Windchill fails to start as a service

[BenLoosli]

After doing the upgrade to Windchill, now running 12.0.2.8, I am trying to follow the steps outlined in this CS article on running Windchill as a service.

Article - CS17799 - How to run Apache, Tomcat, Windchill Directory Server and Windchill as Microsoft Windows service in Windchill (ptc.com)

The build says it is successful but does issue warnings when running. 

PTC tech support sent me this CS article:

Article - CS357485 - After executing ant -f bin/gwt.xml command on Windchill shell throws warnings WARNING: An illegal reflective access operation has occurred in Windchill PDMLink (ptc.com)

However, When I go to start the service, it gives an error and will not start.

I can start Windchill manually from a command prompt, but that does no good if IT does a server reboot overnight and I have to manually restart Windchill.

Has anyone else had this issue with Windchill12.0? I did not have any issues with all prior versions of Windchill (7, 9. 9.1, 10, 11, 11.1) that I have installed.

[rleir]

What are the warnings? What is the error?

[BenLoosli]

Installed Windchill as a service, set to Automatic start and rebooted.

Windchill did not start.

Opened services and clicked on Windchill and pressed Start.

Got an error message:

Windows could not start the Windchill on the Local Computer.

For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a

non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to

service-specific error code 1.

System Event log says Windchill has an Incorrect function.

[HelesicPetr]

Hi @BenLoosli 

Check the user who run the service.

I have had experience that the user does not have correct rights/access. 

The NTSERVICE user was used in the past but in Windchill 12.1+ it has been changed and I usually change the user to the NTSRVICE and the windchill service works. 

PS: the change of the service installation could be changed in the previous versions 12.0+. 

PetrH

[BenLoosli]

All are being run from my 1 logon to Windows and I do have administrator privileges.

[HelesicPetr]

Hi @BenLoosli 

You can think that you have but my experience is different.

Try to set this one>

PetrH

[TomU]

I had this happen once with WindchillDS.  For some reason the script that created the service was failing at a certain point.  Tech support never could figure it out.  I eventually eliminated the issue by upgrading (replacing) the server (VM).

I would take a look at the output from the ant scripts that are configuring the service.  There is probably an error somewhere in the process and the service is not being configured correctly.

Is Apache starting okay as a service?

[BenLoosli]

WindchillDS 11.2 and Apache are starting fine as a service.

I have attached a copy of the ant install and the warning.

CS357485 referenced above has been PTC's response so far.

I do have a help desk call open that I will be working with PTC on this afternoon.

[TomU]

Does it make any difference if you call that ant script from the root of Windchill?

Here are the commands I use:

===================================================================
========== Configure Services =====================================
===================================================================
- Install Webserver (Apache) as a service:
cd E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\HTTPServer\bin
httpd -k install -n "Windchill Web Server"

- Install Windchill Method Server as a service:
cd E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill
ant -buildfile opt\ntservice\WindchillService.xml install -DserviceName="Windchill Method Server"

- Add startup dependencies to method server service:
sc config "Windchill Method Server" depend= "WindchillWebServer"

- Start Windchill

[mmeadows-3]

Sanity check...  When installing the Windchill service, was the Windchill shell elevated (Run as Administrator)?  Even being part of the local Administrators group doesn't mean Windows will successfully run a script that alters services.  If it wasn't installed with elevated permissions, uninstall and reinstall from an elevated shell.

I'm not aware of anti-virus or anti-malware software causing any issues.

Probably won't see a difference, but here are the registry values of a Windchill service that is working.

What is the response from an elevated cmd prompt for:

net start {Windchill service name}

Is there a better error message in the Windows event log?

[TomU]

The output from my system looks similar.

Shell:

E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill>ant -buildfile opt\ntservice\WindchillService.xml install -DserviceName="Windchill Method Server"
Buildfile: E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\opt\ntservice\WindchillService.xml

********************************************************************************
!+! STARTED @ Tue Jan 17 10:59:04 EST 2023
********************************************************************************

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
!+! ENTERING WindchillService[E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\opt\ntservice\WindchillService.xml]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     [echo] commonImportFile=E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\bin\commonImport.xml
Overriding previous definition of reference to ant.projectHelper
Overriding previous definition of reference to ant.projectHelper
Build sequence for target(s) `install' is [-init, install]

