interval, in milliseconds, to wait before the rescheduler passes through
the queue to reschedule business processes. This value can be different for each
queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
MaxWaitTime.#
Maximum time, in milliseconds, for which a business process can be in the
queue without it being reviewed for rescheduling. If a business process is
rescheduled, the business process is moved forward in the queue. This value
can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
Example: MaxWaitTime.8=60000 sets the maximum wait time for queue
number 8 as 60 seconds.
ResourceAllocation.#
Amount of resources to allocate to a specific queue for fair share scheduling.
For example, if you have only two queues configured, queue 1 for a few small
business processes, and queue 2 for many large business processes, you can set
the amount of resources available for each queue by a percentage. You can set
queue 1 with a resource allocation of 10 and queue 2 with a resource allocation
of 90. This ensures that queue 2 has more resources for processing, which in
turn improves processing time and ensures efficient use of system resources.
This value can be different for each queue.
Note: Set the resource allocations according to the percentage of use for each
queue and the importance of processing completed on each queue. If you have
higher priority items on one queue, increase the resource allocation to that
queue in order to increase processing capability. Apply a lower percentage of
resources to lower priority queues or less used queues in order to keep
resources free for higher priority processing.
.# indicates the queue number.
InitialCycles.#
Number of cycles to be executed the first time a business process gets to
execute. Normally, this value should be 5 or less. This is intended to facilitate
business processes (particularly Web services) for which normal processing is
quite short, but for which there is longer processing in special cases. It also
allows a mix of short and long business processes in a queue, favoring the
shorter ones. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
StealThreads.#
Enables or disables the ability to steal threads from other queues. Valid values:
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v true – Enables the ability to steal threads.
v false – Disables the ability to steal threads.
Queues that are configured to steal threads from other queues (StealThreads
property set to true) steal only from queues that have the AllowStealing
property set to true. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
AllowStealing.#
Enables or disables the ability of other queues to steal threads from this queue.
Valid values:
v true – Allows other queues to steal threads.
v false – Does not allow other queues to steal threads.
Queues that are configured to steal threads from other queues (StealThreads
property set to true) only steal from queues that have the AllowStealing
property set to true. This value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
persistence_level
Persistence (storage to the database) level for Sterling B2B Integrator. Set the
persistence_level value to PERSISTENCE_NONE during day-to-day processing.
Valid values are:
v PERSISTENCE_DEFAULT
v PERSISTENCE_FULL – From user interface tracking, every step will be
persisted in full, which includes all the documents, status report (if any),
and instance data.
v PERSISTENCE_MINIMAL/PERSISTENCE_STEP_STATUS – From user
interface tracking, every step will be persisted, but the document, status
report (if any), and instance data will not be persisted in some of the steps
(for example, assign and sleepservice). Most of the services that create
documents will be persisted in full.
v PERSISTENCE_NONE/PERSISTENCE_BP_START_STOP – From user
interface tracking, the first step and last step will be persisted in full. Some
of the services will not be persisted (for example, assign and sleepservice).
Services that are defined as full will be persisted in full. Documents created
through a stream and stored in the file system will be persisted.
Note: If you have configured a business process with INVOKE_MODE set
to SYNC, which in turn invokes business processes with INVOKE_MODE
set to INLINE and the persistence_level set to BP Start Stop Engine May
Override, the business processes may fail. To counter the business process
failure, follow one of these workarounds:
– Change the INVOKE_MODE of the second business process from INLINE
to SYNC.
– Add a dummy  statement after the  statement as
shown:





INLINE

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Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Called_BP_withError.kj










v

v

v

v

v

– Change the PERSISTENCE_LEVEL of the second business process from
NONE (BP Start Stop - Engine May Override) to FULL.
PERSISTENCE_OVERRIDE_MINIMAL/
PERSISTENCE_STEP_STATUS_ONLY – The first step will be persisted in
full. The last step will be persisted minimally. Documents created through a
stream and stored in the file system will be persisted.
PERSISTENCE_OVERRIDE_NONE – From user interface tracking, the first
step will be persisted in full and the last step will be persisted minimally.
Some of the services will not be persisted (for example, assign and
sleepservice). Services that are defined as full will not be persisted.
Documents created through a stream and stored in the file system will be
persisted.
PERSISTENCE_OVERRIDE_NONE_KEEP_ERRORS/
PERSISTENCE_BP_START_STOP_ONLY – The first step will be persisted in
full and the last step will be persisted minimally. Documents created
through a stream and stored in the file system will be persisted.
PERSISTENCE_WF_NONE (can only be used with workflow definition in
sync mode) – From user interface tracking, nothing will be persisted. The
business process runs in the caller's thread. If it is running in the Sterling
B2B Integrator engine, and if the service is creating documents in the
document stream, or if FS is document storage, the document will be
persisted. If it is running in an embedded engine, document stream and file
system document storage is not allowed.
PERSISTENCE_WF_ERROR_ONLY – From user interface tracking, nothing
will be persisted. Unless the service is performing document stream|FS as
document storage, only the first step will be persisted, or, when the business
process generates errors, the first step (initial workflow context) and the
error step will be persisted. The error step will be persisted as minimal in
order to avoid the problem of resuming. If there is an onfault in the business
process and the business process generates errors, the first step (initial
workflow context), error step, and last step from the onfault will be
persisted. If the onfault block runs fine, or if the onfault block generates
errors too, the error step in onfault will be persisted minimally instead of the
last step in onfault. If a step is persisted, the first step's initial workflow
context is always persisted in full.

Note: This property is set in the noapp.properties_gis_ext.in file. If the
persistence level property is a comment in the noapp.properties_gis_ext file
(#persistence_level=value), the persistence level is the default value of full
(PERSISTENCE_FULL).

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Scheduling Policy
About this task
Sterling B2B Integrator uses scheduling policies to manage workload. A scheduling
policy is a set of rules that Sterling B2B Integrator uses to determine how workload
is managed. Workload management decisions include, but are not limited to:
v The number of threads to run at a given time.
v The order in which to run the business processes.
v The number of steps a business process should run before releasing the thread
for use by other business processes.
v The caching requirements when a business process is returned to the queue.
v The workload distribution, if you are working in a clustered environment.
Scheduling policy choices include:
v Basic Scheduling Policy – Recommended for consistent workloads that do not
have data processing peaks or change in data or processing types.
v Fair Share Scheduling Policy – Recommended for mixed workloads that include
both batch and online processing, and in environments that have data processing
peaks (Default). For more information about this policy, refer to the topic
Queues in an Application Server Independent Environment.
Changing a Scheduling Policy
To change a scheduling policy in Sterling B2B Integrator:

Procedure
1. Open the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file
using a text editor.
2. Locate the following code: # SCHEDULING POLICY CONFIGURATION
3. Under # SCHEDULING POLICY CONFIGURATION, locate the following property:
SchedulingPolicyName=
4. Adjacent to the SchedulingPolicyName parameter, enter one of the following
code samples, depending on your choice of either basic or fair-share scheduling
policy. Next to the SchedulingPolicyName parameter, enter:
v Basic scheduling policy:
com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.workflow.queue.BasicSchedulingPolicy

v Fair-share scheduling policy:
com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.workflow.queue.FairShareSchedulingPolicy

5. Save the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file. Changing either the
name or the location of the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file may
prevent your changes from taking effect.

Queues in an Application Server Independent Environment
Sterling B2B Integrator uses fair-share scheduling, which is in-memory queuing
and caching, to enable you to set a global thread limit and allocate resources on a
queue-by-queue basis. This enables flexible management of your workload. The
global thread limit is the maximum number of business processes that can run
simultaneously in Sterling B2B Integrator. You can change the thread limit and
queue the resource allocations in the install_dir/properties/
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file. The thread limit is set in the
MaxThreads property. For more information about the MaxThreads property, refer
to “Tuning Queues” on page 173.

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You can set both a maximum and minimum thread number for each queue you
use. Sterling B2B Integrator includes nine queues (Q1 to Q9). When you check in a
business process, you must assign a queue to process the business process.
Each queue can use its minimum thread number always, but can never exceed its
maximum thread number. The sum of the minimum numbers should be less than
the MaxThreads limit.
The following example procedure explains the fair-share scheduling process:
1. Open the install_dir/noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file using a text
editor.
2. Set the global number of threads as 16 by entering 16 as the new MaxThreads
value.
3. Determine that queue Q1 is for small items and set the MinPoolSize.1 value to
10 and the MaxPoolSize.1 value to 16. This means that this queue always has
10 threads available for use, but if no other queues are using threads, this
queue can use all 16 threads.
4. Determine that according to the number of small items requiring processing,
queue Q1 requires a resource allocation of 70% of the total resources, and you
enter 70 as the new ResourceAllocation.1 value.
5. Determine that queue Q8 is for batch processing and set the MinPoolSize.8
value to 1 and the MaxPoolSize.8 value to 4.
6. Determine that according to the number of batch items requiring processing,
queue Q8 requires a resource allocation of 30% of the total resources, and you
enter 30 as the new ResourceAllocation.8 value.
7. During processing, different conditions arise, as shown in the following
examples:
v If there is no batch processing for queue Q8, but a lot of processing for
queue Q1, queue Q1 uses all the 16 threads to complete processing faster.
v If there is some batch processing for queue Q8, but also some processing for
queue Q1, queue Q1 uses up to 12 threads to complete processing faster,
while queue Q8 uses up to 4 threads to complete processing faster. These
numbers are according to the percentages applied to the MaxThreads value
of 16. In the case of queue Q1 with 70% of resource allocations, it is 16 *0.70
= 11.2. In the case of queue Q8 with 30% of resource allocations, it is 16 *
0.30 = 4.8 rounded to 5, but because MaxPoolSize.8 is set to 4, only 4 threads
can be used by queue Q8, enabling the 12th thread to be used by queue Q1.
v If there is no processing for queue Q1, but a lot of processing for queue Q8,
queue Q8 uses all 4 threads to complete processing faster, because the
MaxPoolSize.8 for queue Q8 is 4.
Tuning Queues:
You can tune the queues in Sterling B2B Integrator.
About this task
To tune queues in Sterling B2B Integrator:
Procedure
1. Open the install_dir/noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file using a text
editor.

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2. Under # POLICY CONFIGURATION - ALL Policies, locate the MaxThreads
property and change the value to the value you determine is best for your level
of processing.
Note: Setting the MaxThreads value higher does not guarantee that you will
have faster processing. Depending on your system resources, setting the
MaxThreads value too high may degrade performance. Set MaxThreads
according to your processing volumes in relation to your number of CPUs.
3. Under # QUEUE CONFIGURATION, Queue # - ALL Policies, where # indicates the
queue number, locate the properties described in the following table and
change the values for each as appropriate. Complete this step for each queue
that you are using. For each property, # indicates the queue number, for
example, AE_ExecuteCycle.3 is the AE_ExecuteCycle property for the third
queue. Also, property values can be different for each queue.

174

Property

Description

AE_ExecuteCycle.#

Number of steps for a business process to complete prior to
returning to the queue. Higher values will accelerate
individual business process execution, while lower values
enables smoother multitasking. Interactive use favors a lower
number of steps, while batch processing favors a higher
number of steps.

AE_ExecuteCycleTime.#

Maximum time period, in milliseconds, that a business process
can use a thread, for releasing it for use by another business
process. This value will override the value set for
AE_ExecuteCycle. This is intended to ensure that a series of
unusually slow steps do not tie up a thread completely.

QueueDepth.#

Maximum number of business processes that can be in a
queue at a given time. Generally, this value should be left at
the default value of 10,000, unless you anticipate having more
that 10,000 business processes in a queue at the same time.

MaxPoolSize.#

Maximum number of threads executed for a specific queue.
The MaxThreads value overrides the MaxPoolSize value if the
MaxPoolSize value is set higher than the MaxThreads value.
Note: Setting all the queues' MaxPoolSize parameters to the
maximum threads available does not mean you will have
faster processing. Depending on your system resources, setting
the MaxPoolSize value too high may cause the queues to back
up and degrade performance. A good place to start is 4 times
the number of your CPUs. Interactive use tends to favor more
threads, while batch or document processing tends to favor
less threads.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Property

Description

CacheThreshold.#

Number of business processes that must be in the queue
before any business processes are cached. In addition, this
value is the minimum number of business processes in the
queue before any rescheduling occurs.
In general, setting this value high improves performance by
keeping more business process contexts in memory when they
are placed in the queue. To estimate the amount of memory
that will be consumed, multiply this value by the average size
of your business process contexts. You can obtain the average
context size by using the Sterling B2B Integrator System
Troubleshooter. For more information, refer to the topic
Reviewing System Information.
There is a trade-off between performance and memory
consumption. Setting this value too high can lead to the
following:
v Leave Sterling B2B Integrator with insufficient memory in
some circumstances
v Cause some business processes to remain in the queue for
too long without being examined for rescheduling.
Note that in most cases, even if this value is set low, business
process contexts will usually be recovered from one of the
in-memory caches and not from the disk. The performance
impact is usually seen when the context is placed in the
queue.

MinPoolSize.#

Minimum number of threads reserved for a specific queue.
The sum total of all the queues' MinPoolSize values must be
equal to or less than the MaxThreads value. The MinPoolSize
value can be different for each queue.
.# indicates the queue number.
Note: Setting the MinPoolSize parameter too low may cause
queues to back up and degrade performance.

JavaPriority.#

Java priority of the threads that are running business
processes. This enables you to set some queues to run more
slowly in order to reduce the issues associated with heavily
used computers being unresponsive to the user interface. Not
all JVMs handle this the same way, with some not respecting it
at all (particularly, the IBM AIX® JVM).

EnableDeadlines.#

Enables or disables deadline support for a queue. Having the
deadlines enabled controls both the notifications and the
execution order in the queue. If enabled, business processes
with deadlines are executed before those without deadlines.
Valid values are:
v false – Disables deadline support for a queue.
v true – Enables deadline support for a queue.

Rescheduling.#

Enables or disables rescheduling support for a queue. Valid
values are:
v false – Business processes are not rescheduled in a queue.
v true – Business processes are rescheduled in a queue.

ReschedulingInterval.#

Time interval, in milliseconds, to wait before the rescheduler
passes through the queue to reschedule business processes.

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Property

Description

MaxWaitTime.#

Maximum time for which a business process can be in the
queue without being rescheduled. If a business process is
rescheduled, the business process is moved forward in the
queue.

4. In the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file, under the # QUEUE
CONFIGURATION, Queue # - FairShareSchedulingPolicy, where # indicates the
queue number, locate the properties described in the following table and
change the value for each as appropriate. Complete this step for each queue
you are using. For each property, # indicates the queue number, for example,
ResourceAllocation.3 is the ResourceAllocation property for the third queue.
Also, property values can be different for each queue.
Property

Description

ResourceAllocation.#

Amount of resources to be allocated to a specific queue for fair
share scheduling. This ensures that the queue has more
resources for processing, which improves processing time and
ensures the efficient use of system resources.
Note: Set the resource allocations according to the percentage
of use for each queue and the importance of processing
completed on each queue. If you have higher priority items on
one queue, increase the resource allocation to that queue in
order to increase processing capability. Apply lower
percentages of resources to lower priority queues or less used
queues in order to keep resources free for higher priority
processing.

InitialCycles.#

Number of cycles to be executed the first time a business
process gets to execute. Normally, this value should be 5 or
less. This is intended to facilitate business processes
(particularly Web services) for which normal processing is
quite short, but for which there is longer processing in special
cases. It also allows a mix of short and long business processes
in a queue, favoring the shorter ones.

StealThreads.#

Enables or disables the ability to steal threads from other
queues. This will only steal unused threads from that
queue.Valid values:
v true – Enables the ability to steal threads
v false – Disables the ability to steal threads
Queues that are configured to steal threads from other queues
(StealThreads property set to true) steal from only queues that
have the AllowStealing property set to true.

AllowStealing.#

Enables or disables the ability of other queues to steal threads
from this queue. Only unused allocated threads can be stolen.
Valid values:
v true – Allows other queues to steal threads
v false – Does not allow other queues to steal threads
Queues that are configured to steal threads from other queues
(StealThreads property set to true) steal from only queues that
have the AllowStealing property set to true.

5. Save the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file under the same name
in the install_dir/properties directory.

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Important: Saving the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file under a
different name or in a different location will prevent the changes from being
applied to Sterling B2B Integrator.
6. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
7. In the install_dir/bin directory, apply these changes by running one of the
following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
8. Start Sterling B2B Integrator. The changes are applied to Sterling B2B Integrator,
and override the changes made in the install_dir/properties/tuning.properties
file.

Monitoring Queues using Queue Watcher
Queue Watcher monitors various components in Sterling B2B Integrator as well as
manages queue configuration settings.
Accessing Queue Watcher:
About this task
To access Queue Watcher, do the following:
Procedure
1. Open your web browser to http://host:port/queueWatch, where host:port is the
IP address and port number where Sterling B2B Integrator resides on your
system. A login page appears.
Note: Any user with Administrator privileges can login to the Queue Watcher
application, provided he has all the necessary permissions or is a part of the
Sterling B2B Integrator Administrator group.
2. Type your username and password. The Queue Watcher displays the following
information:

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Heading

Description

View Active Threads for
All Queues

Displays a list of all active queue threads. When selected, you
can review the following information:
QueueName – Displays the queue name.
Min – Minimum number of threads available for the queue.
The threads will be honored even if they are higher than
MaxThreads (global maximum queue threads). The minimum
number of threads cannot be higher than the maximum
number. The fairness calculation does not apply for minimum
threads.
Used – Number of business processes currently running on a
thread.
Calc – Fairshare thread calculation for the queue. Fairshare is
based on concurrent activities on all queues and is
dynamically updated.
Pool – Number of threads in a queue's pool. Threads timeout
if they are not used.
Max – Maximum number of threads used by the queue. Calc
determines the maximum concurrent threads that is
dynamically calculated.
Queue Depth – Number of business processes waiting for a
thread in the queue.
List of Working Threads – List of business processes currently
running on a thread.

Pause All Queues

Use this option to stop queues. Stopping individual queues is
not possible.

Restart All Queues

Use this option to restart queues. Restarting individual queues
is not possible. DBResources will use this command if the
database becomes unavailable.

View Default Queue
Configuration Parms

Displays the parameters set for all of the queues.

View Active Queue
Configuration Parms

Displays the current queue configuration.

View list of Workflow IDs
that recover would see in
the queue

Displays the workflow ID when it is run or moved to another
node in the cluster. Valid values are:
Executed
Moved to another (cluster ) node

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Heading

Description

View Context Cache
Entries

Displays the context cache entries.
Note: If entries show up as invalid they are still correct and
do not indicate an error.
Soft Reference Cache Slots in use - Workflow Context (wfc) is
saved into this queue (hashtable) and can be recovered from it.
This is the fastest back queue. If required, the garbage
collector can acquire more heap space from this queue. The
workflow contexts are not serialized on this queue.
In Memory Cache Bytes in use - This memory cache holds the
workflow contexts with a size lesser than the configured
threshold if it is has space. The workflow contexts are
serialized on this queue.
Disk Cache Bytes in use - This cache holds workflow contexts
larger than the defined threshold. The workflow contexts are
serialized on this queue.

