When a Maximo JVM starts up it creates a row in the MAXSESSION table (SERVERSESSION in 7.6)

That row is used as part of Maximo's internal monitoring capability and is one of the factors that determines if Maximo believes that the JVM is alive.

If Maximo isn’t shutdown properly then it can leave a row in the MAXSESSION table and that will need to be deleted before the JVM can startup.

Maximo needs to be shutdown via a supported method.

There are several supported methods:

-       the application server console (Websphere/Weblogic)

-       a windows service

-       shutdown script that replicates the console’s behaviour e.g. using wsadmin

Using these methods ensures that Maximo shut down correctly and that the relevant steps are executed e.g. the MAXSESSION entry is deleted and that the relevant resources are released e.g. network ports.

It is important to ensure that the JVM does shutdown properly and that the associated JVM has died. Websphere can indicate that the JVM is dead when it hasn’t. This can occur when the JVM has hit problems e.g. has hung threads or has high CPU.

The folder containing the systemout.log file contains a file

You can check if the JVM has been shutdown by checking if the process ID (PID) for the JVM is still in the list of active processes. I advise waiting a minute after the PID has disappeared from the list to ensure that all the relevant ports/resources have been released.

If the process fails to stop then it may be necessary to terminate the process at the operating system level. If that is necessary then you may need to take the steps outlined in this article.

Maxsession and Users

As a user logs in a row is created in the maxsession table. When they logout or timeout the row is deleted.

The dependence on this table can lead to some interesting problems e.g. users complaining that they can’t login because of other user’s actions.

If you want to learn more about the MAXSESSION table then read technote 1511900.

Vetasi Customization

Vetasi can build scripts to control startup/shutdowns. There is information on the web about how to create these but they can get complicated for customers with clustered environments.

Vetasi support customers can request the installation of the Vetasi Support Service which makes it easy to understand the health of a JVM and if it restarted when you expected it to.

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