-init:

install:
     [echo] Installing Windchill Service: Windchill Method Server
WARNING: An illegal reflective access operation has occurred
WARNING: Illegal reflective access by org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedClass (file:/E:/ptc/Windchill_12.1/Windchill/ant/lib/groovy-all.jar) to method java.lang.Object.finalize()
WARNING: Please consider reporting this to the maintainers of org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedClass
WARNING: Use --illegal-access=warn to enable warnings of further illegal reflective access operations
WARNING: All illegal access operations will be denied in a future release
     [echo] 2023-01-17 10:59:33 !T! ENTER force xconf propagation
   [groovy] statements executed successfully
     [echo] 2023-01-17 10:59:40 !T! EXIT  force xconf progation
   [groovy] statements executed successfully
     [echo] The Windchill Method Server service was successfully installed.
********************************************************************************
!+! FINISHED @ Tue Jan 17 10:59:40 EST 2023
!+! Log: E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\buildlogs\0000-WindchillService.log
********************************************************************************

BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 35 seconds

Log:

********************************************************************************
!+! STARTED @ Tue Jan 17 10:59:04 EST 2023
********************************************************************************

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
!+! ENTERING WindchillService[E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\opt\ntservice\WindchillService.xml]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     [echo] commonImportFile=E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\bin\commonImport.xml
Overriding previous definition of reference to ant.projectHelper
Overriding previous definition of reference to ant.projectHelper
Build sequence for target(s) `install' is [-init, install]

-init:

install:
     [echo] Installing Windchill Service: Windchill Method Server
     [echo] 2023-01-17 10:59:33 !T! ENTER force xconf propagation
   [groovy] statements executed successfully
     [echo] 2023-01-17 10:59:40 !T! EXIT  force xconf progation
   [groovy] statements executed successfully
     [echo] The Windchill Method Server service was successfully installed.
********************************************************************************
!+! FINISHED @ Tue Jan 17 10:59:40 EST 2023
!+! Log: E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\buildlogs\0000-WindchillService.log
********************************************************************************

BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 35 seconds

(I manually added this dependency)

[TomU]

Uninstalling and re-installing the Windows service (for that earlier test) 'broke' Windchill.  The method server failed to start correctly:

ERROR [main] com.infoengine.au.json.parser.IEJSONParserHelper  - IEJSONParserHelper.readJSONAndInflateCache FAILED !!! 
ERROR [main] com.infoengine.au.json.parser.IEJSONParserHelper  - IEJSONParserHelper.readJSONAndInflateCache ERROR !!!E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\IEConf\adapterservice.json (Access is denied)
ERROR [main] com.infoengine.au.json.parser.IEJSONParserHelper  - IEJSONParserHelper.inflateJSONObjectCache ERROR !!!E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\IEConf\adapterservice.json (Access is denied)
ERROR [main] com.infoengine.au.json.parser.IEJSONParserHelper  - IEJSONParserHelper.readJSONAndInflateCache FAILED !!! 
ERROR [main] com.infoengine.au.json.parser.IEJSONParserHelper  - IEJSONParserHelper.readJSONAndInflateCache ERROR !!!E:\ptc\Windchill_12.1\Windchill\IEConf\adapterservice.json (Access is denied)
INFO  [main] wt.system.err  - com.infoengine.exception.adapter.IEAdapterException: Unable to perform read operation. Please contact your Administrator.
INFO  [main] wt.system.err  - 	at com.infoengine.json.QueryObjects.run(QueryObjects.java:182)

Comparing this test system with my production system, the 'Log on as' settings were different.  Changing it to use the 'Local System account' fixed it.

INFO  [main] wt.method.server.startup  - MethodServer ready (in 122.402 secs).

[BenLoosli]

I am set to use the Local System account for the startup of the Windchill service.

PTC threw the ball at our IT department to resolve it. That may take weeks!

[HelesicPetr]

Hi @BenLoosli 

Did the changing to the local system account help?

PetrH

[BenLoosli]

No, still trying to figure this one out.

[BrianToussaint]

@TomU, thanks for the screenshot.  I was having the same issue and this fixed it for me.

[Pascal_Brunet]

Hello,

i had similar problem in 12.0.0.3. I solved it by replacing local system by an administrator account. Check my original note i created last time it happened to me.

svc_plm is not an account i created myself on the server. It is an account created by our Server team in the Enterprise Active Directory: 

Hope it can help.

Best regards,

Pascal

[BenLoosli · Accepted solution]

Working with tech support, we finally identified the cause and have it fixed.

The registry settings under Apache had bad values for JavaHome and Jvm. For some reason they were pointing to <Windchill loadpoint>\{Java_home}\(the files needed). Corrected to point to c:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.13 and then the jvm.dll.

Once I corrected these, Windchill starts as a service.