Wait Queue

Displays the workflow IDs when the Wait Service is being
processed. The Wait Service will only appear if the wait
interval is less than 30.

Queue_1 – Queue_9

Displays running and waiting (for available thread) business
processes.

View Heap Memory Level Displays heap usage in the system. Business processes can run
if heap space and CPU resources are available.
View Memory Generation

Displays JVM information specific to garbage collection and
memory generation.

View System Information

Displays system level information from the JVM.

View VM Status

Displays Java Virtual Machine status.

View Manager Properties

Displays the list of properties from the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file.

View Queue Threads

Displays a list of all queue threads.

View All Threads

Displays a list of all active threads.

View Stateful Adapters

Displays a list of stateful adapters running in the system.
Stateful Adapters are adapters with an adapterType of
STATEFUL, for example, the HTTP adapter.

View Stateless Adapters

Displays a list of stateless adapters running in the system.
Stateless adapters are adapters with an adapterType of
STATELESS, for example, the File System Adapter.

View Disabled Adapters

Displays a list of adapters that are currently marked as
disabled (not running).

View DB Pool Information Displays usage information for the configured DB pools.
View Cluster Multicast
Data

Displays load data broadcast from the nodes when running in
a cluster.

Config Queue

Configure the queue parameters to tune performance. The
parameters are not persisted and are reset when Sterling B2B
Integrator restarts.
Note: The Config Queue, Reset Queue, and Step Monitor
fields can only be used one at a time. To submit the data
entered, you must click enter.

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Heading

Description

Reset Queue

Resets the queue to default values. The parameters are not
persisted and are reset when Sterling B2B Integrator restarts.
Note: The Config Queue, Reset Queue, and Step Monitor
fields can only be used one at a time. To submit the data
entered, you must click enter on your keyboard.

Step Monitor

Displays the list of business processes and workflow contexts
in the queue.
Note: The Config Queue, Reset Queue, and Step Monitor
fields can only be used one at a time. To submit the data
entered, you must click enter on your keyboard.

View Properties

Displays a list of all available property file names. Select a
property from the list, then click Send.

View Common Properties

Displays a list of the named common property files. Select a
property from the list, then click Send.

Enabling Queue Watcher:
About this task
Queue Watcher allows you to enable the monitoring and management functionality
from Sterling B2B Integrator without having to restart the system for it to take
affect.
To enable Queue Watcher without restarting Sterling B2B Integrator:
Procedure
1. Access the Queue Watcher tool. See Accessing Queue Watcher for additional
information.
2. Click Enable Queue Watcher. The page refreshes and displays the Queue
Watcher page.
Disabling Queue Watcher:
Queue Watcher allows you to disable the monitoring and management
functionality from Sterling B2B Integrator without having to restart the system for
it to take affect.
About this task
To disable Queue Watcher without restarting Sterling B2B Integrator:
Procedure
1. Access the Queue Watcher tool. For more information about accessing Queue
Watcher, refer to the topic “Accessing Queue Watcher” on page 177.
2. Click Disable Queue Watcher. The Queue Watcher tool is disabled.

Compress Cache Contents
About this task
You can compress cache contents from queues before the cache is written to disk.
Compressing this information increases performance, requiring fewer bytes to be
written to and retrieved from storage. If the cache contents are compressed when
they are written to disk, the contents are decompressed after the information is
read back from the disk.

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To compress the cache contents before the cache is written to disk:

Procedure
1. Open the install_dir/properties/workflows.properties file using a text editor.
2. In the workflows.properties file, locate the compressObj property and change
the value to true. The default value is false.
3. Save the workflows.properties file under the same name in the
install_dir/properties directory.
Important: Saving the workflows.properties file under a different name or in a
different location will prevent the changes from being applied to Sterling B2B
Integrator.
4. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
5. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
6. Start Sterling B2B Integrator. The changes are applied to Sterling B2B Integrator
and the cache contents are compressed before being written to disk and
decompressed after being read from the disk.

Set the Document Body Serialization Threshold Property
When the size of the documents increase, there is a significant increase in the use
of resources for serialization and deserialization of the business process context.

About this task
When you install Sterling B2B Integrator, the default value is
documentInlineSerializationThreshold = 102400 bytes.
If the business process requires the use of the document body at almost every step,
the number of database reads may use more resources than serialization or
deserialization. In such a scenario, set the value higher. If, however, the documents
are large and used infrequently, set the value lower.
To increase performance, in the install_dir/properties/jdbc.properties.in file,
perform the following actions:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties/jdbc.properties.in file, add the following line:
stream_threshold_bytes =
&tune.noapp.documentInlineSerializationThreshold;
2. Set the value of the tune.noapp.documentInlineSerializationThreshold
property in the install_dir/properties/tuning.properties file according to your
document size.
3. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
4. In the System Troubleshooting page, click Soft Stop. This stops Sterling B2B
Integrator. For more information about the softstop process, refer to
“Completing a Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the System
Troubleshooter” on page 111
5. From the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
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The performance configuration changes populate the initial setup files that are
used during startup.
6. From the install_dir/bin directory, start Sterling B2B Integrator by running one
of the following commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) run.sh
v (Windows) startWindowsService.cmd
Sterling B2B Integrator starts, and the updated performance configuration
settings are applied.

Allocate JNDI Contexts
About this task
Several components of Sterling B2B Integrator use Java Naming and Directory
Interface (JNDI) to locate objects. You may find that you have to change the
allocation of JNDI contexts in Sterling B2B Integrator to enhance performance. In
Sterling B2B Integrator, the default value is 50.
To change the JNDI allocation:

Procedure
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, click Soft Stop. This runs the softstop
script, allowing all active business processes to complete on a node before
stopping the system. The script is run through a series of interactive steps in
the UI. For more information about the softstop process, refer to “Completing a
Soft Stop of Sterling B2B Integrator from the System Troubleshooter” on page
111
3. In the install_dir/properties directory, open the tuning.properties file using a
text editor.
4. Locate the tune.noapp.jdni.contextpoolsize property, and change the value to
the level you require.
5. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
The changes populate the initial setup files that are used during startup.
6. In the install_dir/bin directory, start Sterling B2B Integrator by running one of
the following commands depending on your operating system:
v (For UNIX or Linux) run.sh
v (For Windows) startWindowsService.cmd
Sterling B2B Integrator starts, and the updated performance configuration
settings are applied.

Changing Persistence Levels
Persistence level is the level of detail written to the database even as the business
process runs. Sterling B2B Integrator can persist either all the data or only a small
amount of data for each activity that is processed.
The default value for Sterling B2B Integrator is Full persistence. You may find that
you have to change the persistence level to a lower level in order to enhance
performance.

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When you design your business processes, review your persistence requirements
and set persistence levels appropriately to reduce the chances of your database
filling up and slowing both your processing and your system. You may have some
business processes for which you have to persist all the steps and data, and other
business processes for which you do not have to persist any of the steps or data.
There are three levels at which you can set persistence:
v Global – Change the value of the persistence_level property in the
install_dir/properties/noapp.properties_gis_ext.in file. The default value is
SYSTEM DEFAULT. You cannot set the value to PERSISTENCE_WF_NONE or
PERSISTENCE_ERROR_ONLY.
Note: It is more efficient to set persistence levels at either the business process
level or the activity level.
v Business Process – Change the persistence level during the check-in process. The
business process persistence level overrides the global persistence level.
v Activity Level – Change the persistence level in the service or adapter. The
activity persistence level overrides the business process persistence level and the
global persistence level. However, changing the persistence level at the Activity
level is rarely necessary.

Changing Persistence at the Global Level
To edit the global persistence levels:
1. Open the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties_gis_ext.in file using a text
editor.
2. In the property file, locate the persistence_level property, and change the value
to the persistence level you want.
Note: If the persistence level property is a comment in the
noapp.properties_gis_ext.in file (#persistence_level=value), the persistence
level is the default value of full (PERSISTENCE_FULL).
v PERSISTENCE_FULL – Saves a complete copy the of process data along each
step of the process.
v PERSISTENCE_MINIMAL – Saves all the steps in a business process and
selected copies of process data.
v PERSISTENCE_NONE – Saves the first and last steps of a business process
and any steps with an override persistence level.
Note: Use PERSISTENCE_NONE for day-to-day processing.
3. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
4. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
5. Start Sterling B2B Integrator.

Changing Persistence at the Business Process Level
To edit the persistence at the business process level:
1. From the Administration menu, select Business Processes > Manager.

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2. Enter either the entire business process name for which you want to edit the
persistence level or a part of the business process name in the Search box and
click Go!.
3. Click source manager adjacent to the business process you want to edit.
4. Click edit adjacent to the corresponding business process in order to lock the
business process and access the Graphical Process Modeler.
5. In the BPML Specification page that is displayed, enter a new description that
will help you identify this version of the business process.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Process Levels page, indicate the level of persistence you want to assign
for the business process:
v Full - Retains all the data for this business process, including associated
documents, activities, and all the process data.
Note: This choice uses the maximum amount of system resources compared
to other persistence settings.
v Step Status (Engine May Override) - Retains the process data and
documents for services configured to always persist data for a business
process. Sterling B2B Integrator may persist the additional data that is
requested by the process engine or service parameters.
This setting is recommended for most processes because it helps optimize
performance and provides a level of process recovery that is suitable for
most business requirements.
v BP Start Stop (Engine May Override) - Retains additional data as requested
by the process engine or service parameters.
v System Default - Assumes that Sterling B2B Integrator is already configured
to retain data.
v Step Status Only - Every step in the business process runs with minimal
persistence, even if a service or adapter is preconfigured for full persistence.
Sterling B2B Integrator does not persist additional data.
Select this setting if you want to persist only the status information for each
step, you are certain that your process will execute successfully without
persisted data, and your recovery requirements do not depend on the step
data being saved.
v BP Start Stop Only - Retains only error information. Select this setting when
you are certain that your process will execute successfully without persisted
data, and when your recovery requirements do not depend on the process
step data being saved.
v Zero - Does not retain any data.
v Error Only - Retains process information only when an error occurs. If
nothing is wrong and streamed document data is not used, nothing is
retained.
v BP Start Stop Only(No Errors) - Retains information only on business
process start and stop steps only. The first step of the business process is
persisted in full and the last step is persisted in minimal. However, when
the business process encounters an error and stops, the error step is not
persisted and the business process stays in the ACTIVE state.
v Override None No IC - Does not retain any details while the business
process is running or in the current process, and will not retain any details
after the business process is run.
8. Click Next.

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9.
10.
11.
12.

In the Deadline Settings page that is displayed, click Next.
In the Life Span page that is displayed , click Next.
In the Default Version page that is displayed , click Next.
In the Confirm page that is displayed , click Finish.

Note: When the workflow has the storage set to file system or document tracking
is enabled, regardless of the persistence level setting of the workflow, the
documents processed by the workflow will be saved in the storage internally. The
payload in the file system can be purged later or the document can be tracked by
the end user using the Current Documents search page. It is invisible to the end
user directly. Because the documents are saved to storage, it will have an impact
on the performance.

Changing System Logging
Sterling B2B Integrator writes various types of messages to the log files on disk.
The default is to log only the errors. For more information about system logs, refer
to the topic Managing System Logs.
If your system logging level is set to ALL, you may find that you do not require all
the logging messages that are collected because of resource limitations.
If your system logging level is set to ERROR, you may find that you require
additional messages from more detailed logging.
For information about how to change system logging levels, refer to the topic
Managing System Logs.

Enable Trusted Domains for Schemas
About this task
Sterling B2B Integrator has document type definitions (DTDs) and schemas in a
repository for XML components. When a DTD or schema is required, Sterling B2B
Integrator searches the database for the appropriate file. If Sterling B2B Integrator
cannot find the appropriate file, you can configure the install_dir/properties/
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file to have Sterling B2B Integrator go
to trusted Web sites and download the appropriate DTD or schema.
To configure Sterling B2B Integrator to go to trusted Web sites for the DTD and
schema data:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in file.
2. Locate the schemaResolver.trustedDomain.# property and type the URL for the
Web site. For example, the first trusted domain could be
schemaResolver.trustedDomain.1 = http://www.gdsregistry.org. The second
trusted domain could be schemaResolver.trustedDomain.2=URL, and so on.
Sterling B2B Integrator will search through these Web sites to find the
appropriate DTD or schema.
3. Save the noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in file under the same
name and in the same location.
4. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
5. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
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v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
6. Start Sterling B2B Integrator. The changes are applied and you can now
download the DTD and schema data from the trusted Web sites.

Enable the Console Listener
About this task
You can enable the Console Listener to append the events identified in the Events
Viewer to the noapp.log file, during processing. If you do not enable the Console
Listener, the events are not appended to the noapp.log file, and consequently, are
not captured in one location for future use. You will then have to view each
component log file individually to see the events that are logged.
To enable the Console Listener:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate the listenerStartup.properties.in file.
2. Locate the following line:
#Listener.Class.1=com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.
event.listeners.console.ConsoleListener
3. Delete the # symbol in the first line to make the line active.
4. Save the listenerStartup.properties.in file under the same name and in the same
location.
5. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
6. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
7. Start Sterling B2B Integrator. The changes are applied and you can now view
the events as they are appended to the noapp.log file during processing.

Enabling the JMX Event Listener
You can enable the JMX (Java Management Extensions) Event Listener to capture
Sterling B2B Integrator events and perform the necessary notification and handling
based on your custom JMX event handling requirements.

About this task
You can plug in standard JMX tools to monitor Sterling B2B Integrator.
If you have an existing infrastructure for your enterprise applications to perform
JMX-based management and event monitoring, you can establish a uniform way to
handle event notifications from Sterling B2B Integrator, along with your other
applications, through your JMX framework, using the JMX console and tools.
To enable the JMX Event Listener:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, open the jmx.properties file.
2. Set the jmx.start and jmx.eventListener.start properties to true.
3. In the install_dir/properties directory, open the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file.

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4. Set the startup.class.ifcresources property to
com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.jmx.event.SPEventJMXAgentStartup by
editing the existing line.
If the startup.class.ifcresources property does not exist, create a new line to
set the startup.class.ifcresources4 property to
com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.jmx.event.SPEventJMXAgentStartup.
Remember: To prevent errors, do not set the startup.class.ifcresources4
more then once.
Setting the startup.class.ifcresources property starts the JMX Agent when
Sterling B2B Integrator starts.
5. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator to pick up these changes.
6. Configure a business process to send events.
7. In the Sterling B2B Integrator JMX Console, you can view platform events by
using a URL of this form: service:jmx:rmi://HOST:JMXPORT/jndi/rmi://
HOST:JMXRMIPORT/events. This shows the most recent event that was received.
Using external JMX tools that support remote JMX connectivity, it is also
possible to connect remotely to the Event Listener JMX agent. The JMX agent
will be started with a remote connector listening on the jmx.rmi.port as
specified in the jmx.properties file. The URL for remote connection will take
the form /jndi/rmi://[HOST]:[jmx.rmi.port]/events. Use this URL to connect
to the JMX agent and receive all the system-wide events.
It is possible to listen to select events, rather than all of them. By adding a
(comma-separated) list of event schema IDs to the jmx.eventListener.forward
property, the JMX agent will restrict JMX notifications to only those events
specified in the list.

Enhance EDI Performance
About this task
You can boost EDI performance in Sterling B2B Integrator by adjusting the tracking
level in the enveloping.properties file. The tracking level setting affects the
following EDI functionalities:
v EDI Correlation Search
v EDI Document Tracking
v EDI Reporting
To modify the tracking level:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate the enveloping.properties.in file.
2. Locate the following line: TRACKING_LEVEL=setting
3. Change the value of the setting to achieve the required EDI performance and
functionality, as shown in the following table:
Setting

Description

none

Provides the largest EDI performance boost with the least
tracking and search functionality. EDI Correlation Search, EDI
Document Tracking, and EDI Reporting are nonfunctional.

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Setting

Description

basic

Provides an EDI performance boost while also providing
search functionality. EDI Correlation Search is functional. EDI
Document Tracking is nonfunctional. EDI Reporting is
partially functional; you can use the EDI Outbound
Acknowledgment report type.

full

Default setting. Provides the lowest EDI performance with the
highest search and tracking functionality. EDI Correlation
Search, EDI Document Tracking, and EDI Reporting are fully
functional.

4. Save the enveloping.properties.in file under the same name and in the same
location.
5. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
6. In the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following commands:
v (For UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (For Windows) setupfiles.cmd
7. Start Sterling B2B Integrator. The changes are applied to the
enveloping.properties file, and the new settings will determine the default EDI
performance and functionality of your business processes. The default EDI
performance settings that are set in the enveloping.properties file can be
overridden for certain EDI services by using a TRACKING_LEVEL parameter.
This allows you to obtain maximum EDI performance in some business
processes, and maximum search and tracking functionality in others. Refer to
Sterling B2B Integrator Services and Adapters documentation for more information
about EDI services.
Note: Document tracking is turned off by default in the system-defined EDI
business processes. If you define an EDI business process and turn Document
Tracking on, TRACKING_LEVEL settings in both the enveloping.properties file
and the EDI service parameter are overridden.

Customizing Property Files
The property files in Sterling B2B Integrator help you set up, customize, and
diagnose problems pertaining to the installation and operation of Sterling B2B
Integrator. You can maintain your customized property file settings with a
customer override property file (customer_overrides.properties) that overrides the
default property settings in the property files. The customer override property file
is not changed during the installation of Sterling B2B Integrator upgrades or
patches.
To prevent your customized settings from being overwritten, use the customer
override property file whenever possible rather than directly editing the Sterling
B2B Integrator property files or the associated .in files. For information about how
to use the customer override property file to change property files, refer to the
Sterling B2B Integrator Property Files documentation.
CAUTION:
Property files directly affect the operation of Sterling B2B Integrator. Contact
IBM Customer Support before changing any properties.
The following tasks use the customer_overrides.properties file:
v Changing Advanced File Transfer Settings
v Change the SoftStop Time Limit

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Managing System Recovery
About this task
Sterling B2B Integrator is designed to automatically reset itself to a previous, stable
state following a system crash. After the reset is complete, the system is up and
operational.
After a system crash, restore the server on which Sterling B2B Integrator is
installed to a stable state, and then restart Sterling B2B Integrator. After it is
restarted, the system invokes the Recovery business process to search for and
requeue any unprocessed transactions. If the database goes down, Sterling B2B
Integrator stops pulling jobs from queues. The system recovers these jobs when the
database becomes available.
Sterling B2B Integrator uses multithread operation to restart or resume business
processes following a system crash. Unfinished business processes, up to a
preconfigured number, are stored in a pool. Each of the preconfigured number of
threads receive a batch of business processes to restart or resume. The size of the
batch is also preconfigured. When a thread finishes restarting or resuming a batch
of business processes, it requests another batch from the pool. This cycle continues
until the pool is empty.
By default, the system uses 10 threads, each of which resumes or restarts 10
business processes, and then requests and processes another 10, up to a total of
1000 business processes for all threads. You can configure the system settings to
adjust recovery performance according to your business requirements.
To configure the system recovery process settings, perform the following actions:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate (or create, if necessary) the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file using a text editor.
3. Add override statements as required, using the following format for each new
line: bprecovery.property=new_value These statements will override the
property settings in the bprecovery.properties file. The applicable properties are
described in the following table:
Property

Description

maxAutorecoveryCount

Maximum number of business processes that will be
resumed or restarted by the Recovery business
process each time it runs. Default is 1000.
This defines the maximum size of the pool used to
hold the business processes that have to be resumed
or restarted. Each time a thread requests a batch of
business processes to restart or resume, the pool size
is reduced by the size of the batch (specified by the
batchSize property).

