Issues and Approaches

Issues or problems in a Rhapsody solution can generally be categorized as follows:

• Configuration issues - issues in the implemented Rhapsody configuration. They are typically fixed by re-working and testing the solution to make sure it meets the solution requirements.

• Rhapsody issues - problems in the Rhapsody engine. They are generally referred to as bugs. Fixes for these issues normally require the assistance of the Rhapsody development team.

• Environment issues (infrastructure) - issues in the underlying software and hardware on which the Rhapsody engine is running. Documentation and discussion on these issues normally exist on external forums, which can be used to assist in their resolution once the cause has been identified.

When an issue is initially identified, it may not be clear which of the above categories has caused or contributed to the error. Therefore, identifying the category the issue belongs to is integral to troubleshooting and resolving the issue.

Troubleshooting Approach

The first task in troubleshooting an issue to identify the issue and to make as many observations about it as possible. For an experienced Rhapsody administrator, these observations frequently contain enough information to make an educated guess as to the cause of the issue. Most issues that occur in a Rhapsody environment fit into the list of common issues. Refer to Troubleshooting Examples for details.

To recognize that an issue has actually occurred requires you to monitor the solution and the Rhapsody application. Monitoring needs to occur at various levels to provide the greatest likelihood of detecting issues that impact Rhapsody. Rhapsody notifications should be configured to detect issues in the Rhapsody configuration and issues with external applications Rhapsody connects to. Operating system-level notifications should be used to detect issues with the underlying infrastructure that could impact Rhapsody.

When an issue is first identified, answering a number of questions can help to gain a better understanding of the issue. These include:

• Is the issue repeatable? And if so, under what conditions?
• What components of the solution are directly affected by the issue or is the whole Rhapsody engine affected?
• Are there any log messages for these components at about the same time as the issue?
• If the error occurred connecting to an external system, were any errors noted on the external system?
• What Rhapsody notifications have been generated? Notifications can be viewed from the Management Console, the Rhapsody Mobile application, or the administrator email inbox (if notifications are being sent by email).

These questions help to determine the scope of the issue and allow a hypothesis to be developed. This hypothesis can then be tested using diagnostic tools. If the testing supports the hypothesis, a solution to the issue can then be developed. If testing does not support the hypothesis, a new hypothesis is developed and the process repeats.

Diagnostic Tools

Depending on the nature of the issue, there are many diagnostic tools that can be used to further analyze the issue. The choice of tools will depend on the nature of the issue, the current hypothesis and the analysis required.

Refer to: