changing System Lane User / Multiple system Lane user

In IBM BPM system tasks are used for automated work.

These system tasks are executed by system user(mostly tw_admin or other admin user). These tasks are always executed by default system lane user.

If you want to change this default system lane user or add multiple system lane user and assign different users to different swim lanes, you can do it by following below steps.

Step 1 -
Create additional authentication aliases in WebSphere Administrative Console.

Go to Security -> Global Security -> Java Authentication and Authorization Service -> J2C authentication data
Create new users there.







Step 2- Once created, add these two authentication alias names to the list of SystemLaneUsers to indicate that these users can be used as system lane users using wsadmin scrpting.




deName = "De1"

de = AdminConfig.getid("/Cell:/BPMCellConfigExtension:/BPMDeploymentEnvironment:%s/" %deName)

print AdminConfig.showAttribute(de,"SystemLaneUserAuthAliasNames")

additionalSystemLaneUserAliases = ";".join( [ 'sys1', 'sys2' ] )

AdminConfig.modify(de, [ [ "SystemLaneUserAuthAliasNames", additionalSystemLaneUserAliases ] ] )


AdminConfig.save()


Now, you can use same in your Process App. if "system" Team is assigned to your swim lane, then first user will be used to process system tasks. 
If you want any particular user to execute system tasks then follow belos.

1.)
Create a team that contains the desired system lane user as its single user.



2.)
Add a new lane and mark it as a System Lane.
Associate it with desired Team name.






Source
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/d350350e-2c84-4d33-a25d-73b42c7fbb5e/entry/Multiple_system_lanes_system_users?lang=en

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSFTN5_8.5.7/com.ibm.wbpm.admin.doc/topics/adding_system_lane_users.html

Restrict User Access to BPM Admin Portal

For IBM BPM we can restrict user access to IBM BPM Admin console using below steps. This we need to do if we want only specific users to use Process Admin console.

- go to WAS console 
- go to Applications -> Application Type -> Websphere Enterprise Applications
- go to application "IBM_BPM_ProcessAdmin_<ClusterName>"
- go to "Security role to user/group mapping"
- select twUser and map only users you want to give access.

Find current value for env variable for a snapshot in PS using DB

If you want to find current value of env variable for a snapshot in PS environment from DB, it can be used using below 2 queries.

we can also find out if the value came as default from twx file while deployment or it has been updated later.

1.) find the custom changed value after deployment which will overwrite default values.

select s.NAME as "Snap Name", v.NAME as "Env Var Name", v.VALUE, v.LAST_MODIFIED from LSW_ENV_VAR_VAL v, LSW_SNAPSHOT s  where v.SNAPSHOT_ID=s.SNAPSHOT_ID and s.NAME='<Snapshot Name>' 

2.) Find default values of env variables which was set while deploying a snapshot.

select e.NAME, e.DEFAULT_VALUE from LSW_PO_VERSIONS v, LSW_BRANCH b, LSW_SNAPSHOT s, LSW_ENV_VAR e where v.BRANCH_ID=b.BRANCH_ID and e.VERSION_ID=v.PO_VERSION_ID and s.BRANCH_ID=b.BRANCH_ID and  s.NAME='<Snapshot_Name>'

IBM BPM instances are in completed state but tasks are Active

Due to a program error there might be a scenario when instance is in completed state but the task is in received state.

there are 3 Ifixes you have to install to get that solved. Below are links to technote for them

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1JR53167

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1JR52533

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1JR57381

MISSING TASK TIMER EXECUTIONS from Event Manager - Due to max retry reached.

Problem statement :-

There is a scheduled task which meant to start a BPD and create an instance in EM queue which should run at particular time but BPM instance was not created even after timer task went out of EM queue.

Explaination :-

Whenever BPM executes  EM (= Event Manager) task, it very early in that thread tries to lock the instance with a SELECT for UPDATE WITH RS on the according row in the BPD instance table.

If another thread already locked that row, the EM task may fail after a while (lock wait timeout).

You can see something like below log in logs

wle_ucaexcept E   CWLLG0181E: An exception occurred during execution of task 16,513,005.  Error: PreparedStatementCallback; SQL [SELECT BPD_INSTANCE_ID FROM LSW_BPD_INSTANCE WHERE BPD_INSTANCE_ID = ? FOR UPDATE WITH RS]; DB2 SQL Error: SQLCODE=-911, SQLSTATE=40001, SQLERRMC=68, DRIVER=3.64.133; nested exception is com.ibm.db2.jcc.am.SqlTransactionRollbackException: DB2 SQL Error: SQLCODE=-911, SQLSTATE=40001, SQLERRMC=68, DRIVER=3.64.133

The Event Manager is going to retry such a task, by default for 5 times!

