I’m trying to authenticate my users on the WM portal but I get a java caught throwable error. The DB is MS SQL 2008.
What needs to be to fix this.
Thanks for any suggestions.

INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 | java.lang.NullPointerException
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_dbdircleartext.Dbdircleartext.authenticateUser(Dbdircleartext.java:69)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_dbdirsvc.service.DbDirPrincipalProvider.authenticateImpl(DbDirPrincipalProvider.java:63)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.service.dir.impl.DirPrincipalProvider.authenticateUserEx(DirPrincipalProvider.java:131)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.mech.dir.impl.DirSystemMechanics$3.visit(DirSystemMechanics.java:438)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.mech.dir.impl.DirSystemMechanics.visitDirServices(DirSystemMechanics.java:572)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.mech.dir.impl.DirSystemMechanics.authenticateUser(DirSystemMechanics.java:344)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.bizPolicy.command.dir.AuthenticateUser._authenticateUser(AuthenticateUser.java:294)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.bizPolicy.command.dir.AuthenticateUser.authenticateUser(AuthenticateUser.java:123)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.bizPolicy.biz.dir.impl.DirSystemBizPolicy.authenticateUser(DirSystemBizPolicy.java:37)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.session.handlers.Validate.authenticateUser(Validate.java:258)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.session.handlers.Validate.handle(Validate.java:156)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.session.SessionManager.handleSession(SessionManager.java:214)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.dispatch.DispatchManager.initSession(DispatchManager.java:678)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.dispatch.DispatchManager.handleDispatch(DispatchManager.java:346)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.impl.PortalServlet.service(PortalServlet.java:305)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:820)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHolder.handle(ServletHolder.java:511)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1166)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.impl.NTLMV1Filter.doFilter(NTLMV1Filter.java:50)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.impl.NTLMFilter.doFilter(NTLMFilter.java:28)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1157)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.caf.faces.servlet.GZIPFilter.doFilter(GZIPFilter.java:43)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1157)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at com.webmethods.portal.framework.impl.RequestFilter.doFilter(RequestFilter.java:56)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1157)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.handle(ServletHandler.java:388)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.security.SecurityHandler.handle(SecurityHandler.java:216)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.SessionHandler.handle(SessionHandler.java:182)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.handler.ContextHandler.handle(ContextHandler.java:765)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext.handle(WebAppContext.java:418)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.handler.ContextHandlerCollection.handle(ContextHandlerCollection.java:230)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.handler.HandlerCollection.handle(HandlerCollection.java:114)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.handler.HandlerWrapper.handle(HandlerWrapper.java:152)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.Server.handle(Server.java:326)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.HttpConnection.handleRequest(HttpConnection.java:542)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.HttpConnection$RequestHandler.content(HttpConnection.java:938)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 |       at org.mortbay.jetty.HttpParser.parseNext(HttpParser.java:755)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 | 2013-06-19 17:05:23 EDT (Framework:WARN)  [RID:19] - Authentication failed for user user1: [POP.003.0141] Invalid username or credentials for: "user1".
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 | 2013-06-19 17:05:23 EDT (Framework:WARN)  [RID:19] - Login failed for user: user1
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/19 17:05:23 | 2013-06-19 17:05:23 EDT (Framework:INFO)  [RID:19] - Validate::handle() - failed to login

You are using a Database backed directory service that is returning ‘null’ as the user password. Unfortunately, MWS is not handling this case very well. Double check your DB directory service configuration to confirm the field mapping for the password and verify that the DB isn’t storing ‘null’ as the user password.

Thanks Ron. That was quick and to the point. We had given a null value for our own reasons. I’ll correct this and get back. Hopefully this should work.

I made the necessary changes and I’m able to login to the MWS portal. However, I’m getting an error and it is shown on the logs,
There should be a place where I can configure the RMS_DB_GROUP but I’m not able to find it. Can you help? Thanks again!

INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 | 2013-06-20 12:59:11 EDT (Framework:WARN)  [RID:107] - [POP.001.0002] A "java.sql.SQLSyntaxErrorException" occurred with the Message "[SoftwareAG][SQLServer JDBC Driver][SQLServer]Invalid object name 'RMS_DB_GROUP'."
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 | java.sql.SQLSyntaxErrorException: [SoftwareAG][SQLServer JDBC Driver][SQLServer]Invalid object name 'RMS_DB_GROUP'.
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddb_.b(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddb_.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddb9.b(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddb9.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddr.v(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddr.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddq.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddm.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddr.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddm.t(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddm.d(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.tds.ddn.a(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserver.ddj.h(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddek.v(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddek.u(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.wm.dd.jdbc.sqlserverbase.ddek.executeQuery(Unknown Source)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.service.sql.core.BaseSqlWorker.executeQuery(BaseSqlWorker.java:537)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_dbdirsvc.service.DbDirService.executeQuery(DbDirService.java:167)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_dbdirsvc.service.DbDirService.searchRaw(DbDirService.java:96)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_dbdirsvc.service.DbDirPrincipalProvider.queryGroupMembership(DbDirPrincipalProvider.java:45)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.service.dir.impl.DirPrincipalProvider.populateGroupMembership(DirPrincipalProvider.java:376)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.service.dir.impl.DirPrincipalProvider.getGroupMembership(DirPrincipalProvider.java:349)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_staticrole.provider.StaticRoleProvider.isMember(StaticRoleProvider.java:377)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_staticrole.provider.StaticRoleProvider.isMemberOfRole(StaticRoleProvider.java:250)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.service.dir.impl.DirPrincipalProvider.getRoleMembership(DirPrincipalProvider.java:262)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.mech.dir.impl.PrincipalMechanics.getRoleMembership(PrincipalMechanics.java:116)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_portalrules.rules.DirPrincipalRuleResolver.getRoleDNs(DirPrincipalRuleResolver.java:116)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.portal.portlet.wm_xt_portalrules.rules.DirPrincipalRuleResolver.invoke(DirPrincipalRuleResolver.java:76)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.caf.rules.impl.object.DefaultTermFunction.evaluate(DefaultTermFunction.java:66)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.caf.rules.impl.BaseTerm.evaluateChildren(BaseTerm.java:148)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.caf.rules.impl.BaseTerm.evaluateChildren(BaseTerm.java:138)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.caf.rules.impl.comparator.BaseComparator.evaluateBoolean(BaseComparator.java:35)
INFO   | jvm 1    | 2013/06/20 12:59:11 |       at com.webmethods.caf.rules.impl.logicalOp.BaseLogicalOp.evaluate(BaseLogicalOp.java:28)

Check the groupMembership query in your DB Directory Service configuration (Administration Dashboard → User Management → Directory Services Administration).