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Property

Description

numberOfThreads

Number of threads that will be used simultaneously
to restart or resume business processes. Default is 10.
Each thread will start or resume a batch of business
processes. The size of the batch is specified by the
batchSize property. When the thread is finished with
the batch, it will request another batch from the pool.
This process will continue until the pool of business
processes that have to be restarted or resumed is
empty.
If you frequently have very large numbers of
business processes running at the same time, a larger
numberOfThreads value will enhance recovery
performance.
Note: Increasing the number of threads will speed up
the recovery process, but will use more system
resources. Decreasing the number of threads will free
up system resources, but will slow the recovery
process. Adjust this value based on your business
requirements.

batchSize

Maximum number of business processes that will be
resumed or restarted by each thread before it requests
more business processes from the pool. Default is 10.
Note: Increasing the batch size will speed up the
recovery process, but will use more system resources.
Decreasing the batch size will free up system
resources, but will slow the recovery process. Adjust
this value based on your business requirements.

Let us for example, assume that you want to change the number of threads
from the default value of 10 to 20 and the batch size from 10 to 5. To do so,
add the following lines to the customer_overrides.properties file:
bprecovery.numberOfThreads=20
bprecovery.batchSize=5
4. Save and close the customer_overrides.properties file.
5. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator and restart it to use the new values. For assistance
in determining the proper settings for your business requirements, contact IBM
Customer Support.

Changing the Soft Stop Time Limit
You can set the time limit used when completing a soft stop of Sterling B2B
Integrator from the command line.

About this task
This may be needed to give the business processes that are running adequate time
to finish.
You should perform a soft stop by doing the following:
1. Click Operations > System > Troubleshooter.
2. In the System Troubleshooting page, click Soft Stop.
For more information about the soft stop process, refer to “Completing a Soft Stop
of Sterling B2B Integrator from the Command Line” on page 115.

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To override the default soft stop time limit:

Procedure
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate (or create, if necessary) the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file using a text editor.
3. Add the following lines:
v noapp.shutdown.timeout_for_bps=new_value
v noapp.shutdown.timeout_for_adapters=new_value
Note: These lines override the shutdown.timeout_for_bps and
shutdown.timeout_for_adapters properties in the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in file.
In these lines, new_value refers to the new time limit, in seconds, for a soft stop
of Sterling B2B Integrator. For example, assume that you want to set the soft
stop time limit for adapters to 600 seconds (10 minutes). To do so, add the
following line to the customer_overrides.properties file:
noapp.shutdown.timeout_for_adapters=600
4. Save and close the customer_overrides.properties file.
5. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator and restart it to use the new values.

Changing Advanced File Transfer Settings
About this task
Advanced File Transfer (AFT) Visibility performance can be tuned by overriding
three properties in the visibility.properties file. The following settings can be
adjusted:
v The looping interval of the AFT Worker thread (persistent_batching_interval)
The AFT Worker thread stores the AFT events in the database. It consumes all
the current events in an input event queue, and then sleeps for the duration of
the specified batching interval. This allows events to build up so that they can
be more efficiently batched into the database. You can improve AFT visibility
performance by adjusting the batching interval. The batching interval controls
how much latency is programmed into the backend in order to batch up the
events.
v The capacity of the AFT database listener event queue
(event_input_queue_capacity)
Note: For large volume operations of FTP, Mailbox, Advanced File Transfer, and
Sterling File Gateway, the number of open file descriptors should be set to at
least 4096, using the command ulimit -n 4096.
You can specify the size of the event input queue. By default, the AFT backend
will store up to 2048 AFT events while waiting for the AFT Database worker
thread to return and process them. If the thread does not return before Sterling
B2B Integrator fills up the event queue, the event queue will block client threads
until space is available in the queue. The clients cannot continue with their tasks,
such as copying a file, until the AFT Database worker thread empties the queue.
If the AFT Database worker thread returns and the event queue is filled to
capacity, a message will be written to the visibility log file as shown in the
following example:

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DmiVisEventWarehouse.Worker - ALERT ISSUED AFT Warehouse input BoundedQueue has reached capacity!
Client threads are now blocking!
The AFT Warehouse will temporarily suspend the sleep interval and
work full time to handle this spike in event activity.

At this point, the Worker thread will suspend sleep operations and service the
event queue. The Worker thread will also monitor the number of events it is
retrieving from the input queue. When the queue is no longer filled to capacity,
the Worker thread will resume normal sleep intervals after the current events are
processed and write a message into the visibility log file as shown in the
following example:
DmiVisEventWarehouse.Worker - ALERT RESCINDED AFT Warehouse input BoundedQueue is operating
below capacity!
The normal batch sleep interval is now re-established.

By adjusting the size of the event queue, you can improve the AFT Visibility
performance.
v The amount of AFT coverage to enable visibility_coverage.
You can improve performance by adjusting the amount of AFT Visibility
coverage that is enabled. You can specify settings ranging from None, which
disables AFT Visibility, to All, which enables all the AFT Visibility components.
Specifying the proper settings according to your requirements allows you to
disable unnecessary components and improve performance, while preserving
core file transfer and data flow capabilities.
To specify AFT Visibility settings, perform the following steps:

Procedure
1. Navigate to the install_dir/properties directory and locate (or create, if
necessary) the customer_overrides.properties file. For more information about
customizing property files, refer to the topic Customizing Property Files.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file using a text editor.
3. Add the property settings that you want to use in the following format, using
the information provided in the following table as reference:
dmivisibility.PROPERTY_NAME=PROPERTY_VALUE
Here, PROPERTY_NAME is the name of the property.
PROPERTY_VALUE is the value you want to assign to the property.
For example, assume that you want to change the persistent batching interval
from the default value of 2000 to a value of 3000. To do so, add the following
line to the customer_overrides.properties file:
dmivisibility.persistent_batching_interval=3000

192

Property

Description

persistent_batching_interval

Specifies the time interval, in milliseconds, between
batching AFT events to the database. Default is 2000
milliseconds (2 seconds). Example:
dmivisibility.persistent_batching_interval=2000

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Property

Description

event_input_queue_capacity

Specifies the capacity of the bounded queue (AFT
database listener event queue) through which all the AFT
events must pass en route the database. Default is 2048.
Example:
dmivisibility.event_input_queue_capacity=2048
Notes:
v

If the value of this property is set too high, it may
negatively impact system performance because of
excessive memory usage. This property should be
tuned with the persistent_batching_interval property for
optimum results.

v For large volume operations of FTP, Mailbox, Advanced
File Transfer, and Sterling File Gateway, the number of
open file descriptors should be set to at least 4096,
using the command ulimit -n 4096.
visibility_coverage

Specifies which AFT Visibility components are enabled.
Valid values are:
v All – Enables all the AFT Visibility components. This
includes CommBase, Authentication, Authorization,
NonFileXfer, and AdminAudit.
v CommBase – Enables the basic level of visibility
coverage that includes Communication Sessions, File
Transfers, and Process File Events. AFT Routing events
and records are also included in this setting.
v Authentication – Enables Authentication events and
records.
v Authorization – Enables Authorization events and
records.
v NonFileXfer – Enables Non File Transfer events and
records (such as FTP CWD).
v CommAll – Enables CommBase, Authorization,
Authentication, and NonFileXfer.
v AdminAudit – Enables Administrative Audit trail
events and records.
v None – Disables AFT Visibility.
Example: dmivisibility.visibility_coverage=All
Visibility coverage property settings can be also combined
using commas as delimiters, for example:
dmivisibility.visibility_coverage=
CommBase,Authentication,AdminAudit

4. Save and close the customer_overrides.properties file.
5. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator and restart it to use the new values.

Optimize System Performance for Sterling e-Invoicing
Sterling e-Invoicing is installed on an instance of Sterling B2B Integrator, and
shares many of the resources with the latter.
You should, therefore, tune your Sterling B2B Integrator installation first, and then
perform the Sterling e-Invoicing-specific tuning task. However, be aware that the
changes you make to Sterling e-Invoicing can also affect the performance of
Sterling B2B Integrator.
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Note: Do not edit the property files directly. Make the changes in the
customer_overrides.properties file.
To optimize the performance of Sterling e-Invoicing:
1. From the Administration menu, select Business Processes > Manager.
2. Enter TrustWeaverEInvoicing in the Search box and click Go!
3. Click source manager adjacent to the business process you want to edit.
4. Click edit adjacent to the corresponding business process in order to lock that
business process.
5. In the BPML Specification page that is displayed, enter a new description that
will help you identify this version of the business process.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Process Levels page that is displayed, select a single workflow queue to
dedicate solely to the TrustWeaverEInvoicing process, for example, queue 5.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Deadline Settings page that is displayed, click Next.
10. In the Life Span page that is displayed, click Next.
11. In the Default Version page that is displayed, select the version being edited
and click Next.
12. In the Confirm page that is displayed, click Finish.
13. Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
14. Modify the tuning.properties file so that the selected queue's minimum and
maximum pool sizes are equal to the number of simultaneous connections
allowed to TrustWeaver. For example, if you are using queue 5, and are using
up to 10 simultaneous connections to TrustWeaver, you must set the following
properties in the tuning.properties property file:
v NOAPP.MAX_POOL_SIZE_5=10
v NOAPP.MIN_POOL_SIZE_5=10
15. After you edit the property file, run setupfiles.sh (setupfiles.cmd for
Windows).
16. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator to apply the change.

The Order of Segments in Maps and Data
The benefit of correctly constructed maps is faster processing of input data. A
correctly constructed map contains segments on the input (left) side of the map in
the same order in which those segments occur in the input data.
In order to locate a matching segment identifier, a search is conducted in the map
for each input record in the data stream, starting with the last segment entry plus
one. The search is sequential, and wraps to the beginning of the map if the target
segment is not found when the search reaches the end of the map. If the target
segment identifier is not found even after the entire map has been searched, an
error is generated, and the processing continues with the next record in the data
stream. You can minimize the processing time by organizing the map segments in
the same order as that of the input document segments.
The following scenario demonstrates a situation where an entire map is searched to
match each input segment stream.
The following table lists the order of the identifiers in the map:

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Segment Identifier
00001
00002
00003
00004

The following table lists the order of the input data segments in the document:
Segment Identifier
00004
00003
00002
00001

Let us assume that a translator searches three records in the map before finding the
fourth map record matching the first segment in the input data stream. Similarly,
to process the second segment in the input data stream, the translator begins the
search after the fourth segment, wraps to the beginning of the file, and searches
three more segments, before finding the correct match. The same search sequence
is followed until all the segments are processed in the input stream. If map
segments are missing in an input document, it results in lower throughput.

Purge Performance Recommendations
This topic provides information about purge performance recommendations. Purge
process removes data from the live database tables.
The following table provides information about purge performance
recommendations:
Recommendation

Comments

Purge business processes

The Schedule_IndexBusinessProcessService runs every 10
minutes. By default, it is configured to index 5,000 business
processes every time it runs, which translates to 720,000
business processes in a 24-hours time span.
If your system is handling a high volume of business
processes, you can increase the number of business processes
indexed per cycle. You can modify the
Schedule_IndexBusinessProcessService business process by
modifying variable as shown in the following example:
500000

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Recommendation

Comments

Batch purge

The Schedule_PurgeService scans the ARCHIVE_INFO
database table to purge data in the system. By default, it
purges 2,000 rows of data in batches to limit the database
transaction size. You can set the batch size in the
jdbc_purge.propeties file that can be located in
install_dir/install/properties (install_dir\install\
properties for Windows) directory. Modify the batch size by
changing the variable as shown in the following example:
query.purge_archiveInfoRowLimit.database_name
Note: Replace the database_name with the database you are
using along with Sterling B2B Integrator, for example, mssql.
If you modify the value to increase the batch purge rate,
ensure that you configure your database with sufficient log
space to handle large transactions.

Document lifespan

By default, lifespan for information persisted by a business
process is two days. The Schedule_PurgeService purges data
in competition with business activity on a system with
predictable processing periods. You can defer document
lifespan by increasing the business process lifespan. For
example, consider that the system is processing information
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., you can increase the document lifespan
by 12 hours, the purge activity will occur between 8 p.m. on
the same day and 5 a.m. on the next day.
You can modify the business process lifespan by logging in as
a Sterling B2B Integrator administrator. Navigate to
Operations > Archive Manager > Configure Archive Settings
and perform the changes.

Database compression

The Schedule_IndexBusinessProcessService and the
Schedule_PurgeService runs complex queries which results in
signification disk I/O on the database server. You can
compress the database tables provided in the following list to
achieve significant reduction (up to 50% in some cases) in disk
usage:
v

CORRELATION_SET

v

WORKFLOW_CONTEXT

v

TRANS_DATA

v

DOCUMENT

v ARCHIVE_INFO

Optimizing and Controlling the System Threads
This topic provides information about optimizing and controlling the system
threads. It also provides information about threads created, their source, and
procedures to control them.

Optimizing System Threads
Out of memory situations are very difficult to diagnose. Sterling B2B Integrator
creates around 300 threads that can be grouped under system threads, adapter
threads, common JVM threads, third party software threads, and several other
threads that occur only once for different purposes.

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The following table lists the threads created in Sterling B2B Integrator and their
source.
Thread created by

Thread name

Count

ActiveMQ

ActiveMQ transport

80

ActiveMQ Session Task

11

SessionScavenger

47

ConduitStreamListener

16

SocketListener

10

JGroup

Various Jgroup Handlers

22

JetSpeed

RunnableThread

10

Perimeter PS Dispatcher

Various Adapters

13

Business process queues

ReschedulingThread

10

B2B

B2B http Servlet Thread

3

FIFOTaskListener

10

QueueThread:queue

11

RMI

7

Timer

7

From various components

30

Jetty

System

Others
Total

287

Controlling the Threads: Several threads created by Sterling B2B Integrator for
various purposes may not be required always and they can be controlled wherever
required. This will enhance the Sterling B2B Integrator performance considerably.
Following are the concepts described in this topic:
v ActiveMQ Threads
v Jetty Threads
v JGroup Threads
v JetSpeed Threads
v Adapter Threads
v Business Process Queue Threads
v FIFOTaskListener and Queue Threads
v RMI Threads
v Timer Threads
ActiveMQ Threads
ActiveMQ threads can be controlled by running ActiveMQ broker in a separate
JVM. No additional setup or configuration is necessary to run ActiveMQ in a
separate JVM. The Sterling B2B Integrator build installation process configures the
system to use it out of the box for both cluster ActiveMQ and non-cluster
ActiveMQ.
However, if you plan to use clustering, you may choose a different configuration
by editing the activemqconfig.xml file. Before editing this file, read the

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readme_cluster.txt file. It contains information about how to use the options in the
activemqconfig.xml file. Both files are located in the install_dir/install/activemq/
conf folder.
Mandatory Startup for ActiveMQ
The startActivemqMandatory parameter in the install_dir/install/properties/
activeMQ.properties file controls the remaining processes and starts them if
ActiveMQ fails to start. The default value for this parameter is false. To change
this, you can create an extension file (for example,
activeMQ.properties_clumpName_ext.in or customer_overrides.properties file) and
specify the following entry:
startActivemqMandatory=true|false
Where:
true = If activemq fails to start, the rest of processes will not be started.
false = If activemq fails to start, continue to start the rest of the processes.
Standalone ActiveMQ Commands
You can start and stop standalone ActiveMQ server by running the following
commands.
To start the standalone ActiveMQ server, ensure that ActiveMQ dynamic
configuration file (activemqconfig.xml.in) and ActiveMQ configuration XML file
(activemqconfig.xml) are present in the install_dir/install/activemq/conf directory.
Run the following command from install_dir/install/bin directory:
v For UNIX, run startActiveMQ.sh
v For Windows, run startActiveMQWindowsService.cmd
To stop the standalone ActiveMQ server, run the following command from
install_dir/install/bin directory:
v For UNIX, run stopActiveMQ.sh
v For Windows, run stopActiveMQWindowsService.cmd
Note: You can also start or stop ActiveMQ service from Windows Service Manager.
Using an External ActiveMQ Environment
ActiveMQ is bundled along with Sterling B2B Integrator. However, you can use a
different ActiveMQ environment by modifying certain files.
Note: It is recommended that users who are familiar with ActiveMQ environment
perform this task.
To use an external ActiveMQ environment in UNIX:
1. Shut down Sterling B2B Integrator.
2. Change ACTIVEMQ_PORT in sandbox.cfg and point to your own ActiveMQ
environment.
3. Remove startActiveMQ.sh from install/bin/run.sh.in.
4. Remove stopActiveMQ.sh from install/bin/hardstop.sh.in.