If if fails 5 times it would have been just discarded in earlier BPM releases, but with APAR JR47860 installed, it would be rescheduled for 2099 and you could manually resubmit it!

Let my show you how the message looks like, after which the 5 retries have been reached (important is the message CWLLG0197W):

wle_ucaexcept E   CWLLG0197W: Task Notify BPD 741581 of notification failed 5  times.  The task will not be re-executed.

If you face similar situation, try to find CWLLG0197W in logs.

Problem Conclusion :-

The problem is solved by enhancing the Event Manager such that Event Manager tasks that were retried until reaching the re-execute-limit can be resumed by administrative means once the exceptional situation is resolved.

With this code fix in place when a task reaches the maximum limit When a work item has reached the maximum retry execution or the queue is full, the items will be listed in the Event Manager console page and marked with a scheduled execution date of "2099-02-01." Due to localization it may also appear as "1/2/99".

• With this APAR upon reaching the re-execute-limit, the respective Event Manager task is put on hold.
• In addition, a task is created and assigned to the EM administrator (as specified via notify-error in the 80EventManager.xml).  
• Note: The system could be configured such that the EM administrator is notified about such tasks via e-mail. Thus the EM administrator could be notified about the exceptional situation.
• To resume Event Manager tasks that are on hold, an administrative command is provided that allows replaying such Event Manager tasks so that they can be scheduled by the Event Manager again: BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks

Parameters :-

• getNumberOfTasks - retrieves the number of Event Manager tasks that are on hold
• Set this parameter to true if the BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks command should retrieve the number of Event Manager tasks available for replay.
• maxNumberOfTasksToReplay - replays on-hold Event Manager tasks up to a maximum number specified Use this parameter to set an upper limit for the number of on-hold Event Manager tasks to be replayed.
• bpdInstanceId - replays on-hold Event Manager tasks for the BPD instance specified Specifies for which BPD instance on-hold Event Manager tasks should be replayed.

Note that the parameters are mutually exclusive.

To invoke BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks you must start wsadmin and connect it to the process server or process center.

                 E.g., wsadmin -conntype SOAP -port 4080 -host PC1.mycompany.com -user admin -password admin -lang jython  

Examples

Query the number of available on-hold Event Manager tasks in the system:

wsadmin>AdminTask.BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks ('[-getNumberOfTasks true]')

 'The BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks command found 20 on hold Event Manager Task(s) ready for replay.'

    

Replay 13 on-hold Event Manager tasks:

wsadmin>AdminTask.BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks ('[-maxNumberOfTasksToReplay 13]')

'The BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks command replayed 13 on hold Event Manager Task(s).'

    

Replay on-hold Event Manager tasks for BPD instance 49:

wsadmin>AdminTask.BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks ('[-bpdInstanceId 49]')

'The BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks command replayed 1 on hold Event Manager Task(s).'

Replay all on-hold Event Manager tasks:

wsadmin>AdminTask.BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks();

'The BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks command replayed 20 on hold Event Manager Task(s).'

More details can be found at below link regarding the IFIX

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1JR47860

BPMDeleteSnapshot and BPMSnapshotCleanup commands - Issues

Abstract

Because issues have been discovered with the BPMDeleteSnapshot and BPMSnapshotCleanup commands, these commands require the interim fixes that are listed in this document. 

Follow 

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21669992#7512

check if you have all below IFIx installed on top of 7512 before going ahead.

