Tomcat failed to start on ThingWorx Install 9.7. Installer bailed and removed ThingWorx

[avillanueva]

Guess what I've been doing today. My latest one is when the installer tries to start up Thingworx service, this fails with the messages below. The installer then removes the ThingWorxFoundation folder so I cannot see what the issues were if it was a permissions issue. I am running SELinux but put it in permissive mode when running install. What's worse is that the installer build the schema for the MSSQL DB however since it failed, it did not like retrying the install since it said the DB tables existed. I had to drop and create the DB many times now. 

Error running systemctl start ThingWorx-Foundation: Job for ThingWorx-Foundation.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status ThingWorx-Foundation.service" and "journalctl -xeu ThingWorx-Foundation.service" for details.
Directory already exists: /opt/ptc/ThingWorxFoundation
Unpacking files
[13:56:16] end  ccif_start_post
Directory already exists: /opt/ptc/ThingWorxFoundation
Unpacking files
[13:56:17] start  post_foundation
Directory already exists: /opt/ptc/ThingWorxFoundation
Unpacking files
Waiting for ThingWorx Foundation...
No file was found that matched the pattern catalina.out inside the base directory /opt/ptc/ThingWorxFoundation/tomcat/current/logs

Jun 18 13:56:16 <hostname> systemd[1]: Starting Apache Tomcat 9.0.95 ThingWorx-Foundation...
Jun 18 13:56:16 <hostname> systemd[6487]: ThingWorx-Foundation.service: Changing to the requested working directory failed: Permission denied
Jun 18 13:56:16 <hostname> systemd[6487]: ThingWorx-Foundation.service: Failed at step CHDIR spawning /opt/ptc/ThingWorxFoundation/tomcat/current/bin/startup.sh: Permission denied

Where else can I look for logs?

[avillanueva · Accepted solution]

I ended up flipping to permissive mode for SELinux and restarting. I had to drop the MSSQL database again and I learned before that need to make sure that /tmp folder is executable (mount -o remount,exec /tmp). Installation was able to run and succeed. Now, I understand the challenges with running SELinux. Its a P.I.T.A. but certain industries are requiring it now with CMMC. If anyone at PTC is listening, either get on board and support it or update documentation to help customers navigate the mine field. The installer should be improved to be fail safe, improve error messages and not leave a user in a state where they cannot resume once the issue is resolved.  You've done a good job with Windchill installers. Perhaps have that team help out Thingworx team.