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5. Change remote.protocol_config=client connection in the
install/event.properties.in file to your ActiveMQ environment.
6. Run install/bin/setupfiles.sh.
7. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator.
To use an external ActiveMQ environment in Windows:
1. Shut down Sterling B2B Integrator.
2. Change ACTIVEMQ_PORT in sandbox.cfg and point to your own ActiveMQ
environment.
3. Remove "net start "%ACTIVEMQ_SERVICE_NAME%" >NUL" from
install/bin/startWindowsService.cmd.
4. Remove "net stop /y "%ACTIVEMQ_SERVICE_NAME%"" from install/bin/
stopWindowsService.cmd.
5. Change remote.protocol_config=client connection in the
install/event.properties.in file to your ActiveMQ environment.
6. Run install/bin/setupfiles.cmd.
7. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator.
Sterling B2B Integrator
Changing the Cluster Setting for Bundled ActiveMQ
The configuration file for the bundled ActiveMQ is install/activemq/conf/
activemqconfig.xml. You can manually change the broker setting to fit your
business requirements. You can also extend this file with
activemqconfig_clumpname_ext.xml to configure your own beans.
Sterling B2B Integrator
Note: Read install/activemq/conf/readme_cluster.txt file before making any
changes.
Jetty Threads
Sterling B2B Integrator uses Jetty version 4.2.24. Jetty version 4.2.24 when
compared to latest versions like Jetty version 6.1.8 offers limited control on the
number of threads created. However, you can control the numbers of threads
created by Jetty listeners. Further, the large numbers of SessionScavenger and
ConduitStreamListener threads are not controlled by listener thread parameters.
They are created for web applications and HTTP Servlet adapters.
You can control the number of threads created by Jetty Listeners by modifying the
following configuration parameters in the
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext file:
# specify the minimum number of threads for Socket Listeners for Jetty
jetty_min_threads = 5
# specify the maximum number of threads for Socket Listeners for Jetty
jetty_max_threads = 100

Note: You cannot modify the jetty_min_threads value. However, you can modify
the jetty_max_threads value in the available range from 5 - 100.

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JGroup Threads
JGroup is a reliable multicast communication toolkit and is used in Sterling B2B
Integrator cluster environment. You cannot control the number of threads created
by JGroup.
JetSpeed Threads
Jetspeed is the portal engine used in Sterling B2B Integrator dashboard interface.
The jetspeedresources.properties file controls the number of threads created by
JetSpeed.
You can control the number of threads created by JetSpeed by modifying the
following configuration parameters in install/noapp/deploy/dashboard/webapp/
WEB-INF/conf/JetspeedResources.properties file.
#Specify the initial number of threads to create
services.ThreadPool.init.count=5
#Specify the maximum number of threads to create
services.ThreadPool.max.count=20
#Specify the minimum number of threads to keep as spare until you hit the maximum
services.ThreadPool.minspare.count=5

Note: You cannot modify the services.ThreadPool.init.count value. However,
you can modify the services.ThreadPool.max.count value in the available range
from 5 - 20.
After modifying, you should remove the install/noapp/deploy/dashboard/
webapp/WEB-INF/conf/JetspeedResources.properties from install/noapp/deploy/
dashboard.war file to make your change take effect.
Adapter Threads
Several Jetty and Timer threads are created by adapters. You can disable the
adapters that are not required to run your business processes thereby controlling
the number of threads created by the adapters.
The following adapters can be disabled to reduce the number of threads created:
Note: Disabling an adapter in the following list can reduce at least one or two
threads in most cases.
v FIFO Routing
v FIFO Error Queue Listener
v HTTP Communications Adapter
v B2B HTTP Communications Adapter
v SFTP Client Adapter
v FTP Client Adapter
v Map Test Http Server
v ebXML Http Server Adapter
v MBI Http Server Adapter
v SOA Http Server Adapter
v SOA SSL Http Server Adapter
v RN Http Server Adapter
v Http Server Adapter

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v

SWIFTNet Http Server Adapter

Business Process Queue Threads
Sterling B2B Integrator creates nine regular business process queues and one
internal queue called wait queue for wait service. You cannot control the number
of threads created for business processes.
FIFOTaskListener and Queue Threads
The FIFORouting adapter creates and controls ten queues for FIFO processing.
Each FIFO queue creates a FIFO task listener and every task listener creates a
consumer at startup. You can configure the number of queues to reduce the
number of threads. Additionally, you can disable the FIFORouting adapter if you
are not using it thereby turning off all the queues created by the adapter.
You can control the number of threads by modifying the following configuration.
The number of queues configured depends on the system load.
#In customer_overrides.properties,additional queues can be added by adding,
for example:
#fifo.workflow.taskqueue.11=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.11
#fifo.workflow.taskqueue.12=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.11
#Note, queues cannot be reduced in customer_overrides.properties
but the names can be changed and must be unique
workflow.taskqueue.1=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.1
workflow.taskqueue.2=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.2
workflow.taskqueue.3=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.3
workflow.taskqueue.4=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.4
workflow.taskqueue.5=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.5
workflow.taskqueue.6=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.6
workflow.taskqueue.7=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.7
workflow.taskqueue.8=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.8
workflow.taskqueue.9=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.9
workflow.taskqueue.10=FIFO.GIS.QUEUE.10

RMI Threads
The RMI threads are system generated threads for JNDI. You cannot control the
number of RMI threads.
Timer Threads
The timer threads are created when Sterling B2B Integrator starts. It is not
recommended to control these threads as they are necessary for Sterling B2B
Integrator to run smoothly.
The following timer threads are created when Sterling B2B Integrator starts:
v Check Sterling B2B Integrator component licenses and generate messages for
users when one or more licenses is about to expire.
v Roll the log service files.
v Gather YCP statistics used by the entity framework.
v Monitor resources and detect database connections or database connection
leaks.
v Schedule business processes.
v JNDI service timer.
v ActiveMQ timer.
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WebSphere MQ Parameters
Your processing volumes and the number of WebSphere MQ queue consumers and
producers that you expect to start might require you to change the channel and log
parameters in the qm.ini or mqs.ini file.

Channel
Each started thread that reads from or writes to the WebSphere MQ queues
requires a channel. If you start 20 JVMs with 5 threads each, you will need at least
100 channels (the default value). You may also have to increase the number of
channels if you have workloads that open and close the JMS/MQ connections
rapidly.
If you experience messages indicating that the maximum number of channels has
been reached, do the following:
v Check to see if there is a connection or channel leak. Run the following
command to see how many active channels are used. YOUR_QM_NAME should be
replaced with your real Queue Manager name.
echo "dis chs(*)" | runmqsc YOUR_QM_NAME | grep RUNNING | wc -l

v You may have to run each workload at peak production loads in your test
environment to diagnose channel leaks.
v If you suspect that channels are not getting reclaimed fast enough or if your
TCP/IP connection is not reliable, you should set the following parameters. The
KeepAlive parameter tells the queue manager to check the existence of the client.
If the client is not there, the queue manager will reclaim the channel. The
MaxChannels parameter defaults to 100. In production settings, that parameter
could grow to a much higher number like 300 or 500.
TCP:
KeepAlive=YES
Channels:
MaxChannels=300
MaxActiveChannels=100

Log Files
WebSphere MQ uses log files to maintain message integrity in the event of a queue
manager restart or a media failure.
The number of log files depends on your configuration, the size of the messages,
the logging type, and the message volumes. You should performance test your
application at or above peak production loads to see if the default WebSphere MQ
log settings are sufficient. If you are using CIRCULAR logging, the following may
be reasonable starting values:
Log:
LogPrimaryFiles=4
LogSecondaryFiles=1
LogFilePages=65536
LogType=CIRCULAR
LogBufferPages=0

If you use LINEAR logging (for example, to survive media failure), you will have
to set LogPrimaryFiles higher.

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Placement of WebSphere MQ Log and Data Files
If your system has to be able to process a high message rate, you should consider
placing your WebSphere MQ log and data files on a fast SAN, preferably
configured with a large NVRAM and RAID-10. A single internal disk should have
sufficient capacity to allow up to 150K to 200K messages per second. Files on a
RAID-10 LUN should be able to get up to around 1.5M to 2.0M messages per hour.
Beyond that message rate, you may want to consider implementing multiple queue
managers with separate data and log files.

Performance Statistics
The Performance Statistics Report is the key to managing your Sterling B2B
Integrator performance.
Before you can generate or view a performance statistics report, you must turn on
performance statistics. For more information about how to turn it on, refer to the
topic Turning On and Turning Off Performance Statistics. You can turn on and turn
off performance statistics as many times as you want to. When performance
statistics is turned off, the statistics are simply discarded, and when performance
statistics is turned on, the current report resumes the process of collecting statistics.
If you do not generate a report before you turn on performance statistics, the
default report is generated automatically, and collects the performance statistics.
Run the Performance Statistics Report to obtain benchmarks directly after you
perform each of these tasks:
v Install Sterling B2B Integrator.
v Tune Sterling B2B Integrator using the information provided in the topic
“Manual Performance Tuning” on page 166.
v Complete manual tuning, if any, to the install_dir/properties/
noapp.properties file and related extension files (*.ext).
v Make improvements to your business processes, if necessary, including changing
the persistence levels.
After you receive your initial benchmark Performance Statistics Report, generate a
new report every few weeks or at least once a month to have a snapshot of the
way your Sterling B2B Integrator is performing in relation to your benchmarks.
If you note variances between your benchmarks and your current report, you can
use the information in the report to troubleshoot and resolve issues before they
cause performance delays. The most current report is always at the top of the View
Report list. After you close a report, no further data can be added to the report.
Every time you generate a new report, the new report becomes the current report.

Viewing a Performance Statistics Report
To view a Performance Statistics Report:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics.
2. In the Performance Statistics Report Manager page, under View Report, select a
name from the list, and click Go!.

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Reading a Performance Statistics Report
Performance Statistics Report provides you with information that can help you
maintain your Sterling B2B Integrator system, and reduce performance issues
before they become problems. Performance Statistics Report helps you identify and
analyze bottlenecks in your business processes and the time taken for the
completion of each activity.
The report displays business process statistics and system statistics since the time
the report was generated first. If a new report is generated, it does not contain
historical statistics, only the statistics collected after it was generated the previous
time.
Performance Statistics Report consists of the following sections:
v Business Process Statistics
v Internal System Statistics
Business Process Statistics
The following figure displays the Business Process Statistics section of a
Performance Statistics Report:

The following table describes the columns in the Business Process Statistics section:
Note: Business process statistics are more varied than what is described in the
Description column of the following table.
Statistic Name

Description

Business Process Statistics

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Statistic Name

Description

Name

Name of a business process, followed by numbered rows
pertaining in the individual activities in the business process. The
number of each row indicates the corresponding step in the
business process.
For example, in the preceding figure, the business process
CIIDeenveloper includes two activities:
v --> 1 DeenveloperCII
v --> 2 DecisionEngineService

Min (ms)

Minimum time (in milliseconds) it took for a business process or
activity to complete. If there are multiple invocations, this is the
lowest minimum time taken for all the invocations.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the CIIDeenvelope business process took 19183 ms to complete,
while the Deenveloping step (1 DeenveloperCII) took a minimum
time of 18474 ms. Both these are the lowest statistics; there were
two invocations of the business process.
Use this statistic to track business processes or activities that begin
to slow down. If you notice this statistic increasing over your
benchmark value, it may be indicative of a performance issue. If
you see an occasional variance for a business process or activity, it
does not necessarily indicate a performance issue. If, however, you
notice a continuous variance between production statistics and
your benchmarks, you probably have a real issue that should be
addressed.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic A Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution.
For more information about improving business process execution
time, refer to the topic Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business
Process Execution Time.

Max (ms)

Maximum time (in milliseconds) it took for a business process or
activity took to complete. If there are multiple invocations, this is
the highest maximum time taken for all the invocations.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the CIIDeenvelope business process took 19275 ms to complete,
while the Deenveloping step (1 DeenveloperCII) took a maximum
time of 18672 ms. Both these are the highest statistics; there were
two invocations of the business process.
Use this statistic to track business processes or activities that begin
to slow down during processing. If you notice this statistic
increasing over your benchmark value, it may be indicative of a
performance issue. If you see an occasional variance for a business
or activity, it does not indicate a performance issue. If, however,
you notice a continuous variance between production statistics and
your benchmarks, you must resolve the issue.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic A Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution.
For more information about improving business process execution
time, refer to the topic Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business
Process Execution Time.

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Statistic Name

Description

Average (ms)

Average processing time taken for a business process or service to
be completed.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the CIIDeenvelope business process took an average of 19229.0 ms
to complete, while the Deenveloping step (1 DeenveloperCII) took
an average time of 18573.0 ms. Both these are the average statistics;
there were two invocations of the business process.
Use this statistic to track the overall averages of business processes
or activities that begin to slow down during processing. If you
notice this statistic increasing over your benchmark value, it may
be indicative of a performance issue. If you see an occasional
variance for a business or activity, it does not necessarily indicate a
performance issue. If, however, you notice a continuous variance
between production statistics and your benchmarks, you probably
have a real issue that should be addressed.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic A Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution.
For more information about improving business process execution
time, refer to the topic Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business
Process Execution Time.

Invocations

Number of times the business process or service was invoked since
the report was generated first. The number of invocations should
be the same for both the business process and each activity in the
business process, unless you have a business process that loops
several times. In such a situation, you can set the number of
invocations lower than the number of activities in the business
process.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the CIIDeenvelope business process had two invocations, and the
Deenveloping step (1 DeenveloperCII) had two invocations.
Use this statistic to determine if the number of business processes
expected are running, and if all the activities in the business
processes are running. If you see a variance between the business
process invocation number and the activity number, this may
indicate that a business process has an error, and is in a waiting,
interrupted, or halted state. You can also use this statistic to
determine the processing load on your system during different
processing periods, such as peak and nonpeak processing hours.

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Statistic Name

Description

Total (ms)

Total time for (in milliseconds) a business process or service has
taken to process since the time you last generated the report. This
is the sum of total time taken for the completion of all the business
processes.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the CIIDeenvelope business process took 38458 ms to process since
the report was last generated and the Deenveloping step (1
DeenveloperCII) took a total of 37146 ms.
Use this statistic to see if the total processing time for a business
process or activity is increasing substantially over the number of
invocations. If this number does increase over the number of
invocations, it indicates that the processing time is longer. If the
processing time is longer than your benchmark, you must resolve
the issue.
Note: Because statistics are accumulated from the beginning of
monitoring until its end, you might have to turn monitoring on
and off and collect the statistics at regular intervals. This allows
you to monitor performance at certain times during processing. A
change in the total work a business process performs during the
intervals might indicate a problem, but only if the demand for that
business process is constant throughout the measurement period.
For more information about improving business process execution
time, refer to the topic Understanding Business Process.

Pre-Service (ms)

Total time taken by the business process engine to complete
activities before a business process or service is run.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the DeenvelopeCII activity took 37146 ms for preservice activities.
Every time an activity is run, Sterling B2B Integrator must
complete system service invocations before running the activity.
Use this statistic to see if the system services are taking a long time
to run before a business process is run. If you see a variance
between the report time and the benchmark time, this may indicate
that there is a database, operating system, or some other system
issue that must be resolved.
For more information about operating system issues, refer to your
vendor's documentation.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic A Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution.

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Statistic Name

Description

Post-Service (ms)

Total time taken by the business process engine to complete
activities after the business process or service is run.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, it can be seen that
the DecisionEngineService activity took 100 ms for postservice
activities. Every time an activity runs, Sterling B2B Integrator
completes some persistence of information to the database. This
persistence takes time to complete, and the postservice time
includes this persistence time.
Use this statistic to see if the system services are taking a long time
to run after a business process is run. If you see a variance
between the report time and the benchmark time, this may indicate
that there is a database, operating system, or some other system
issue that must be resolved.
For more information about operating system issues, refer to your
vendor's documentation.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic A Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution.

Internal System Statistics
The Internal System Statistics section of the Performance Statistics Report includes
a lot of information that you can use to monitor your Sterling B2B Integrator
system and ensure that it meets the benchmarks that you have established.
The following figure displays the Internal System Statistics section of a
Performance Statistics Report:

The following table describes the columns in the Internal System Statistics section:
Statistic Name

Description

Internal System Statistics
Name

Name of the system activity, including the following:
v Persist a Business Process Step to the Database
v Persist a Document to the Database
v Assign from an XPath Statement
v Acquire a Database Connection
v Execute an XPath Statement
v Put a Business Process on the Queue

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Statistic Name

Description

Min (ms)

Minimum time (in milliseconds) the system activity took to
complete. If there are multiple invocations, this is the lowest time
for all the invocations.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, the Persist a
Document to the Database activity took 9 ms to complete. This is
the shortest time of the nine invocations of the activity.

Max (ms)

Maximum time (in milliseconds) the system activity took to
complete. If there are multiple invocations, this is the highest time
for all the invocations.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, the Persist a
Document to the Database activity took 212 ms to complete. This is
the longest time of the nine invocations of the activity.

Average (ms)

Average processing time taken for the system activity to complete.
This is the average time for all invocations.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, the Persist a
Document to the Database activity took an average of 111 ms to
complete. This is the average processing time taken by the nine
invocations of the activity.

Invocations

Number of times the system activity was invoked since you last
generated the report.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, the Persist a
Document to the Database activity was invoked nine times.

Total (ms)

Total time (in milliseconds) the system activity has taken to process
since the report generation began. This is the sum total time of all
the system activity completion times.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, the Persist a
Document to the Database activity took a total of 1003 ms to
complete.

The following table describes each internal system activity, and how to use the
statistics to reduce the chances of a performance issue occurring:

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Statistic Name

Description

Persist a Document to The length of time and the number of times a document was
the Database
persisted to the database.
For more information about persistence, refer to the topic
Changing Persistence Levels.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Persist a Document
to the Database had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 9
v Max (ms) – 212
v Average (ms) – 111.0
v Invocations – 9
v Total (ms) – 1003
The Persist a Document to the Database statistic is helpful in
determining database issues and slow processing issues. When you
compare this information with your benchmarks, verify if you
notice the following:
v The Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average (ms) times are increasing.
This indicates that the database is becoming full, or that you
have a connection leak.
v The number of invocations are increasing. This indicates that
your persistence level is set too high.
v The number of invocations is small and the Min (ms) and Max
(ms) times are increasing. This indicates that you are persisting
large documents to the database, which can be moved to the
disk to save database space.

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Statistic Name

Description

Persist a Business
Process Step to the
Database

The length of time and the number of times a business process
step was persisted to the database.
For more information about persistence, refer to the topic
Changing Persistence Levels.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Persist a Business
Process Step to the Database had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 5
v Max (ms) – 391
v Average (ms) – 59.0
v Invocations – 163
v Total (ms) – 9735
The Persist a Business Process Step to the Database statistic is
helpful in determining database issues and slow processing issues.
When you compare this information with your benchmarks, verify
if you notice the following:
v The Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average (ms) times are increasing.
This indicates that either the database is becoming full, or you
have a connection leak.
v The number of invocations are increasing. This indicates that
your persistence level is set too high.
For more information about slow systems, refer to the topic
Changing Persistence Levels.
v The number of invocations is small and the Min (ms) and Max
(ms) times are increasing. This indicates that you are persisting
large documents to the database, which can be moved to the
disk to save database space.

Assign from an XPath The length of time and the number of times an assign activity was
Statement
completed from an XPath statement in a business process.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Assign from an
XPath Statement had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 2
v Max (ms) – 43
v Average (ms) – 10.0
v Invocations – 29
v Total (ms) – 310
The Assign from an XPath Statement statistic is helpful in
determining if you have well-structured XPath statements in your
business processes. When you compare this information with your
benchmarks, verify if you notice the following:
v The Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average (ms) times are increasing.
This indicates that the XPath statement is not written efficiently,
and may slow down your process time. Write XPath statements
using relative paths. For example, write PurchaseOrder/text
instead of /ProcessData/PurchaseOrder/text(). In addition, do
not use // at the beginning of an XPath statement, because this
causes the entire process data to be traversed.