APAR	7.5.1.2
JR48877  Symptom A participant group (called “team” in V8.5) is not visible in the Process Admin Console of Process Server under Role Bindings when a snapshot is installed after you use theBPMDeleteSnapshot command. Prevention  Interim fix JR48877 Repairs Interim fix JR49635	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR48877 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR48877 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR48877
JR49374 Symptom You receive the following error after you run theBPMSnapshotCleanup or BPMDeleteSnapshot command: CWLLG1414E - An exception occurred while getting user attributes Prevention  Interim fix JR49374 Repairs Interim fix JR49374 or modify each user attribute definition in your process application and save it	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49374 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49374 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49374
JR49606 Symptom A participant group (called “team” in V8.5) is not visible in the Process Admin Console of IBM Process Center under Role Bindings when a snapshot is installed after you use theBPMSnapshotCleanup command. Prevention  Interim fix JR49606 Repairs Interim fix JR49928	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49606 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49606 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49606
JR49635  This repair-only interim fix applies to the issue that is addressed in JR48877. JR49635 looks for and repairs issues when importing a snapshot. Although JR48877 repairs most of the issues, you still need interim fix JR49635 if there are more than 1000 participant groups (called “teams” in V8.5). JR49635 repairs the damage done by the issue that is fixed by JR48877 in the event that you encounter the issue before you apply JR48877.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49635 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49635 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49635
JR49848 Symptom After you run the BPMSnapshotCleanup command, you can no longer save artifacts that have advanced content in Process Designer in a process application or toolkit from IBM Integration Designer Prevention  Interim fix JR49848 Repairs Interim fix JR49848 or edit the LSW_SCA_CONNECTOR table of the BPMDB database and put the outOfSync value into the LAST_SYNCHRONIZED column for the Advanced Integration Service that is affected	Express: Not applicable Standard: Not applicable Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49848
JR49928 This repair-only interim fix applies to the issue that is addressed in JR49606. JR49928 looks for and repairs issues when the server starts. You do not require interim fix JR49928 if the interim fixes JR48877 and JR49606 are applied before snapshots are deleted.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49928 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49928 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR49928
JR50444 When the server starts or when you use theBPMInstallOfflinePackage administrative command, you might see the DATAINTEGRITYVIOLATIONEXCEPTION. This fix checks whether there are exposed items before deleting the groups, preventing you from deleting those groups.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50444 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50444 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50444
JR50460 An exception occurs while history information for a process app or toolkit is being loaded when that history information contains references to deleted snapshots.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50460 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50460 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50460
JR50667 Deleting a snapshot destroys most smart folders. Smart folders are used for the entire project's track or branch. It is not expected that the smart folders will be deleted when snapshots are deleted.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50667 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50667 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50667
JR50671 When snapshots are deleted, the corresponding LSW installation table entries are not deleted.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50671 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50671 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50671
JR50718 The BPMDeleteSnapshot command proceeds even though there are running instances of stand-alone human services.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50718 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50718 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50718
JR50720 The BPMDeleteSnapshot command proceeds even though there business process definition (BPD) instances in another snapshot that point to tasks from the snapshot that is being deleted.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50720 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50720 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50720
JR50721 The BPMSnapshotCleanup command proceeds even though there are running       instances of stand-alone human services.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50721 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50721 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50721
JR50742 When the server starts or when you use theBPMInstallOfflinePackage administrative command, you might see a DATAINTEGRITYVIOLATION exception.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50742 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50742 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR50742
JR52327 When you run the BPMSnapshotCleanup command with -ignoreDependency = true, toolkits that have other toolkits and process apps depending on them can be deleted without warning, leading to other problems.	Express: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR52327 Standard: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR52327 Advanced: 7.5.1.2-WS-BPM-IFJR52327

Getting Incorrect SOAP response post BPM deployment - getting Snapshot name for default snapshot

Problem Statement -
There is one anomaly with the BPM deployment, post our deployment and Active Default conversion on environment, Snapshot Namespace is getting appended in the BPM response. This generally doesnt happen for an Active Default snapshot.

Snapshot name should not be appended in the BPM WS response if Snapshot is Default. Problem is sometimes snpashot name also gets appended with response and sometimes it does not.         


Reason for Problem -
For BPM 7.5.1.x release on Process Server. The inbound web service will remember the first call style. And keep in use that style in follow up processing. So in customer case. Before switch the default snapshot customer called this web service with snapshot ID. So that after switch although they can invoke that with default URL. But the namespace with snapshot still in used until next restart and first invoke issued with default URL. The same to no switch but first invoke issued with snapshot URL. This is a limitation for Process Server web service on BPM 7.5.1.x release. It haven't been resolved until the re implemented of the inbound web service with new engine on BPM V8.5. 

Solution -
Testfix for JR56318 is published along with the read me on our ftp server for download.                                                      
                                                                        
Prerequisite APAR JR50211 can be downloaded on fixcentral 

https://www-945.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/selectFixes?parent=ibm~We
bSphere&product=ibm/WebSphere/IBM+Business+Process+Manager+Advanced&release=All&platform=All&function=aparId&apars=JR50211                      
<https://www-945.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/selectFixes?parent=ibm~W
ebSphere&product=ibm/WebSphere/IBM+Business+Process+Manager+Advanced&release=All&platform=All&function=aparId&apars=JR50211>