TroubleShooting: JNDI and naming problems

Resolving The Problem

Steps to help resolve common naming lookup problems
Which method are you using, corbaloc/corbaname, for direct lookups or Java: for indirect lookups?

1. If you are using the corbaloc method, you can use the dumpNameSpace utility to display contents of a namespace, if possible, from the machine where application client is running.
e.g.

WebSphere_AppServer_Root/bin/dumpNameSpace.[sh|bat] -host myhost.mycompany.com -port 901
OR
WebSphere_AppServer_Root/bin/dumpNameSpace.[sh|bin] -url corbaloc:iiop:myhost.mycompany.com:901

See dumpNameSpace examples.in the infocenter

See the following example of a corbaloc providerURL and lookup:


env.put(Context.PROVIDER_URL,"corbaloc::server.austin.ibm.com:9809");

ctx = new InitialContext(env);

Object obj = ctx.lookup("jdbc/PlantsByWebSphereDataSource")

The following is how the object is seen in the dumpNameSpace output:

install_root\bin\dumpNameSpace -url corbaloc::server.austin.ibm.com:9809

...
39 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/petstore/PetStoreDB  PetStoreDB
40 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/PlantsByWebSphereDataSource  PLANTSDB
41 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/CatalogDB  CatalogDB
...


2. Can you see the object in the namespace?

• Yes:
• Check for spelling mistakes on lookup code versus what is seen in namespace.
• Confirm you are connecting to the namespace of the proper server, see the provider URL.
• If ProviderURL or ctx.lookup values are picked up from the properties file, print out the variable values to SystemOut to confirm the correct values are provided.
• If this does not resolve the problem, then go to What to do next.
  
  
• No: Use the administrative console to verify that:
• The server hosting the target resource is started.
• The Web module or EJB container, if applicable, hosting the target resource is running.
• The JNDI name of the target resource is correct and updated.
• If the problem resource is remote, that is, not on the same node as the Name Server node, that the JNDI name is fully qualified, including the host name. This is especially applicable to Network Deployment configurations.
• If this does not resolve the problem, then go to What to do next.

If you are using the java: lookup method, you cannot use dumpNamespace to see the lookup object. This is because the object is in the application's own namespace.

1. Check your configuration against the following example of a java: namespace lookup. This shows the mapping from the sample code with the resource.xml, the resource.xml with the ibm-resource-bnd.xmi, and finally with the object as seen in the namespace.
(where resource = web, application, appclient or ejbjar)

Code sample:
ctx = new InitialContext();
Object obj = ctx.lookup("java:comp/env/plantsby/PlantsDS");

Note: Mapping is configured between the resource.xml and ibm-resource-bnd.xmi files.

web.xml:
<resource-ref id="ResourceRef_1">
   <res-ref-name>plantsby/PlantsDS</res-ref-name>
   <res-type>javax.sql.DataSource</res-type>
   <res-auth>Container</res-auth>
</resource-ref>

ibm-web-bnd.xmi:
<resRefBindings xmi:id="ResourceRefBinding_1" jndiName="jdbc/PlantsByWebSphereDataSource">
   <bindingResourceRef href="WEB-INF/web.xml#ResourceRef_1"/>
</resRefBindings>

2. The dumpNameSpace utility can still be used to show the real object in the namespace as defined in the binding file. This is different from that of the java:'s namespace.

Sample piece of the dumpNameSpace Output:
. . .
39 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/petstore/PetStoreDB  PetStoreDB
40 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/PlantsByWebSphereDataSource  PLANTSDB
41 (top)/nodes/server/servers/server1/jdbc/CatalogDB  CatalogDB
. . .

If the configuration looks to be setup properly, when compared with the preceding sample, then get a dump of the applications, java:, namespace using the wsadmin utility.

• Syntax for dumping java: namespace

What to do next?
If the preceding troubleshooting steps did not help solve your problem, see the MustGather for JNDI/Naming problems to continue investigation.