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Statistic Name

Description

Execute an XPath
Statement

The length of time and the number of times an XPath statement
ran in a business process.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Assign from an
XPath Statement had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 1
v Max (ms) – 43
v Average (ms) – 5.0
v Invocations – 111
v Total (ms) – 598
This statistic is helpful in determining if you have well-structured
XPath statements in your business processes. When you compare
this information with your benchmarks, verify if you notice the
following:
v The Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average (ms) times are increasing.
This indicates that the XPath statement is not written efficiently,
and may slow down your process time. Write XPath statements
using relative paths. For example, write PurchaseOrder/text
instead of /ProcessData/PurchaseOrder/text(). In addition, do
not use // at the beginning of an XPath statement, because this
causes the entire process data to be traversed.

Acquire a Database
Connection

The length of time and the number of times a database connection
was made.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Acquire a Database
Connection had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 1
v Max (ms) – 4990
v Average (ms) – 3.0
v Invocations – 16102
v Total (ms) – 57722
The Acquire a Database Connection statistic is helpful in
determining whether you have database issues, resource leaks, or
whether you have to increase the number of database pools. When
you compare this information with your benchmarks, verify if you
notice the following:
v The Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average (ms) times are increasing.
This indicates that the database is quite active if it is used by
other applications outside of Sterling B2B Integrator.
v The number of invocations are increasing. This indicates that
your persistence level is set too high, causing too much data to
be stored in the database, or your cache levels are not tuned
correctly, causing the data to be stored and retrieved from the
database instead of from the cache.
v The number of invocations are low and not increasing. This
indicates that either you have a resource leak that is not
releasing previously used database connections to be used by
other threads, or you do not have enough database pools set in
the Performance Tuning Utility.

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Statistic Name

Description

Put a Business Process The length of time and the number of times a business process was
on the Queue
placed in a queue.
For example, in the figure preceding this table, Put a Business
Process on the Queue had the following statistics:
v Min (ms) – 1
v Max (ms) – 49
v Average (ms) – 3.0
v Invocations – 38
v Total (ms) – 146
The Put a Business Process on the Queue statistic is helpful in
determining if you are using a queue instead of your cache during
processing. When you compare this information with your
benchmarks, verify if you notice increasing invocation times. If yes,
it indicates that you are not using your cache efficiently.

Turning On and Turning Off Performance Statistics
You may find that you want to have performance statistics turned on during
specific time periods and turned off during other time periods. For example, you
may want to turn on the performance statistics when you are testing or running
your weekly or monthly report in order to compare your benchmarks, and turn off
performance statistics during the day-to-day operations in order to save your
system resources for processing.

Turning On Performance Statistics
You can turn on performance statistics in Sterling B2B Integrator.

Procedure
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics.
2. In the Performance Statistic Report Manager page, under On/Off, select the
check box adjacent Enable Performance Statistics. Performance statistics are
turned on, and are ready to be captured in a report.

Turning Off Performance Statistics
You can turn off performance statistics.

Procedure
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics.
2. In the Performance Statistic Report Manager page, under On/Off, clear the
check box adjacent Disable Performance Statistics. Performance statistics are
turned off.

Reporting Performance Statistics
Reporting performance statistics includes the following tasks:
v Creating a New Performance Statistics Report
v Deleting a Performance Statistics Report

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Creating Performance Statistics
After enabling performance statistics, create a Performance Statistics report to view
the statistics.

About this task
To create a Performance Statistics report:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics.
2. In the Performance Statistic Report Manager page, under Create New Report,
enter a name for the new report in the Name box, and click Go!.
The new report is created and the name is displayed in the list under View
Report. This displays the latest report at the top and the oldest report at the
bottom.

Deleting a Performance Statistics Report
You may have to delete a Performance Statistics Reports to free up storage or to
simply remove old reports from Sterling B2B Integrator.

About this task
Procedure
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > System > Performance >
Statistics.
2. In the Performance Statistic Report Manager page, under Delete Reports, next
to Delete All Inactive Reports, click Go!. All the reports, except the latest
report, are deleted.

Troubleshooting
Tools, tips and guidance are provided to help you troubleshoot problems in
Sterling B2B Integrator.

Database Maintenance Check
Sterling B2B Integrator performs a scheduled maintenance check on the database
every Monday at 4:00 a.m. This is the default setting and is configurable. This
maintenance check is performed by the DB Monitor service and its associated
Schedule_DBMonitorService business process. The system verifies if any of the
following conditions have occurred:
v Database is more than 80 percent full.
v Database has grown more than 30 percent since the last maintenance check.
v Database has to be indexed.
If any of these conditions are found, the system sends an event notification. By
default, it sends an e-mail to the system administrator.
If you are notified that the database has to be indexed, contact your database
administrator or use the db_optimization_tool script to rebuild the indexes and
optimize the database.

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Important: The reports and tools described in this section are not a replacement
for standard database tools and maintenance scripts, and should be used only if
your DBA is not involved with regular maintenance on the Sterling B2B Integrator
database.

View the Database Statistics Report
To view information about business processes in the database:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > Reports.
2. In the Reports page, under Search, enter DBStats in the Name box and click
Go!.
Note: The DBStats report can also be found under List. However, it cannot be
found using the Type "list" under Search.
3. Click source manager.
4. Select the appropriate report format from the drop-down list and click execute.

Database Statistics Report
The Database Statistics Report provides statistical information about business
processes in the database. You should review the Database Statistics Report if you
experience full database or failed database connection problems, or if you receive
automated notification that the database's health needs to be checked.
The Database Statistics Report is divided into the following sections:
Report Section

Description and Fields

Business Process Runs in
Active System

Lists all the business process definitions that have had at
least one instance executed. Fields are:
v Business Process Name – Name of the business process
instance.
v Number of Runs – Number of times the instance has
run.
v Number of Persisted Steps – Number of steps persisted
per business process definition.
v Average Number of Persisted Steps – Average number
of steps persisted.

Business Process Runs in
Active System - Last 24 Hours

Lists all the business process definitions that have had at
least one instance executed in the last 24 hours.

Business Process Runs in
Active System - Interval of
Last 48 to 24 Hours

Lists all the business process definitions that have had at
least one instance executed during the previous day (24-48
hours before the current time).

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Report Section

Description and Fields

Number of BPs by Removal
Method

Shows the number of business processes flagged to be
archived, purged, or indexed. It contains the following
fields:
v Archive Flag – Shows the number of business processes
in each category:
– To Be Archived – Business processes flagged to be
archived
– To Be Purged – Business processes flagged to be
purged
– Archived, to be Purged – Business processes that
have been archived and are flagged to be purged
– To Be Indexed – Business processes flagged to be
indexed
v Count - Total number of business processes with the
stated Archive flag

Number of Eligible BPs by
Removal Method

Number of eligible business processes that are flagged to
be archived, purged, or indexed.
The Number of BPs by Removal Method To Be Indexed
count minus the Number of Eligible BPs by Removal
Method To Be Indexed count provides the number of
business processes that, for whatever reason, are not
eligible for indexing. These business processes will not be
purged until they become eligible for indexing.

Archive Dates by Removal
Method

Shows the date range of business processes that are
flagged to be archived, purged, or indexed. Fields are:
v Archive Flag – Shows one of the following conditions:
–

To Be Archived – Business processes flagged to be
archived

–

To Be Purged – Business processes flagged to be
purged

–

Archived, to be Purged – Business processes that
have been archived, and are flagged to be purged

v Min – Date and time of the first expired business
process
v Max – Date and time of the last expired business
process
Table Row Counts

Shows the number of rows for each table in the active
system. Fields are:
v Table Name – Name of the table
v Count – Number of rows in the table

216

Table Row Counts - Last 24
Hours

Shows the number of rows for each table in the active
system during the last 24 hours.

Table Row Counts - Interval of
Last 48 to 24 Hours

Shows the number of rows for each table in the active
system during the previous day (24 to 48 hours prior to
the current time).

Table Row Counts - Index

Shows the number of rows that have not been indexed for
each table in the active system.

Table Row Counts - Archive

The Table Row Counts - Archive section shows the
number of rows eligible for archiving for each table in the
active system.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Report Section

Description and Fields

Table Row Counts - Purge

The Table Row Counts - Purge section shows the number
of rows eligible for purging for each table in the active
system.

Number of Rows with No
Matching Records in Archive
Info

Shows the number of rows in a table that are orphaned
(have no matching records in the archive data). It contains
the following fields:
v Table Name – Name of the table
v Orphaned Record Count – Number of orphaned rows

No Matching Workflow ID
(Null)

The section shows the number of records in
TRANS_DATA with NULL workflow IDs or -1 workflow
IDs. It contains the following fields:
v Number of BPs with No Matching Records in Data
Table, and Count – Total number of workflows with -1
Workflow IDs in the data table
v No Workflow ID Assigned, and Count – Number of
business processes that have a null workflow ID.

Optimize the Database with the db_optimization_tool Script
Sterling B2B Integrator provides a database optimization script that allows you to
optimize your database by performing tasks such as analyzing tables and
rebuilding indexes.
Note: The db_optimization_tool script does not work for DB2.
To run the database optimization script, run the following from the command line:
v For UNIX, run install_dir/bin/db_optimization_tool.sh options
v For Windows, run install_dir\bin\db_optimization_tool.cmd options
Option

Description

-l

View a list of all index rebuild or analyze database SQL statements.
Must be used with -i or -a, or both.
Uses the current date and time as the cutoff for expired data,
unless the -t option is used. Either -l or -r is required.

-r

Run all index rebuild or analyze database SQL statements. Must be
used with -i or -a. Uses the current date and time as the cutoff for
expired data, unless the -t option is used. Either -l or -r is required.
Note: The database optimization scripts can do a lot of database
updates to rebuild the indexes and analyze the database tables.
This could lead to deadlocks if done while Sterling B2B Integrator
is running. If you want to run these scripts while Sterling B2B
Integrator is running, you should run them during non-peak times.
You can also avoid deadlocks by running these scripts while
Sterling B2B Integrator is not running, as long as the database is
running.

-i

Use a list of the table indexes that need to be rebuilt (optimized).
Must be used with -l or -r. Either -i or -a is required.

-a

Use a list of the tables to analyze. Must be used with -l or -r. Either
-i or -a is required.

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Option

Description

-t

Date and time cutoff to look for expired data. Format:
yyyyMMdd-HH:mm:ss.SSS. Default is current date. This date and time
will be used as the starting point to check for expired tables. If the
table has expired since the last time it was rebuilt, that table is
added to a list for rebuild or index analyzing.
Must be used with -l or -r. Optional.

-o

Specifies a file name to save output messages to. Provide a full
path to the file. If not used, output will be displayed only on the
screen. Must be used with -l or -r. Optional.

-d

Check all tables. If not used, the check will only be done on tables
that were recorded on the database after the last rebuilds. Must be
used with -l or -r. Optional.

-p

Print the stack trace if there is an exception.
If used with the -o option, the stack trace will print to a file.
Otherwise, it is displayed on the screen. Must be used with -l or -r.
Optional.

-h or -?

View the help screen.

Command Examples
To view a list of table indexes that have to be rebuilt, and to save the output to a
file named myList, go to the install_dir/bin directory and run the following
command:
db_optimization_tool.sh -l -i -o myList
To rebuild the indexes for all the tables, run the following command:
db_optimization_tool.sh -r -i -d

Full Database Issues and Resolution
For a variety of reasons, you may find that your Sterling B2B Integrator database
has become full. This may cause performance issues that appear to be related to
memory or other resource usage.
If your database is set to auto extend, the database may attain 99 percent capacity
before extending automatically. In this situation, the 99 percent capacity does not
indicate a performance issue.
After you run Sterling B2B Integrator for some time and you take out from the
database approximately the same amount of data that you put into the database,
the database size becomes consistent.
If other applications are using the same database that Sterling B2B Integrator uses,
verify that the other applications are also experiencing slow database returns
before making any database adjustments.
If the other applications are not experiencing database issues, the performance
issue may be related to a cause other than the database.

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Symptoms and Causes of a Full Database
The symptoms of a full database may include:
v Database does not accept new data.
v Database Usage Report shows that your database usage is increasing to capacity.
v Sterling B2B Integrator interface is slow.
v Business process execution times are slow.
Determining the cause of a full or filling database requires you to review your
business processes and your archival and purging practices. Causes of a full or
filling database may include:
v The database is not sized properly. Determine if the current database size
exceeds the expected size determined with your IBM Sales Representative at the
time of sales. (Customers must have this information in the form of a sizing
sheet.)
v Persistence levels set to high globally in your business processes or for each
activity in a business process, causing too much data to be persisted to the
database.
v Indexing business process is not working properly, causing no data to be flagged
for archival or purging and no data being removed from the database. The
indexing business process runs every 10 minutes.
v Backup business process is not working properly, causing no data to be removed
from the database and archived to another location. The archive business process
checks for the archive flag and then the date on which the archive is to be
completed. When the archive date is reached, the archive business process
archives the record.
v Purging business process is not working properly, causing no data to be purged
from the database. The purge business process checks for the purge flag and
then the date on which the purge is to be completed. When the purge date is
reached, the purge business process purges the record from the database.
v Large or old files that can be archived elsewhere are being stored in the
database, causing the database to fill up.
v Size of the database is not optimized for your processing requirements, causing
the database to fill up prematurely.
v Data retention period is set too high, causing data to be kept in the database
longer than necessary.
v Schedule_BPRecovery business process is either not running or failing, causing
business processes to remain in the database in an interrupted state.
v IndexBusinessProcess business process is either not running or failing, causing
no business processes to be flagged for archival or purging.
v AssociateDocsToBP business process is either not running or failing, causing
expired documents to not be associated for being purged from the system.
To determine the cause of a full database:
v Monitor the Database Usage Report in Sterling B2B Integrator to determine the
levels of database usage. If the usage level increases to the high end of its
capacity, you may need to take corrective action, unless you have your database
set to auto extend (increase in capacity when a specified level is reached). For
more information about auto-extending your database, refer to the
documentation pertaining to your database.

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v Review the archive.log and database-specific log by navigating to Operations >
System > Logs for information about archiving and purging activities and
errors.

Resolve Full Database Issues
Try the following approaches to resolve full database issues.
Approach

Details

Change persistence levels

For information about how to change persistence levels, refer
to the topic Changing Persistence Levels.

Complete indexing
activities

If your index business process is scheduled, but not running,
no data is flagged for archival or purging, and your database
may fill up. Review the index business process and verify that
the schedule is defined and turned on in the business process,
and that business processes are being indexed.
To verify that the index business process is running, review
the archive.log file for data that was purged or archived. This
log file will state whether each data purge or data archive was
successful. If the archive.log file shows no data being archived
or purged, your index business process may not be running,
causing your database to fill up.
If the index business process is running and failing, contact
IBM Professional Services for assistance.

Complete archiving
activities

If your archival business process is scheduled, but is not
running, your database can fill up because data is not being
archived and moved off the database tables to another storage
location. Review the archival business processes and verify
that the schedule is defined and turned on in the business
process, and that business processes are archived after a
reasonable amount of time.
To verify that the archival business process is running, review
the archive.log file for data that was purged or archived. This
log file will state whether each data purge or data archive was
successful. If the archive.log file shows no data being archived
or purged, your archival business process may not be running,
causing your database to fill up.
If the archival business process is running and failing, contact
IBM Professional Services for assistance.

Complete purging
activities

If your purging business process is scheduled, but is not
running, your database can fill up because data is not being
removed from the database tables. Review the purging
business processes and verify that the schedule is defined and
turned on in the business process, and that business processes
are purged after a reasonable amount of time.
To verify that the purging business process is running, review
the archive.log file for data that was purged or archived. This
log file will state whether each data purge or data archive was
successful. If the archive.log file shows no data being archived
or purged, your purging business process may not be running,
causing your database to fill up.
If the PurgeService business process is running and failing,
contact IBM Professional Services for assistance.

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Approach

Details

Complete Associate Docs
to BP activities

If an associate document to BP business process is scheduled
but not running, your database can fill up because expired
document data will not be associated to be removed.
Review the business processes and verify that the schedule is
defined and turned on in the business processes, and that
business processes are purged after a reasonable amount of
time.

Reduce the amount of
large or old data stored in
the database

If old data and large files are using database resources and
causing your database to fill up, archive those files to another
file system instead of to database tables.

Optimizing the Size of
Your Database

As your business and processing needs change, you may find
that your initial database size requirements are different from
your requirements. If your database is filling and your volume
is increasing:
v Increase the size of your database to reflect your processing
needs.
v Compress your database, if your database has this feature,
in order to save more data to the same size database.
For more information about compressing your database, refer
to your database documentation.

Optimizing the Data
Retention Period

You may be retaining information in the database for longer
periods of time than necessary.
Set the data retention period in the database to lower levels as
appropriate.
For more information about setting data retention periods in
your database, refer to your database documentation.

BPRecovery Business
Process is Not Running or
is Failing

If your BPRecovery business process is either not running or is
failing:
1. Contact IBM Professional Services for assistance with the
BPRecovery business process
2. Run the corrected BPRecovery.
3. Restart, resume, or terminate interrupted business
processes.
You can perform a mass termination of business processes if
many are in an interrupted state.

Document Persistence
Sterling B2B Integrator offers two options for persisting documents: a database
option and a file system option. When dealing with database sizing, it is important
to understand these differences and ensure that you have chosen the correct option
for your environment.
v Database option – The payload of each document in the system is stored in the
DATA_TABLE or TRANS_DATA tables. When documents (payloads) become
large, it leads to inefficient use of database disk space and results in greatly
increased network traffic.
v File system persistence option – This option was created to store the payload of
documents out on disk. For documents with file system persistence, the
DATA_TABLE/TRANS_DATA tables are still utilized. The difference is that the
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content of the BLOB data is not the payload, but a serialized Java HashMap that
contains the file name of the payload. This is used to tie the file with the
document.
Use of the database or the system for persisting the document payload is specified
in the jdbc.properties file with the defaultDocumentStorageType property. This
setting is the system default and can be inherited or overridden at the WFD
(workflow definition) level. The location of document payloads is also configurable
in the jdbc.properties file with the document_dir property.

Database Connection Issues
You may find that your business process throughput slows down in Sterling B2B
Integrator during data bursts (sudden increase in data volumes) or connection or
cursor leaks (unreleased database connections). These can also result in an
increased number of failed pool requests.

