PM80510: NULLPOINTEREXCEPTION IN GETORCREATEAUTHENTICATIONCONTEXT APPEARS IN LOGS AND WORKLIGHT CONSOLE CANNOT BE REACHED

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• On WebSphere Application Server (any version,) if the Worklight
  project does not start correctly, it can subsequently cause a
  NullPointerException in
  AuthenticationContext.getOrCreateAuthenticationContext.  For
  example, if the installed WAR configuration is incorrectly (such
  as an invalid DataSource), or if the database user ID or
  Password information is incorrect, this will cause the WL
  project initialization to fail in the Worklight
  ServletContextListener.  However, on WebSphere, failures in a
  ServletContextListener do NOT stop the web application from
  being started.  Since the WL web app is started, but was not
  correctly initialized, it results in a NullPointerException.
  For example:
             11/7/12 12:27:46:023 CST] 00000057 webapp E
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logServletError SRVE0293E:
  [Servlet Error]-[ServletNameNotFound]:
  java.lang.NullPointerException
    at
  com.worklight.core.auth.impl.AuthenticationContext.getOrCreateAu
  thenticationContext(AuthenticationContext.java:105)
    at
  com.worklight.core.auth.impl.AuthenticationFilter.doFilter(Authe
  nticationFilter.java:91)
    at
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.FilterInstanceWrapper.doFilter(Fi
  lterInstanceWrapper.java:192)
    at
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebApp
  FilterChain.java:89)
    at
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.doFilter(WebA
  ppFilterManager.java:926)
    at
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.invokeFilters
  (WebAppFilterManager.java:1023)
    at
  com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.handleRequest(WebApp.java:
  3703)
    ...
  

Local fix

• There is currently no work around for this issue.
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED:  Users with Worklight web applications,      *
  *                  which are installed in a WebSphere          *
  *                  Application Server environment and which    *
  *                  have configuration errors.                  *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: The Worklight web application will      *
  *                      not be accessible (for example, the     *
  *                      WL console will not be accessible)      *
  *                      and a NullPointerException will be      *
  *                      logged in the WebSphere logs.  There    *
  *                      will be logs prior to the NPE           *
  *                      indicating what failed during           *
  *                      initialization of the web app, a log    *
  *                      indicating that the                     *
  *                      ServletContextListener failed,          *
  *                      followed by a log saying the web app    *
  *                      was started.                            *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  ****************************************************************
  If there are configuration issues (such as invalid database
  userID or password) in the web application, they will be
  logged during application start.  However, these errors occur
  in the WL ServletContextListener, so they do not prevent the
  web app from starting on WebSphere (this is a known behavior
  on WebSphere and it conforms to the Servlet specification).
  When a request is received for that web app, it will cause a
  NullPointerException in the WL AuthenticationFilter when it
  calls
  com.worklight.core.auth.impl.AuthenticationContext.getOrCreateAu
  thenticationContext.  The NPE is because the web app
  initialization was not successful.  Note that fixing the
  webapp configuaration so that it starts correctly will get rid
  of the NPE and the resulting error response code.
  

Problem conclusion

• The WL ServletContextListener now sets an indication of
  whether it was successfully initialized or not.  If it is not
  successfully initialized, then the web app will still fail,
  but will do so gracefully; it will not cause an NPE in the
  logs, and it will send an error to the client indicating the
  project was not initialized.
  
  The fix for this APAR is currently targetted for inclusion in
  fixpack 5.0.5.0.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  MOBILE FNDTN EN

• Fixed component ID

  5725G9200

Applicable component levels

• R500 PSY

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