Host Adapter for Files: internal network library error

[Tim]

I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.

My ports will sporadically stop functioning with the following error:

Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".

When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
following:

"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"

(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)

This looks similar to the issue reported here:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1

Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

[Stephen Jackson [MSFT]]

Tim,

I've not seen a case where the error message in the DAT was truncated. If it
is truncated, the only way I know to see the error message and to get
details about the actual problem would be to get HIS traces using the
snatrace.exe trace tool.

- Run snatrace.exe.
- Highlight DB2 Network Library in the "List of Trace Items" and then click
Properties.
- Click "Set All" on all three tabs (Internal Trace, Message Trace, and API
Trace).
- Click OK.
- Minimize the SNA Trace Utility dialog and reproduce the problem.
- After the problem occurs, restore the SNA Trace Utility dialog and click
the "Clear All Traces" button.

The trace files will be in the folder listed under the Trace File Directory
tab.

Also, you might want to capture a concurrent network trace (Etherreal,
Wireshark, Network Monitor, etc.) that captures data between the Biztalk
Server system and the AS/400.

I would suggest that you open a support case with the Microsoft HIS Support
team to have this investigated.

I can't find any similar issues that have been reported.

Does the problem clear up by itself? If so, you might check to see if many a
large number of IP ports are being opened. Maybe the available ports are
being exhausted and things start working after they timeout.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support

Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.
Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".
When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"
(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1
Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

[Tim]

It appears the ports were getting used up. Once I shut down the host and
let the ports clear I was able to connect again.

Is this a limit of Windows ports or AS/400?
Is there a setting in either the AS/400 or BizTalk Host File adapter to
increase this number of usable ports?

Thanks.

Post by Stephen Jackson [MSFT]
Tim,
I've not seen a case where the error message in the DAT was truncated. If it
is truncated, the only way I know to see the error message and to get
details about the actual problem would be to get HIS traces using the
snatrace.exe trace tool.
- Run snatrace.exe.
- Highlight DB2 Network Library in the "List of Trace Items" and then click
Properties.
- Click "Set All" on all three tabs (Internal Trace, Message Trace, and API
Trace).
- Click OK.
- Minimize the SNA Trace Utility dialog and reproduce the problem.
- After the problem occurs, restore the SNA Trace Utility dialog and click
the "Clear All Traces" button.
The trace files will be in the folder listed under the Trace File Directory
tab.
Also, you might want to capture a concurrent network trace (Etherreal,
Wireshark, Network Monitor, etc.) that captures data between the Biztalk
Server system and the AS/400.
I would suggest that you open a support case with the Microsoft HIS Support
team to have this investigated.
I can't find any similar issues that have been reported.
Does the problem clear up by itself? If so, you might check to see if many a
large number of IP ports are being opened. Maybe the available ports are
being exhausted and things start working after they timeout.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.
Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".
When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"
(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1
Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

[Stephen Jackson [MSFT]]

Tim,

Are you using connection pooling in your connection string? If not, you
might want to give this a try as it may help reduce the number of
connections being made to the AS/400.

I'm looking into whether is an issue that occurs easily in a test scenario.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support

Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
It appears the ports were getting used up. Once I shut down the host and
let the ports clear I was able to connect again.
Is this a limit of Windows ports or AS/400?
Is there a setting in either the AS/400 or BizTalk Host File adapter to
increase this number of usable ports?
Thanks.

Post by Stephen Jackson [MSFT]
Tim,
I've not seen a case where the error message in the DAT was truncated. If it
is truncated, the only way I know to see the error message and to get
details about the actual problem would be to get HIS traces using the
snatrace.exe trace tool.
- Run snatrace.exe.
- Highlight DB2 Network Library in the "List of Trace Items" and then click
Properties.
- Click "Set All" on all three tabs (Internal Trace, Message Trace, and API
Trace).
- Click OK.
- Minimize the SNA Trace Utility dialog and reproduce the problem.
- After the problem occurs, restore the SNA Trace Utility dialog and click
the "Clear All Traces" button.
The trace files will be in the folder listed under the Trace File Directory
tab.
Also, you might want to capture a concurrent network trace (Etherreal,
Wireshark, Network Monitor, etc.) that captures data between the Biztalk
Server system and the AS/400.
I would suggest that you open a support case with the Microsoft HIS Support
team to have this investigated.
I can't find any similar issues that have been reported.
Does the problem clear up by itself? If so, you might check to see if many a
large number of IP ports are being opened. Maybe the available ports are
being exhausted and things start working after they timeout.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.
Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".
When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"
(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1
Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

[Tim]

Stephen -

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I was able to reproduce this issue by sending
a high volume of messages to the 400. Once the connection was failing, I ran
the trace and a traffic monitering tool (Wireshark) to determine the response
from the AS / 400 server.