Symptoms and Causes of Failed Database Connection Requests
The symptoms of an increasing number of failed pool requests may include:
v Slow business process throughput (volume being processed in a specific time
period).
v Increasing number of failed pool requests as seen in the Database Usage Report
by navigating to Operations > System > Troubleshooter. This report shows the
number of pool requests and failed requests.
Determining the cause of an increasing number of failed pool requests necessitates
you to investigate many areas of the system and the way in which you are
implementing Sterling B2B Integrator. The causes of an increasing number of failed
pool requests may include:
v Increased data volume, causing more business processes to compete for the
connections.
v Data bursts – High rates of data in short transmission periods.
v Connection or cursor leaks – Database connections that are opened for a
business process and then kept open by that business process instead of being
released back to Sterling B2B Integrator for use by other business processes. This
leads to fewer available connections to the database.
v Improperly tuned performance properties – Fewer database pools configured
than is required by your processing volumes. For more information, refer to
“View and Restore Performance Configuration Settings” on page 121.
To determine the cause of failed database connection requests:
v Monitor the Database Usage report.
v Monitor database tools specific to your database. For more information about
this, refer to your database documentation.

Monitor the Database Usage Report
This report shows the number of failed requests for each pool type. You can use
this information to determine which pool settings to change in the Performance
Tuning Utility.
1. From the Administration menu, navigate to Operations > System >
Troubleshooter as shown in the following figure.

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2. The System Troubleshooting page is displayed as shown in the following
figure. Click Database Usage.

The Database Usage Report (details) is displayed, as shown in the following figure.

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Resolve Database Connection Issues by Increasing the Database
Pool Size
You can change the size of the database pools to allow more connections to the
database and resolve the following issues:
v Increased volume levels
v Data bursts
v Connection or cursor leaks
To increase the size of specific database pools in Sterling B2B Integrator, navigate
to Operations > System > Performance > Tuning.
For more information about increasing the database pool size, refer to
“Performance Tuning Utility” on page 120.

Database Down Check
Sterling B2B Integrator performs a scheduled check on the database connection
every 120 seconds to verify that it has not gone down. These checks are performed
by the DB Resource Monitor and are logged in the resource_monitor.log file.

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If the check finds that the database has gone down, the system administrator is
sent an e-mail notification stating that the database is unreachable. The date and
time of the check is also provided as shown in the following example:
Database Unreachable
The database was unreachable at 2005.07.19 14:29:36 EDT.
E-mails will be sent at increasing intervals of
1, 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes until Sterling B2B Integrator is shut
down or the database can be reached.
Event Information:
eventType: ResourceMonitor.DBResourceMonitor.ExceptionSQLException.3
ExceptionLevel: Exceptional
timestamp: 1121797776902
datetime: 2005.07.19 14:29:36 EDT
Status: SQL Exception
host: myhost
node: node1
subject: Database Server Unreachable (Node- node1 Host- myhost)

Additional e-mail notifications are sent at increasing intervals of 1, 5, 15, 30, 45,
and 60 minutes unless Sterling B2B Integrator is shut down or the database can be
reached. If the database can be reached, the system administrator is sent an e-mail
notification that the database connection was successful as shown in the following
example:
Database Connection Successful
Database was reachable at 2005.07.19 14:34:47 EDT.
Event Information:
eventType: ResourceMonitor.DBResourceMonitor.SUCCESS.1
ExceptionLevel: Exceptional
timestamp: 1121798087408
datetime: 2005.07.19 14:34:47 EDT
Status: Success
host: myhost
node: node1
subject: Database Connection Successful (Node- node1 Host- myhost)

Configure DB Resource Monitor
The DB Resource Monitor can be configured to perform the database down check
at intervals other than the default interval of every two minutes. To change the
interval, perform the following tasks:
1. In the install_dir/properties directory, locate (or create, if necessary) the
customer_overrides.properties file.
2. Open the customer_overrides.properties file using a text editor.
3. Add the following override statement. This statement will set the value of the
DBResourceMonitor.delay property of the resource_monitor.properties file.
resourceMonitor.DBResourceMonitor.delay=new_interval
The value for new_interval is the interval, in milliseconds, at which you want
the database down check to run. For example, the default value of 120000 runs
the check every 120 seconds, or once every two minutes. If you want to
configure the check to run every 10 minutes (as opposed to the default), you
should set the new_interval value to 600000 (600000 milliseconds = 600 seconds
= 10 minutes). To do so, add the following line to the
customer_overrides.properties file:
resourceMonitor.DBResourceMonitor.delay=600000
4. Save and close the customer_overrides.properties file.
5. Stop and restart Sterling B2B Integrator to use the new values.

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For assistance in determining the proper settings to suit your business needs,
contact IBM Customer Support.

Tracking JDBC Connections
Sterling B2B Integrator provides the capability to track your JDBC connections.
This is useful when troubleshooting high connection usage or running out of
connections at the database. These problems may be caused by connection leaks
that occur when a component requests a connection from the pool and does not
return it. When enabled, JDBC tracking will track all the active JDBC connections.
If JDBC tracking is enabled, you can view or save a JDBC report to help you
troubleshoot database connection problems. You can view the report to perform
troubleshooting by yourself, or save the report and send it to IBM Customer
Support to aid in resolving the problem. The JDBC report provides current
database stack dump information at the time the JDBC report is viewed or saved.

Enable or Disable JDBC Tracking
JDBC tracking that is enabled through the JDBC Monitor will be reset to Disabled
if Sterling B2B Integrator is restarted. This feature helps prevent degraded
performance if JDBC Tracking is accidentally left Enabled after you have finished
the troubleshooting activity. You should always disable JDBC Tracking when you
have finished the troubleshooting activity.
To enable or disable JDBC tracking:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > JDBC Monitor.
2. To change the enable/disable state, select one of the following in the On/Off
box:
v If JDBC tracking is disabled, click (Enable) to enable JDBC tracking.
v If JDBC tracking is enabled, click (Disable) to disable JDBC tracking.
If you want to enable JDBC tracking for extended troubleshooting so that it
remains enabled even if Sterling B2B Integrator is restarted, you can use the
internal use tracking parameter.
To
1.
2.
3.
4.

control JDBC tracking with the use tracking parameter:
Stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
In the install_dir/properties directory, locate the jdbc.properties.in file.
Open the jdbc.properties.in file using a text editor.
In the jdbc.properties.in file, locate the use tracking parameter.
v To enable JDBC tracking, set the databasePool.useTracking property to true.
v To disable JDBC tracking, set the databasePool.useTracking property to false.
5. Save the jdbc.properties.in file.
6. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator to apply the change.
Note: Always disable JDBC tracking when you have completed the
troubleshooting activity in order to improve performance.

View or Save a JDBC Report
To view or save a JDBC report:
1. From the Administration menu, select Operations > JDBC Monitor.

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2. In the View box, next to View JDBC Report, click one of the following:
v To view a JDBC Tracking Report, click the View icon. Click F5 to refresh the
report, as needed.
v To save a JDBC Tracking Report, click (Download).

Types of Cache Memory
Sterling B2B Integrator utilizes the memory cache types described in the following
table to execute processes:
Memory Types

Description

Soft reference cache

When objects are removed from the memory cache in order to keep
the memory cache size constant, they are moved to a soft reference
cache, which can grow or shrink based on the available memory. If
the JVM has to reclaim memory space, it takes it from the soft
reference cache.

Memory cache

Uses the amount of memory necessary to hold the objects in
memory at all times. You can configure this in the noapp.properties
file.

Disk cache

Objects can be read more quickly from the disk than from the
database. When objects are no longer in the soft reference cache
because they have been garbage collected, the disk cache provides
a faster access mechanism than object retrieval from the database.
You can configure this in the noapp.properties file.

A soft cache is an in-memory cache. The difference between a soft cache and a
traditional cache is that the memory used to cache the objects is reclaimed as soon
as memory becomes constrained. When the system is low on memory, the cached
objects are automatically removed from memory. This is possible because the
objects themselves are backed by persistent data in the database or disk and can be
reread from there.
This behavior is similar to an operating system disk cache. The disk cache retains
recently read files or sections of files in memory in order to speed up subsequent
access to that data. However, if the system requires memory for applications to
run, the cache size is reduced proportionally. You can see this in Windows by
watching the size of the disk cache fall when you open a large file.
Sterling B2B Integrator follows this practice with soft caches. Most soft caches in
Sterling B2B Integrator are implemented by Java Soft References.
JVM short-lived min/max memory values are used for generational garbage
collection. For more information about generational garbage collection, refer to the
following Web sites:
v http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/javasdk/v5r0/index.jsp?topic=/
com.ibm.java.doc.diagnostics.50/html/mm_gc_generational.html
v http://java.sun.com/docs/hotspot/gc1.4.2/faq.html
Based on the amount of memory allocated to Sterling B2B Integrator and the
number of CPUs, the Sterling B2B Integrator tuning wizard will allocate disk cache
and in-memory cache. In-memory cache is a combination of the soft reference
cache and memory cache displayed on the cache usage screen.

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Symptoms and Causes of Inefficient Cache Usage
The symptoms of inefficient use of cache include:
v Slow-running business processes
v Longer completion time for business processes
v Reduced number of cache hits, as reported in the Cache Usage Report, with a
corresponding increase in the number of requests.
Determining the reasons behind the inefficient use of cache may require you to
investigate many areas of your system and the way you are implementing Sterling
B2B Integrator.
The reasons for inefficient use of cache may include:
v Improperly tuned performance properties
v High cache usage for less frequently used large objects
v Low cache usage for frequently used small objects
To determine the reason behind the inefficient use of cache, review the Cache
Usage Report that is displayed in the System Troubleshooting (Operations >
System > Troubleshooter) page for the number of counts, requests, and hits for
each cache in Sterling B2B Integrator.
An increase in the number of requests and a decrease in the number of hits
indicates that you have to increase the cache size for the affected cache. Each
request that is not met with a hit requires a call to the database for data, which
slows down the processing time and uses more resources, which could be used by
other components of Sterling B2B Integrator.
For example, if the SchemaCache on the Cache Usage report has 5 counts, 5
requests, and 0 hits, it indicates that the schema cache may be too small for the
number of requests from the cache or too small for the size of the documents used.
Zero hits means that the business processes requesting the schema from the cache
did not find the requested data and called the database to receive the schema data,
which in turn slowed the processing time.

Resolving Inefficient Cache Usage
Following are the different ways in which inefficient use of cache can be resolved,
depending on the identified cause:
v Improperly Tuned Cache Performance Properties
v High Cache Allocation for Less Frequently Used Large Objects
v Low Cache Allocation for More Frequently Used Small Objects
For more information about changing the cache values in the Performance Tuning
Utility, refer to the topic Viewing or Editing Performance Configuration Settings.
For more information about changing the cache values manually using the
noapp.properties file, refer to the topic Manual Performance Tuning.

Improperly Tuned Cache Performance Properties
If you review the Cache Usage Report and notice that the number of requests are
increasing and the number of hits are decreasing for the same cache, increase the
cache values using the Performance Tuning Utility, or manually increase the values
in the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties file.

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Following are the possible consequences of increasing the cache size:
v Increasing the size too much does not make the system any more effective than
reading from the disk. Depending on your system and your configuration, you
may have to adjust the cache settings to attain peak performance without losing
the benefit of cache over disk.
v Increasing the cache sizes for items that are not used frequently may degrade
performance because more resources are allocated to the caches, but are not
being used.

High Cache Allocation for Less Frequently Used Large Objects
If you review the Cache Usage Report and notice that the number of requests to
the cache are low, you can reduce the size of the cache values using the
Performance Tuning Utility, or manually decrease the values in the
install_dir/properties/noapp.properties file. The low request number indicates that
the objects in the cache are not used frequently with your business processes.
Review the value for the cache property and reduce the cache size if the cache size
is large.
Decreasing the cache size too much may cause a reduced number of hits to the
caches, which results in a call to the database for data, and increases the processing
time. Depending on your system and your configuration, you may have to adjust
the cache settings to attain peak performance without losing the benefit of cache
over disk.

Low Cache Allocation for More Frequently Used Small Objects
If you review the Cache Usage Report and notice that the number of requests to
the cache are high and the number of hits to the cache are low, you can increase
the size of the cache values using the Performance Tuning Utility, or manually
increase the values in the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties file. The high
request number indicates that the objects in the cache are being used frequently
with your business processes. Review the values for the cache properties and
increase the cache size if the cache size is small. This is especially important for the
smaller objects that are used frequently and are static in value. Cache retrieval is
faster than disk or database retrieval.
Increasing the cache sizes too much may cause a reduced number of hits to the
caches for larger objects. This results in a call to the database for data, and
increases the processing time. Depending on your system and your configuration,
you may have to adjust the cache settings to attain peak performance without
losing the benefit of cache over disk.

Correcting Dropped Data Problems
Proper requirements planning and performance tuning usually prevent most
memory-related issues from occurring. However, because it is not possible to
anticipate every situation, you may occasionally experience a memory problem.
Some of the more common issues are covered in this section. Whenever you adjust
memory allocations after initial performance tuning, you must increase the
memory amount by the smallest increment to resolve the issue.
Because Sterling B2B Integrator interacts extensively with other systems,
sometimes, problems with dropped data occur because of the configuration
settings of the other systems.

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For example, when Sterling B2B Integrator is under sufficient load and requires
business processes to be placed in queue, the HTTPSyncSend adapter attempts to
respond with a Message Disposition Notification (MDN). If this is not completed
in a timely manner, the client that initiated the session may release the connection
because of a timeout. If this occurs, the HTTPSyncSend operation appears to
complete successfully by handing off to perimeter servers, but there is a possibility
of the data being dropped.
In this example, the timeout settings in the client can be adjusted to resolve the
problem. Alternatively, the amount of memory available to Sterling B2B Integrator
can be increased to allow the operation to be pulled from the queue and completed
before the timeout occurs.
To increase the amount of memory available to Sterling B2B Integrator, use the
Performance Tuning wizard (Operations > System > Performance > Tuning) and
change the value in the Physical memory (MB) allocated to SI box to a higher
value. For more information about allocating physical memory to Sterling B2B
Integrator, refer to the topic Viewing or Editing Performance Configuration
Settings.

Correcting Out-Of-Memory Errors
Occasionally, a specific operation may require more memory than the current
configuration allocates to Sterling B2B Integrator. For example, with the default
settings, attempting to view a large code list (over 100,000 entries) may result in an
Out-Of-Memory error. This type of error is typically written to the noapp.log file.
To increase the amount of memory available to Sterling B2B Integrator, use the
Performance Tuning wizard (Operations > System > Performance > Tuning) and
change the value in the Physical memory (MB) allocated to SI box to a higher
value. For more information about how to increase the memory available to
Sterling B2B Integrator, refer to the topic Viewing or Editing Performance
Configuration Settings.

Understanding Business Process
You may find that business process execution times are longer than expected,
which might be the result of an increase in volume or improperly written business
processes. This indicates that either the performance does not match your
requirements and corrective action is required, or that you have business processes
containing errors and require manual attention.
The following concepts are explained under this topic:
v Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business Process Execution Time
v Resolving Halted, Halting, Waiting, or Interrupted Business Processes

Symptoms and Causes of Poor Business Process Execution
Time
There are many symptoms and causes of poor business process execution time.
Symptoms of increasing business process execution time include:
v Performance Statistics Report showing the Min (ms), Max (ms), and Average
(ms) time increasing for business processes, activities, and internal system
activities. To access this report, navigate to Operations > System > Performance
> Statistics.

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v Increasing business process execution time in the wf.log in the install_dir/logs
directory.
Determining the cause of increasing business process execution time may require
you to investigate many areas of the system and the way in which you are
implementing Sterling B2B Integrator.
Typically, the cause of increasing business process execution time is because of:
v The database is full or is receiving too many requests
v Improperly designed business processes
Improperly designed business processes may involve the following issues:
v Business process persistence levels are set too high, which causes too much data
to be stored to the database.
For more information about persistence levels, refer to the topic Changing
Persistence Levels.
v Unnecessary service invocations, which use resources that can otherwise be used
by other Sterling B2B Integrator business processes or components.
v Improperly tuned cache properties, which cause the business process to query
the database or disk for information that can be provided in a queue.
For more information about caches, refer to the topic Resolving Inefficient Cache
Usage.
v A full database or database maintenance issues, which cause longer query times
and increased execution times.
If you find that all your business processes are experiencing an increase in
execution time, you may also find that your database is full or is receiving many
requests, causing the entire processing to slow down.
v Unnecessary loops, which cause the use of resources that can otherwise be used
by other Sterling B2B Integrator business processes or components.
v Improperly written XPath statements, which use resources that can otherwise be
used by other Sterling B2B Integrator business processes or components.
Use relative paths when writing XPath statements, for example, write
PurchaseOrder/text instead of /ProcessData/PurchaseOrder/text().
In addition, do not use // at the beginning of an XPath statement because this
causes the entire process data to be searched, and slows down the search time
significantly.
v Running services in modes other than the literal mode, which is significantly
faster than the other modes available.
v Using older services and adapters instead of newer and more efficient ones,
which may combine the functionality of more than one older service or adapter
into one service.
Note: Adapters and services that are retiring are placed on the Retiring stencil
in the Graphical Process Modeler. Although adapters and services on the
Retiring stencil are available for use, if you are designing new business
processes, use the newer adapters and services in your business processes.

Determining the Causes of Poor Business Process Execution
Time
To determine the cause of increasing business process execution time:

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v Review the wf.log file in the install_dir/logs file for time and date stamp
information showing increases in execution time, and errors in each business
process.
v Review the Performance Statistics Report by navigating to Operations > System
> Performance > Statistics. This report shows the number of invocations and
processing time for each business process and system activity.
v Review business processes that show increasing execution time for improper
design, mode, or XPath statements, for example, using a Command Line adapter
to retrieve data instead of a File System adapter. The Command Line adapter
uses more resources than the File System adapter, which can accomplish the
same goal in some situations. Or, in some situations, you can create an XPath
statement in an Assign service, which will replace the need for both the
Command Line adapter and the File System adapter.
Also, use relative paths in XPath statements. For example, write
PurchaseOrder/text instead of /ProcessData/PurchaseOrder/text(). In addition,
do not use // at the beginning of an XPath statement because this causes the
entire process data to be traversed.

Resolving Halted, Halting, Waiting, or Interrupted Business
Processes
A business process in a Halting, Halted, Interrupted_Man, or Interrupted_Auto
state requires immediate attention because the business process has stopped
processing. Business processes remain in a halted or interrupted state until some
action is taken on the business process. Business processes that fail receive a state
of Halted, which enables you to take manual corrective action without the business
process being archived or purged.
When you notice a halted or interrupted business process, you have two options:
v Terminate the business process.
v Restart the business process.
When you notice a business process in a waiting state, you have three options:
v Allow the business process to remain in the waiting state if it is waiting on one
of the following:
– Resources
– A service or activity that is disabled, but will be enabled
v Terminate the business process.
v Restart the business process.
The following sections show how to diagnose and resolve issues with halting,
halted, waiting, or interrupted business processes:
v Symptoms of Halting, Halted, Waiting, or Interrupted Business Processes
v Causes of Halting, Halted, Waiting, or Interrupted Business Processes

Symptoms of Halting, Halted, Waiting, or Interrupted Business
Processes
Symptoms of an increasing number of business processes in a halting, halted,
waiting, or interrupted state may include:
v Slow system performance
For more information on resolving a slow system, refer to the topic “Slow
System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution” on page 234.

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v The database is getting full or having performance issues.
For more information on resolving a database issues, refer to the topic “Full
Database Issues and Resolution” on page 218.
v Business processes complete with errors, which places them in a halted state.
v Business Process Usage report shows an increasing number of business processes
in a halted, halting, waiting, or interrupted state.

Causes of Halting, Halted, Waiting, or Interrupted Business
Processes
Causes of an increasing number of business processes in a halting, halted, waiting,
or interrupted state may include:
v System, business process, or activity schedules are disabled. For example, if a
business process requires an output from, or access to, a different service or
business process that is scheduled to work, but the schedule is not turned on,
this places the business process in a halted or waiting state.
v System errors. For example, Java, JVM, out of memory errors, or operating
system errors may cause a business process to halt or be interrupted. Check
your business process logs for causes of the halted or interrupted business
processes. If the logs show JVM errors, Java errors, or operating system errors,
review your operating system documentation for resolutions.
v Improperly designed business processes. For example,
– Using the Wait service in a business process for time periods of less than one
minute, instead of using the Sleep service. This can cause a business process
to be placed into a waiting state instead of an active state, until the Wait
service completes.
– Using Produce and Consume services instead of the Invoke Subprocess
service to invoke subprocesses. Using Produce and Consume services places a
business process into a waiting state, waiting for the Produce service to create
the document and for the Consume service to use the document.
v Sterling B2B Integrator stops running. For example, your site experiences a
power outage and you must restart Sterling B2B Integrator after power is
restored. Your business processes at the time of the power outage may be in
halted, interrupted, or waiting states after the recovery operations run,
depending on the activities being completed at the time of the outage.
To determine the cause of an increasing number of business processes in a halting,
halted, waiting, or interrupted state:
v Review the Business Process Usage report on the Operations > System >
Troubleshooting page. This report shows the number of business processes in
the different states. You can click the number next to the state to view detailed
information about the process, which may help troubleshoot any problems.
v Review applicable system and business process schedules to verify that they are
turned on. For example, if you notice many business processes are halting and
each of these business processes is dependent on the schedule of another
business process or service, this indicates that the scheduled business process or
service may not be turned on.
v Review the Performance Statistics report for information related to the business
process execution times. Increasing execution times for key business processes or
activities may indicate that a business process is not efficiently designed, or that
a resource leak may have occurred.
For more information about the Performance Statistics report, refer to the
topic“Turning On and Turning Off Performance Statistics” on page 213.
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v Review appropriate log files in the Operations > System > Logs page. The
following log files may provide troubleshooting information:
– archive.log – Provides information about successful and unsuccessful
archiving and purging activities.
– wf.log – Provides information about business process states, errors, and
processing.
– Adapter and service logs – Provide information on specific adapter or service
activities and errors.
– system.log – Provides information about the general system.
– noapp.log – Provides information about ASI (application server-independent)
activity. Review business processes to verify that they are effectively designed
to meet your business needs.

Slow System: Symptoms, Causes, and Resolution
You may find that your Sterling B2B Integrator is working slowly because of a
variety of reasons.
An increase in volume or improperly designed business process may cause slower
than expected performance.
The symptoms of a slow system include:
v Slow transaction processing
v Unusually long delay in starting a business process
v Unusually large number of business processes waiting in the queues
v Slow user interface log in
v Slow business process searches
v Slow system services, such as indexing and purging
v Slow user interface performance

Potential Causes of a Slow System
A slow system can be caused by many areas of your system and the in which way
you are implementing Sterling B2B Integrator.
Potential causes of a slow system include:
v Improperly designed business processes.
v Various system services being turned off. For more information about turning off
system services, refer to the topic "Disabled Service".
v Improperly tuned performance properties. For more information about tuning
performance properties, refer to the topic "Improperly Tuned Performance
Properties".

Determining the Cause of a Slow System
To determine the cause of a slow system, complete some, if not all, the following
tasks, depending on your situation:
v Review your operating system and database performance if other applications
are using these resources. If other applications using the same resources are
slow, it indicates that the performance issue is not specific to Sterling B2B
Integrator. Review your operating system or database applications for
performance issues.

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v Review the log files for errors and processing information. If your system is
slow, good places to start troubleshooting are the system.log and the noapp.log
in the install_dir/logs directory.
For more information about logs and system information, refer to the topic
Managing System Logs and Reviewing System Information.
v Review the Sterling B2B Integrator Internal System Statistics Report by
navigating to Operations > System > Performance > Statistics.
This report shows the number of invocations and the processing time taken for
each business process and system activity. You can use this information to
identify activities that are slowing down and impacting performance.
For more information, refer to the topic Manage Performance Statistics.
v Perform a thread dump to identify business process bottlenecks in Sterling B2B
Integrator.
For more information about thread dumps, refer to the topic Conducting a
Thread Dump.

Resolving a Slow System
A system may have slowed down because of the following reasons:
v Improperly Designed Business Processes
v Disabled Service
v Improperly Tuned Performance Properties
Improperly Designed Business Processes
Improperly designed business processes can cause performance issues with
Sterling B2B Integrator. These issues can be averted or resolved by implementing
well-designed business processes.
Disabled Service
If a service that Sterling B2B Integrator uses for processing is disabled, the
following issues may arise:
v Business processes may start to fail or wait until the service becomes available.
v Indexing, archiving, or purging activities may not occur, causing the database to
fill up.
Both these issues cause your system to run slowly.
For example, if the index service is disabled, the data in the database cannot be
flagged for archiving or purging. If the index service is disabled, archiving and
purging activities may run, but no data is archived or purged. This results in the
database storing too much information and slowing your system.
To resolve this issue, start the disabled service.
Improperly Tuned Performance Properties
Sterling B2B Integrator may run slowly if you have not tuned the system
performance using the Performance Tuning Utility or have manually tuned the
system performance in the install_dir/properties/noapp.properties file.

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To resolve this, you may have to make changes to the appropriate performance
tuning properties either manually or using the Performance Tuning Utility. For
more information about performance tuning, refer to “Performance Tuning Utility”
on page 120 or Manual Performance Tuning.

Performing a Thread Dump
A thread dump is a snapshot of every thread that is running in Sterling B2B
Integrator at the time the thread dump is generated. You can perform a thread
dump to determine bottlenecks in Sterling B2B Integrator.
Typically, problem threads are in a state of waiting. Threads with a state of
runnable or R indicate a healthy thread.
For information about the different states of a thread dump, refer to the topic
"Reading a Thread Dump."
The subsequent sections describe command-line methods for working with thread
dumps. You can also work with thread dumps from the user interface by accessing
the JVM Monitor page that is available by navigating to Operations > System >
Performance > JVM Monitor.
Note: The JVM Monitor page is available only for Linux, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris,
and HP-UX platforms. The heap dump option is available only on Linux and AIX
platforms.
The JVM Monitor page enables you to:
v Perform a thread dump.
v Download and delete the dumps that are conducted from the system.
v Enable GC (garbage collector) output. Enabling causes the GC output to be
written into the noapp.log.
v (Linux and AIX only) Enable or disable heap dumps. Enabling causes a heap
dump to be generated along with thread dumps.
Tip: For the Command Line Adapter 2 (Version 5.2.4.1 and interim fix 5.2.4.1_2 or
later), when you use Operations > System > JVM Monitor > Take Thread Dump,
the default Command Line Adapter 2 must match the CLA2_PORT in the
sandbox.cfg to take thread dumps from the User Interface. You can also use the
command line to take a thread dump with the shell script.

Performing a Thread Dump in UNIX (HP-UX or Sun Solaris)
To
1.
2.
3.

perform a thread dump in UNIX (HP-UX or Sun Solaris):
Access the computer on which Sterling B2B Integrator is installed.
Change your working directory to install_dir.
In the command line, enter cat noapp.pid.
This lists the parent thread process ID.
4. Enter ps -ef | grep noapp.pid.
This returns all the child process IDs associated with the parent process ID.
5. Enter kill -QUIT noapp.pid child.pid.
(You must include both the parent PID and the child PID.)
6. The thread dump is placed in the noapp.log file in the install_dir/logs directory.

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Performing a Thread Dump in UNIX (IBM AIX)
To
1.
2.
3.

perform a thread dump in IBM AIX:
Access the computer on which Sterling B2B Integrator is installed.
Change your working directory to install_dir directory.
In the command line, enter cat noapp.pid.
This lists the parent thread process ID.
4. Enter ps -ef | grep noapp.pid.
This returns all the child process IDs associated with the parent process ID.
5. Enter kill -QUIT noapp.pid child.pid.
(You must include both the parent PID and the child PID.)
The thread dump is placed in the javacore*.txt file in the install_dir/noapp/bin
directory.

Performing a Thread Dump in Linux
To
1.
2.
3.

perform a thread dump in Linux:
Access the computer on which Sterling B2B Integrator is installed.
Change your working directory to install_dir directory.
In the command line, enter kill -QUIT noapp.pid child.pid.
(You must include both the parent PID and the child PID.)
The thread dump is completed. Depending on your JVM, the thread dump is
placed in one of the following locations:
v noapp.log in the install_dir/logs directory
v javacore*.txt

Performing a Thread Dump in Windows
To
1.
2.
3.

perform a thread dump in Windows:
Navigate to install_dir\bin directory.
Run hardstop.cmd command to stop Sterling B2B Integrator.
Run the start_si_console.cmd command from the install_dir\bin directory. It
will run Sterling B2B Integrator in console mode.
Running the start_si_console.cmd command does not start Sterling B2B
Integrator services. It will run Sterling B2B Integrator services in a series of
command prompt windows, which cannot be closed while it is running. You
can track the progress by watching si_exe.log as running this command takes
longer time for Sterling B2B Integrator to start.
4. Perform a thread dump using the following steps:
v Go to the start_noapp_console.cmd command prompt window.
v Press Ctrl + Break.
v Open the noapp_exe.log file in the install_dir\logs directory and scroll to the
bottom.
v Verify that the thread information is present in the log file.

Performing a Thread Dump in IBM iSeries®
To perform a thread dump in iSeries:
1. Access the computer on which Sterling B2B Integrator is installed.
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2. In the iSeries command line, enter WRKACTJOB.
3. Locate the two QP0ZSPWP jobs that are running in Sterling B2B Integrator and
note the name of the user associated with these jobs.
4. Press F11 twice to locate the job numbers.
5. In the iSeries command line, enter DMPJVM and press F4.
6. In the Dump Java Virtual Machine (DMPJVM) panel, enter QP0ZSPWP as the
job name and user as the user prompt and jobnumber as the number prompt.
7. Press Enter. The thread dump is completed.
8. Repeat step 6 for the second job number.
9. In the command line, enter WRKSPLF and locate the two QDMPJVM spooled
files. These files are the output from your thread dump.

Reading a Thread Dump
A thread dump contains the following components:
v List of all the threads running in a virtual machine.
v List of all the created monitors, including the current owner and number of
threads waiting for that monitor to be released.
v List of all the special monitors used internally in the virtual machine.
Each thread has an associated state. The following states may be associated with a
thread:
v Other than IBM JVMs:
– runnable – Running or executable thread.
– object.wait () – Thread is waiting on a condition variable.
v For IBM JVM:
– R – Running or executable thread.
– S – Suspended thread.
– CW – Thread is waiting on a condition variable.
– MW – Thread is waiting on a monitor lock.
– MS – Thread is suspended waiting on a monitor lock. An MS state indicates a
virtual machine error.
The following example shows a thread in a runnable state and a thread in a
waiting state:
"RMI TCP Accept-0" daemon prio=5 tid=0x015931f0 nid=0x1a
runnable [bbbff000..bbb ffc28]
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketAccept(Native Method)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.accept(PlainSocketImpl.java:353)
- locked <0xcc709620> (a java.net.PlainSocketImpl)
at java.net.ServerSocket.implAccept(ServerSocket.java:448)
at java.net.ServerSocket.accept(ServerSocket.java:419)
at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport.run(TCPTransport.java:334)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)
"RMI RenewClean-[10.117.2.193:58586,
com.sterlingcommerce.woodstock.util.frame.jndi.AddrClientFactory@c837cd]"
daemon prio=5 tid=0x00b5f6f8 nid=0x13 in Object.wait()
[bc97f000..bc97fc28]
at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
- waiting on <0xcc709728> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(ReferenceQueue.java:111)

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- locked <0xcc709728> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
at sun.rmi.transport.DGCClient$EndpointEntry$RenewCleanThread.
run(DGCClient.java:500)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)

Scenario-Based Troubleshooting Tips and Techniques
This topic contains a list of scenario-based troubleshooting tips and techniques.
This list is not exhaustive and does not cover all scenarios.
Situation

Explanation/Resolution

During Oracle RAC
failover, DMI visibility
takes time to recover
under high volume
test when default
queue sizes and
thread counts are
used.

You can increase the number of visibility queues and event input
queue capacity in customer_overrides.properties to ensure that
adapters are responsive.
To increase the default queue size and the thread counts, perform
the following tasks:
1. In the customer_overrides.properties file, set the following
values:
v dmivisibility.number_visibility_threads=6
v dmivisibility.event_input_queue_capacity=3072
2. From the install_dir/bin directory, run one of the following
commands:
v (UNIX or Linux) setupfiles.sh
v (Windows) setupfiles.cmd
3. Restart Sterling B2B Integrator.

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Situation

Explanation/Resolution

While running Oracle
11g in non-RAC or
RAC environment,
you might encounter
index hot spots,
which may cause
performance
degradation.

It is recommended that you create the following indexes in a
global partition to improve system performance:
Note: If you have not deployed Sterling File Gateway in your
environment, you can ignore the indexes starting with the name
FG.
v PERF_IDX_1 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (BASIC_STATUS,
START_TIME, WORKFLOW_ID, WFD_ID)
v PERF_IDX_2 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (START_TIME,
WORKFLOW_ID, STEP_ID, ACTIVITYINFO_ID, WFD_ID)
v PERF_IDX_3 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (WFD_ID,
START_TIME, WORKFLOW_ID, STEP_ID, ACTIVITYINFO_ID)
v SCI_IDX_125 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (WFD_ID,
WFD_VERSION)
v SCI_IDX_195 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (END_TIME, WFD_ID,
WFD_VERSION, STEP_ID)
v SCI_IDX_3 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (WORKFLOW_ID)
v PERF_IDX_4 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (WORKFLOW_ID,
START_TIME, STEP_ID, ACTIVITYINFO_ID, WFD_ID)
v SCI_IDX_120 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT (WORKFLOW_ID,
BASIC_STATUS, NEXT_AI_ID, ACTIVITYINFO_ID,
ARCHIVE_FLAG)
v SCI_IDX_109 : WORKFLOW_CONTEXT" (WORKFLOW_ID,
BRANCH_ID)PERF_IDX_5 : EVENT (EXPIRES_AT)
v SCI_IDX_56_2 : TRANS_DATA (WF_ID)
v SCI_IDX_DMI17 : ACT_SESSION (CON_END_TIME,
PROTOCOL, SESSION_ID, ADAPTER_NAME)
v FG_RTE_MODTS_IDX : FG_ROUTE_EVENT (MODIFYTS)
v FG_TEA_EVTKEY_IDX : FG_EVENTATTR (EVENT_KEY)
v FG_RE_DF_IDX : FG_ROUTE_EVENT (DATA_FLOW_ID)
Note: If there are any changes in a patch for the partitioned
indexes, the patch installation will drop the index and create a
non-partitioned index, treating it as a normal index. You should
analyze the indexdrop SQL's and recreate the partitioned indexes
again if they have changed.
The following example explains the procedure to drop an index
and create the same in a global partition:
1. To drop index PERF_IDX_1, run the following sql command:
drop index PERF_IDX_1 ;
2. Create the PERF_IDX_1 in global partitions by running the
following command:
create index PERF_IDX_1 on WORKFLOW_CONTEXT
(BASIC_STATUS,START_TIME,WORKFLOW_ID,WFD_ID) global
partition by hash
(BASIC_STATUS,START_TIME,WORKFLOW_ID,WFD_ID) partitions
16 store in (SI);

240

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Situation

Explanation/Resolution

In some cases,
perimeter services
may fail with the
following error. The
error will be recorded
in the perimeter
services log
(perimeter.log).

You can improve the situation by reducing high timeout values in
communications adapters and by increasing the delayed event
queue size (delayed.event.queue.size) in perimeter.properties file.
The default value of the delayed.event.queue.size property is
30000. You can increase the value based on your requirement.

Performance and Tuning Worksheet
The Performance and Tuning Worksheet can assist you in tuning Sterling B2B
Integrator for optimal performance.
It helps you take an inventory of the different parts of your installation that affect
performance.
Note: This worksheet is optional. It does not replace the Sterling B2B Integrator
System Requirements documentation that you used to install Sterling B2B Integrator.
Use the Performance and Tuning Worksheet to help you determine your hardware
requirements according to your processing volumes, operating system, hardware
vendor, and number of CPUs you are running.
Request

Description

How many processing days are there
in a month?

Enter the number of processing days in
a month. Use 30 days as an average.
This gives 5 days of maintenance time
throughout the year.

How many processing hours are there
in a day?

Enter the number of hours you allow
for processing all the data.

Your Answer

How many translations are required for Enter the largest number of translations
each transaction?
you will have if multiple translations
are required for a business process. For
example, is data mapped to a common
format, and is the common format used
to interface with all the external
systems?
Is content-based routing required?

If content-based routing is required in
your business processes, you require
maps, XML encoder, BPML choice,
assigns, adapters that are used for
routing, and possibly other
components.

Does the content of a transaction have
to be verified?

This requires translating data into
XML. The data will then have to be put
in process data and verified using
XPath.

Performance Management

241

Request

Description

What percentage of the content of the
transaction should be verified?

Typically, only a small part of a
transaction has to be verified. However,
if most of a transaction requires
verification, you may have significant
resources depending on the verification
path.

How many rules have to be applied to
verify the content?

This is used to calculate the Service
Latency.

How many content elements have to be Enter the number of elements that have
verified?
to be verified.
What is the future system growth rate? Current daily volume addition in the
future. The default for the current
volume is 1. For example, 2 means
100% growth or doubling the system
requirements.
What is the business process
persistence level that is required?