Trace:

Function Entry/Exi, 5/29/200, 10:57:00.074000, Entering MWCONNECT_RTN:
Conn_id=-1,File_id=-1,RTNCODE=-270,RTNCODE=-270
, 554, 574, 8, MWCONNECT_RTN: Conn_id=-1,File_
Recoverable, 5/29/200, 10:57:00.074000,
[d:\depotdawsonw\private\data\thor\odb\snaoledb\dbinit.cpp][258] Returns
-270, 554, 574, 25, IDBInitialize::Initialize, dbinit.cpp,
Function Entry/Exi, 5/29/200, 10:57:00.074000, Entering GenerateError, 554,
574, 8, GenerateError, error.cpp,

Packet:
CMDCHKRM DRDA
Data (EBCDIC) [truncated]: rFunction check. CEE9901 unmonitered by QTSMGAFT
at statement *N, instruction X'046B'

If you can glean anything useful out of that it would be much appreciated ;)

-Tim

Post by Stephen Jackson [MSFT]
Tim,
Are you using connection pooling in your connection string? If not, you
might want to give this a try as it may help reduce the number of
connections being made to the AS/400.
I'm looking into whether is an issue that occurs easily in a test scenario.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
It appears the ports were getting used up. Once I shut down the host and
let the ports clear I was able to connect again.
Is this a limit of Windows ports or AS/400?
Is there a setting in either the AS/400 or BizTalk Host File adapter to
increase this number of usable ports?
Thanks.

Post by Stephen Jackson [MSFT]
Tim,
I've not seen a case where the error message in the DAT was truncated. If it
is truncated, the only way I know to see the error message and to get
details about the actual problem would be to get HIS traces using the
snatrace.exe trace tool.
- Run snatrace.exe.
- Highlight DB2 Network Library in the "List of Trace Items" and then click
Properties.
- Click "Set All" on all three tabs (Internal Trace, Message Trace, and API
Trace).
- Click OK.
- Minimize the SNA Trace Utility dialog and reproduce the problem.
- After the problem occurs, restore the SNA Trace Utility dialog and click
the "Clear All Traces" button.
The trace files will be in the folder listed under the Trace File Directory
tab.
Also, you might want to capture a concurrent network trace (Etherreal,
Wireshark, Network Monitor, etc.) that captures data between the Biztalk
Server system and the AS/400.
I would suggest that you open a support case with the Microsoft HIS Support
team to have this investigated.
I can't find any similar issues that have been reported.
Does the problem clear up by itself? If so, you might check to see if many a
large number of IP ports are being opened. Maybe the available ports are
being exhausted and things start working after they timeout.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.
Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".
When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"
(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1
Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

[Neil Pike]

Tim,

A netstat -an on Windows will show port usage - presumably a similar command on the AS/400. If it is port exhuastion on the
windows side, then if you can't stop the "app" from using so many connections (e.g. use pooling) then either you
increase the number of ports the o/s will use, or reduce the amount of time it waits after they're closed before
allowing them to be used again. Or both!

I had to do this with an application using SQL Server recently where I wasn't able to amend their connection to use
pooling.

Details on reg keys, both in the same place in the registry, below.

Up MaxUserPort to 60000 (default 5000) and/or reduce the TcpTimedWaitDelay to 60 (default 120) seconds

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

# On the Edit menu, click New, and then add the following registry entry:
Value Name: MaxUserPort
Value Type: DWORD
Value data: 65534
Valid Range: 5000-65534 (decimal)
Default: 0x1388 (5000 decimal)
Description: This parameter controls the maximum port number that is used when a program requests any available user port from the system. Typically , ephemeral (short-lived)
ports are allocated between the values of 1024 and 5000 inclusive.

Post by Tim
It appears the ports were getting used up. Once I shut down the host and
let the ports clear I was able to connect again.
Is this a limit of Windows ports or AS/400?
Is there a setting in either the AS/400 or BizTalk Host File adapter to
increase this number of usable ports?
Thanks.

Post by Stephen Jackson [MSFT]
Tim,
I've not seen a case where the error message in the DAT was truncated. If it
is truncated, the only way I know to see the error message and to get
details about the actual problem would be to get HIS traces using the
snatrace.exe trace tool.
- Run snatrace.exe.
- Highlight DB2 Network Library in the "List of Trace Items" and then click
Properties.
- Click "Set All" on all three tabs (Internal Trace, Message Trace, and API
Trace).
- Click OK.
- Minimize the SNA Trace Utility dialog and reproduce the problem.
- After the problem occurs, restore the SNA Trace Utility dialog and click
the "Clear All Traces" button.
The trace files will be in the folder listed under the Trace File Directory
tab.
Also, you might want to capture a concurrent network trace (Etherreal,
Wireshark, Network Monitor, etc.) that captures data between the Biztalk
Server system and the AS/400.
I would suggest that you open a support case with the Microsoft HIS Support
team to have this investigated.
I can't find any similar issues that have been reported.
Does the problem clear up by itself? If so, you might check to see if many a
large number of IP ports are being opened. Maybe the available ports are
being exhausted and things start working after they timeout.
--
Stephen Jackson
Microsoft® HIS Support
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Post by Tim
I'm using the BizTalk Host Adapter for Files to read/write to AS/400 files.
Details:"The connection could not established. Check if the SNA DDM Service
is running.".
When I try to connect to the server using the Data Access Tool, I get the
"An internal network library error has occurred. The requested command
encountered an implementation-specific error condition o"
(Unfortunately the error is truncated in the DAT. Any way I can view the
entire error?)
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.hiserver.general&tid=e765190d-0868-4f15-978f-de87244a564c&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1
Eventually the connection begins working again, but I'd like to be able to
determine the cause of this issue.

Neil Pike. Protech Computing Ltd
Microsoft SNA/HIS MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=BE66F0D8-9D78-47EF-840A-08E6D8522A2D
http://www.linkedin.com/in/neilpike