Enter the level of persistence (storage
to the database) you require for your
business process.
Choices include:
v Full – Saves a complete copy of
process data along each step of the
process.
v Minimal – Saves all the steps in a
business process and selected copies
of process data.
v None – Saves the first and the last
step of a business process, steps with
an override persistence level, and
selected steps in business process
data.

What is the average business process
size (KB)?

Unless you are very experienced and
understand business process context,
enter 3.5.

Who is the hardware vendor hosting
Sterling B2B Integrator?

Enter the hardware vendor's name, for
example, IBM, Sun, HP, or Dell.

What is the speed of CPUs in the host? Enter the speed in MHz, for example,
450, 1900 (1.9 GHz).
What is the number of CPUs in the
host?

Enter the number of CPUs installed or
the number you plan to install.

What is the amount of main memory
in the host (RAM)?

Enter the amount of memory in MB,
for example, 500 MB, 2048 MB.

What is the operating system that you
are using to host Sterling B2B
Integrator?

Enter the host operating system, for
example, Solaris, Windows Server®
2008, AIX, or Linux.

What is the operating system release
and version number?

For example, Red Hat Enterprise
Linux, Release 5, or Windows Server®
2008 Server Standard Edition R2.

242

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Your Answer

Request

Description

What are the JVM version numbers?

For example, IBM JDK 1.6.0 SR8 (64
bit) build pxa6460sr8-20100409_01(SR8).

Your Answer

Your JVM version must match the
requirements for your version of
Sterling B2B Integrator. The build date
and lower release numbers must also
match.
What are the Sterling B2B Integrator
version and patch numbers?

Enter the version and patch number for
your copy of Sterling B2B Integrator.

Who is your relational database
vendor?

Enter the name of the relational
database vendor Sterling B2B Integrator
uses, for example, MySQL, Oracle, or
DB2.

What is the relational database version
and patch number?

Enter the version number and patch
number of the relational database.

What are the other business
applications that have to be integrated
with?

Enter the vendor name of the other
business applications that you use in
your business, for example, SAP or
PeopleSoft. This helps determine which
adapters and services you require to
complete processing.

What are the other business
Enter the version number and patch
applications' version number and patch number of the other business
number?
applications.
What data format do you use to
exchange data with the other business
applications?

Enter the different data formats that
you use to exchange data with the
other business applications, for
example, XML or IDOC. This helps
determine the amount of translation
processing that may be needed to
increase system resource requirements.

What type of inbound transactions do
you have?

Enter the types of inbound transactions
that Sterling B2B Integrator will
process.

What is the average size of each
inbound transaction type?

Enter the average size of your inbound
transactions that Sterling B2B
Integrator will process. Base your
planning on the larger transactions at
peak times for better performance.

How many of each inbound transaction Enter the number of each inbound
type do you receive daily?
transaction type received by you daily.
This helps determine the processing
volumes.
What is the sum total size of each
inbound transaction type?

Enter the sum total of each inbound
transaction type. This helps in
determining the processing volumes.

What is the average number of files in
each inbound transaction by type?

Enter the average number of files in
each inbound transaction type. This
helps determine the processing
volumes.

What types of outbound transactions
do you have?

Enter the types of outbound
transactions that Sterling B2B
Integrator will process.
Performance Management

243

Request

Description

What is the average size of each
outbound transaction type?

Enter the average size of each of your
outbound transactions that Sterling B2B
Integrator will process. Base your
planning on the larger transactions
during peak periods for better
performance.

How many of each outbound
transaction type do you receive daily?

Enter the number of each outbound
transaction type received by you daily.
This helps in determining the
processing volumes.

Your Answer

What is the sum total of each outbound Enter the sum total of each outbound
transaction type?
transaction type. This helps in
determining the processing volumes.
What is the average number of files in
each outbound transaction by type?

Enter the average number of files in
each outbound transaction type. This
helps determine processing volumes.

workflowLauncher: Running a Business Process from a Command
Line
About this task
Sterling B2B Integrator provides a utility called workflowLauncher that allows you
to launch a business process from a command line. The utility launches a business
process and provides the status when it has completed, or when a timeout has
occurred (whichever comes first).
To launch a business process from a command line:

Procedure
1. Change to the install_dir/bin directory.
2. Run one of the following commands:
v (For UNIX) - ./workflowLauncher.sh -n BPname [option(s)]
v (For Windows) - workflowLauncher.cmd -n BPname [option(s)]
BPname is the name of the business process you want to launch. The available
options are listed in the following table:
Option

Description

-n BPname

Specifies the name of the business process definition to launch.
Mandatory.
Example: workflowLauncher.sh -n testBP
An error will be generated if the business process name is not
provided.

-s

244

Specifies Silent mode. Optional. In Silent mode, less information
about the business process is output to the standard output.
Default is Verbose mode.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Option

Description

-u username

Specifies the user name from which to include the userToken.
Optional.
Example: -u username
This parameter is used to specify the user token of the business
process.

-d directory

Specifies the output directory. Optional.
Example: -d absolutePath/directory
Used in conjunction with the -t parameter when you generate step
XML trace files. This is used to set the directory output of the trace
files.

-t

Turns on step XML trace generation. Optional. Used in conjunction
with the -d parameter when you want to generate XML trace files.
By default, the trace file name will be prefixed with the business
process ID. To turn this feature off, use the -o parameter.

-o

Used to prevent prefixing the trace file name with the business
process ID when generating step XML trace files. Optional.

-v versionNumber

Specifies a specific version of the business process definition to
launch. Optional.
Example: -v business_process_version_number
The version number is not the user description string. It is the
internal running number (a positive integer) that is automatically
incremented each time you check in a new version of the same
business process (as described using the Graphical Process Modeler
and/or XML). If there is only one version, the version number will
be 1. An error will be generated if the version number is not
found.
You can view the version number by resting your mouse on, or
clicking the information icon for the business process in the
Change History section of the Sterling B2B Integrator Business
Process Source Manager.

-f inputFile

Specifies a file to use as the primary document when launching the
business process. Optional.
Example: -f path/filename
Only one file is allowed. An absolute path or a relative path to the
file may be used. To specify the encoding of the file, use the -e
parameter.
An error will be generated if the file is not found.

-e encoding

Specifies the encoding of the primary document. Optional.
Example: -e encodingName
Used in conjunction with the -f parameter.
To see what encoding names are supported, see the
encodings.properties file in the install_dir/properties directory. The
full listing is shown in the encodings_large.properties file.

Performance Management

245

Option

Description

-w count

Specifies the number of times to sleep. Default is 10.
Example: -w count
Used in conjunction with the -i parameter to define the total
timeout value. For an example showing the total timeout value, see
the -i parameter.

-i time

Specifies the length of time, in milliseconds, to sleep. Default is
3000 (3 seconds).
Example: -i time
Used in conjunction with the -w parameter to define the total
timeout value.
For example, the default value for -i time is 3000 milliseconds and
the default value for -w count is 10. Therefore, the default timeout
value is 30,000 milliseconds (3000 milliseconds x 10), or 30 seconds.

-x

Specifies not to return an exit code. Optional. By default, the utility
returns an exit code.

-h | -?

Displays the Help screen.

Exit Codes
The workflowLauncher utility returns the following exit codes:

246

Exit Code

Description

0

The business process completed with success status.

1

The business process completed with error status.

99

The workflowLauncher utility reached timeout while waiting for
status from the business process.

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Notices
This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A.
IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in
other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the
products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM
product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM
product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product,
program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may
be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the
operation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.
IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter
described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant you
any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:
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IBM Corporation
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contact the IBM Intellectual Property Department in your country or send
inquiries, in writing, to:
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The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other
country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:
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PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
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FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or
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This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.
Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2015

247

incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements
and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this
publication at any time without notice.
Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for
convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web
sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM
product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.
IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it
believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.
Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purpose
of enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently created
programs and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of the
information which has been exchanged, should contact:
IBM Corporation
J46A/G4
555 Bailey Avenue
San Jose, CA 95141-1003
U.S.A.
Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions,
including in some cases, payment of a fee.
The licensed program described in this document and all licensed material
available for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement,
IBM International Program License Agreement or any equivalent agreement
between us.
Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled
environment. Therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments may
vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level
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generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been
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Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the suppliers of
those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources.
IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of
performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-IBM products.
Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to the
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All statements regarding IBM's future direction or intent are subject to change or
withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.
All IBM prices shown are IBM's suggested retail prices, are current and are subject
to change without notice. Dealer prices may vary.

248

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

This information is for planning purposes only. The information herein is subject to
change before the products described become available.
This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily business
operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include the
names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are
fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business
enterprise is entirely coincidental.
COPYRIGHT LICENSE:
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illustrate programming techniques on various operating platforms. You may copy,
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programs conforming to the application programming interface for the operating
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programs are provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind. IBM shall not be
liable for any damages arising out of your use of the sample programs.
Each copy or any portion of these sample programs or any derivative work, must
include a copyright notice as follows:
© IBM 2015. Portions of this code are derived from IBM Corp. Sample Programs. ©
Copyright IBM Corp. 2015.
If you are viewing this information softcopy, the photographs and color
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Trademarks
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com® are trademarks or registered trademarks of
International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.
Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies.
A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and
trademark information” at http://www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
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registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States
and other countries.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other
countries, or both.

Notices

249

Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
ITIL is a registered trademark, and a registered community trademark of the Office
of Government Commerce, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark
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Cell Broadband Engine is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. in the
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Gentran:Realtime®, Gentran:Server®, Gentran:Viewpoint®, Sterling Commerce™,
Sterling Information Broker®, and Sterling Integrator® are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Sterling Commerce®, Inc., an IBM Company.
Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks
of others.

250

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

Index
A

cdinterop.log 90
cdsp.log 90
ceuinterop.log 90
checklist
Sterling File Gateway 9
Sterling Integrator 5
Clean-Up Processes Monitor 104
cluster environment and JNDI 101
cluster node status 3
common3splogger.log 92
compressing cache contents 180
configuring
DB resource monitor 225
DB2 35
Microsoft SQL Server 51
Oracle 22
console listener
enabling 186
Consume business process 96
controllers 99
creating
performance statistics report 214
crypto.log 90
cspftp.log 90
csphttp.log 90

active threads 101
activities
monitoring 94
stopping 95
AE_ExecuteCycle 174
AE_ExecuteCycleTime 174
aftrouting.log 89
alerterlogger.log 90
AllowStealing 176
analyzing log files 84
archive.log 90
ASI 173
performance tuning 166
queue tuning 173
queues 172
ASI queue 173
ASM 46
audit.log 93, 94
auditing 93
Authentication.log 92

B
Backuplogs.log 92
Basic Scheduling policy 172
bizIntel.log 91
BLOB 32
bpdeadline.log 92
business process
resolving 232
halted 232
halting 232
interrupted 232
waiting 232
business process execution time
causes 231
improving 230
symptoms
increasing 230
business process threads 3

D

C
cache 3
determining cause of inefficiency
disk 227
inefficient 228
memory 227
soft 227
symptoms of inefficiency 228
cache contents
compressing 180
cache usage 104
CacheThreshold 175
capacity requirements 14
example 15
causes
slow system 234
cdinterop_cdjava.log 90
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2015

228

database
buffer pool statistics 29
connection issues 222
failed requests 222
resolve 224
db_optimization_tool 217
down 224
full database
causes 219
issues 218
resolution 220
symptoms 219
instance efficiency 29
JDBC connections 226
maintenance 214
monitoring disk space 14
optimizing 217
planning 13
statistics report 215
storage 26
ASM 26
raw disks 26
tablespaces 27
DB2
configuring 35
connections 39
event monitors 49
indexes 51
logs 47
LOGFILSIZ 48
LOGPRIMARY 48
LOGSECOND 48
NUM_LOG_SPAN 48

DB2 (continued)
monitoring 35, 48
snapshots 48
parameters 38
performance manager 50
storage 44
tablespaces 45
volatile tables 51
deadlock 50, 53, 61, 72
defrag 61
delete.log 90
deprecated resources
identifying 109
monitoring 109
descriptors
file 191, 193
file descriptors 166
determining cause
inefficient cache 228
slow system 234
directory naming convention 82
disabling
perimeter server 106
document persistence 221
DTDs
repositories 185
trusted domains 185

E
ebXML.log 90
EDI 187
edi.log 90
EDIINT.log 90
embeddedEngine.log 90
EnableDeadlines 175
enabling
console listener 186
perimeter server 106
enveloping.properties.in 187
event.log 91

F
Fair Share Scheduling policy
file descriptors 191, 193
file system 14
native 16
ftp.log 91
ftpclient.log 91

172

G
garbage collection
example 62
HotSpot 64
tools 65

62

251

H

L

N

heap 70
HotSpot JVM
garbage collection
GCViewer 65
HPjmeter 66
Java Garbage Collector
visualgc 66
http.log 91
httpclient.log 91

latency 1
lifecycle.log 91
listenerStartup.properties.in 186
load 1
log file
changing location 88
naming convention 83
types 89
logs 3
analyzing 84
changing system 185
DB2 47
naming conventions 82
overview 82
redo 25
types 89
viewing contents 83

naming conventions 82
noapp.log 92, 186
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext 173,
176
noapp.properties_platform_ifcresources_ext.in 185
node monitoring status 106

66

I
improving business process execution
time 230
indexes
DB2 51
Microsoft SQL Server 60
Oracle 31
rebuild 31, 60
inefficient cache
resolving inefficiency 228
InitialCycles 176
installation path 101
interrupting threads 95

J
JavaPriority 175
JBOD 15
JDBC
monitor 3
JDBC tracking
disable 226
enable 226
jdbc.properties.in 181, 226
jetty.log 91
JMX event listener 186
jmx.log 91
JNDI 101
contexts 182
JNDI and cluster environment
JVM 62
garbage collection
example 62
HotSpot 64
HotSpot tools 65
statistics 62
heap dumps 77
heap memory 64
HotSpot 63, 69, 70, 72
blocked thread 73
deadlock 72
tuning 63
Hprof 77
IBM 78
parameters 78
tuning 78
profiling 77
version 62
JVM monitor 3

252

101

M
mailbox.log 91
manageability 14
managing
performance statistics 203
system logs 82
MaxPoolSize 173, 174
MaxThreads 174
MaxWaitTime 176
memory in use 101
Message monitor 3
messages 3
monitoring 96
mgmtdash.log 90
Microsoft SQL Server
autogrow 57
configuring 51
dynamic management views 58
indexes 60
rebuild 60
maintenance plan 59
Management Studio 57
monitoring 51, 57
performance monitor 58
SQL Server Profiler 57
storage 56
system monitor 58
table statistics 60
tips 61
MinPoolSize 173, 175
modifying log levels 85
monitoring
activities 94
AWR report 28
database usage report 222
DB2 35, 48
deprecated resources 109
disk space 14
HotSpot JVM heap 70
HotSpot JVM thread 70
messages 96
Microsoft SQL Server 51, 57
node status 106
Oracle 22
threads 94, 95

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

O
ocsp.log 91
OdetteFTP.log 91
oftp.log 91
open file descriptors 166, 191, 193
ops_exe.log 92
ops.log 89
opsSecurity.log 89
opsServer.log 89
Oracle
BLOB caching 32
configuring 22
indexes 31
rebuild 31
monitoring 22
table statistics 31
undo changes 25

P
performance concepts 1
performance statistics
creating report 214
managing 203
turning on/off 213
Performance statistics report 3
performance tuning 182
ASI 166
document body serialization
threshold 181
JNDI contexts 182
manual 166
methodology 4
prerequisites 1
queues 173
Sterling e-Invoicing 193
system logging 185
worksheet 241
Performance tuning wizard 3
performance. 14
perimeter server
area on troubleshooting page
disabling 106
enabling 106
Perimeter.log 91
persistence level 183
pipeline.log 91
planning worksheet
performance and tuning
worksheet 241
platform.log 91
Produce business process 96
PSLogger 93

106

Q
QueueDepth
queues
ASI 172

174

R
RAID 15
redo
file size 25
logs 25
report.log 91
requirements planning worksheet
rescheduling 175
ReschedulingInterval 175
resolutions
cache 228
slow system 235
ResourceAllocation 176
resourcemonitor.log 91
rnif.log 91
rollback transaction errors 26
run.sh 182

4

S
sap.log 91
sapxi.log 91
scalability 1, 14
schedule.log 91
ScheduleBackup.log 92
schedulemonitor.log 91
ScheduleStopOps.log 93
scheduling policies 3
scheduling policy
changing 172
overview 172
SchedulingPolicyName 172
schemas
repositories 185
trusted domains 185
searching messages 97
secureproxy.log 92
security.log 91
segment
order
data 194
segment order
maps 194
server sizing 14
servers 99
servicesctl.log 89
setupfiles.cmd 181, 182, 186, 188
setupfiles.sh 181, 182, 185, 186, 188
sftpclient.log 92
sftpserver.log 92
si_exe.log 92
slow system
causes 234
determining cause 234
resolutions 235
resolving 229, 234
symptoms 234
soft stop 110
sql.log 92
start time 99

starting system logs 85
StartupPS.log 93
startWindowsService.cmd 182
state 101
status viewing
system logs 82
StealThreads 176
stopping
activities 95
system logs 85
stopping threads 95
storage
DB2 44
Microsoft SQL Server 56
survivability 14
symptoms
cache 228
slow system 234
system classpath 101
system information 3
system logs 3
managing 82
modifying log level 85
starting 85
stopping 85
turning on and off 85
system recovery 3
System troubleshooting 3
system troubleshooting page 98
system.log 91, 92

txtrace.log

U
ui.log 91
uptime 99

V
viewing
JDBC report 226
log files 83
server status 82
service status 82
threads 95
visibility.log 92

W
wait events 30
webdav.log 92
WebSphereMQSuite.log 92
webx.log 92
wf.log 90
wfexception.log 90
wfstatistics.log 90
workflowLauncher 244
workflows.properties file 181
worksheet 241
wsrm.log 92
wssec.log 92

T
T-SQL 60
tablespaces
DB2 45
DMS 45
SMS 45
thread 70
blocked 73
thread dump
example 70
IBM iSeries 237
Linux 237
performing 71
reading 238
tools 72
UNIX (HP-UX or Sun Solaris)
UNIX (IBM AIX) 237
Windows 237
Thread monitor 3
Thread Monitor 94
threads 3
interrupting 95
monitoring 94, 95
stopping 95
viewing 95
throughput 1
tracking.log 90
trusted domains
DTDs 185
schemas 185
tuning 173
HotSpot JVM 63, 66
IBM JVM 78
tuning.properties 177, 182
tx.log 92

92

236

Index

253

254

Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management

IBM®

Product Number:

Printed in USA


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Creator                         : IBM
Title                           : Sterling B2B Integrator: Performance Management
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Author                          : IBM

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