Internal web server on http://localhost:8080 (Windows) no longer responding

I installed LightStreamer last week and it worked out of the box with the demos that are part of the package (only configuration needed was setting the pointer to the Java runtime).

After working with it for some time the local web server has stopped working at http://localhost:8080

I have tried changing the port to something else (e.g. to 8081 and restarting the server) - without luck.

I have tried stopping the server and restarting it - and installing it as a Windows service. The service runs - and the log file does not report any problems - and even the .NET adapters can connect via remoting to the server (e.g. localhost on port 6661), but the local webserver is still not running.

Running the server using the .\bin\windows\Start_LS_as_Application.bat also works and no problems are reported by the webserver still does not work.

Is there any way to debug this issue? I have had no luck looking in log files, since nothing is reported about the webserver.

The isuue that you describe is actually quite strange. The first step we can take is raise the log level of these 3 categories (you find them in the LS_HOME/conf/lightstreamer_log_conf.xml):

<logger name="LightstreamerLogger.connections" level="DEBUG"/>
<logger name="LightstreamerLogger.connections.http" level="DEBUG">
<logger name="LightstreamerLogger.webServer" level="DEBUG"/>

Please restart the server and test the welcome page (http://localhost:8080/).
Then take a look in the server log for more info (in the case please post here some relevant snippets).

I have tried changing the settings, but it does not change the output in the Lightstreamer.log file (even after restarting the Lighstreamer service or restarting the machine it is running on).

The entire log file looks like this:

18-Sep-13 10:18:12,191|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |Lightstreamer Server 5.1.1 build 1623.2
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,230|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.license |main |Checking license file: C:\Lightstreamer\bin\windows\..\..\conf\.\SAXO-BANK_20131005_Vivace.lic
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,498|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.license |main |License correctly bound with the following parameter(s):
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,498|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.license |main | Client ID : SAXO-BANK
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,525|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.license |main |Audit log file C:\Lightstreamer\bin\windows\..\..\conf\.\..\audit \audit_log_00-00-00-00-00-00.txt successfully appended.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,535|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |Lightstreamer Server starting in Vivace edition.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,536|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.external |Thread-2 |Instance ID: uR19U4dGiNJNg3auCptR
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,642|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |Started RMI server for JMX on port 8888.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,686|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |Bound RMI Connector for JMX on port 8888 (communication on port 8888).
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,736|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |Bound RMI Connector for Platform mbeans on port 8888 (communication on port 8888).
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,740|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |SERVER pool size set by default at 10.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,784|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |data_provider element without name attribute; using DEFAULT as the default name.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,787|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |main |data_provider element without name attribute; using DEFAULT as the default name.
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,787|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO |Loading Metadata Adapter DEMO
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,787|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.MONITOR |Loading Data Adapter DEMO.MONITOR
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,787|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.QUOTE_ADAPTER|Loading Data Adapter DEMO.QUOTE_ADAPTER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,787|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.CHAT_ROOM |Loading Data Adapter DEMO.CHAT_ROOM
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init | for DEMO.PORTFOLIO_ADAPTER|Loading Data Adapter DEMO.PORTFOLIO_ADAPTER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |t for DEMO.SIMPLE_MESSENGER|Loading Data Adapter DEMO.SIMPLE_MESSENGER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for PROXY_BENCHMARK |Loading Metadata Adapter PROXY_BENCHMARK
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |for PROXY_BENCHMARK.DEFAULT|Loading Data Adapter PROXY_BENCHMARK.DEFAULT
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for PROXY_HELLOWORLD |Loading Metadata Adapter PROXY_HELLOWORLD
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,788|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |or PROXY_HELLOWORLD.DEFAULT|Loading Data Adapter PROXY_HELLOWORLD.DEFAULT
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,803|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |or PROXY_HELLOWORLD.DEFAULT|Finished loading Data Adapter PROXY_HELLOWORLD.DEFAULT
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,805|INFO |.data.RobustNetworkedDataProvider|Proxy Data Adapter Loader |Loading inner Proxy Data Adapter
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,814|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Proxy Data Adapter Loader |Connecting...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,816|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Init for PROXY_HELLOWORLD |Connecting...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,816|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |for PROXY_BENCHMARK.DEFAULT|Finished loading Data Adapter PROXY_BENCHMARK.DEFAULT
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.data.RobustNetworkedDataProvider|Proxy Data Adapter Loader |Loading inner Proxy Data Adapter
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Proxy Data Adapter Loader |Connecting...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Notify Socket Connector |Waiting for a connection on port 6663...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Notify Socket Connector |Waiting for a connection on port 6673...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|uest/Reply Socket Connector|Waiting for a connection on port 6662...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|uest/Reply Socket Connector|Waiting for a connection on port 6661...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|uest/Reply Socket Connector|Waiting for a connection on port 6672...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,817|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|Init for PROXY_BENCHMARK |Connecting...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,818|INFO |.remote.transport.SocketTransport|uest/Reply Socket Connector|Waiting for a connection on port 6671...
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,866|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.MONITOR |Finished loading Data Adapter DEMO.MONITOR
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,893|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.QUOTE_ADAPTER|Finished loading Data Adapter DEMO.QUOTE_ADAPTER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,893|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |t for DEMO.SIMPLE_MESSENGER|Finished loading Data Adapter DEMO.SIMPLE_MESSENGER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,893|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO |Finished loading Metadata Adapter DEMO
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,893|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init | for DEMO.PORTFOLIO_ADAPTER|Finished loading Data Adapter DEMO.PORTFOLIO_ADAPTER
18-Sep-13 10:18:12,893|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.init |Init for DEMO.CHAT_ROOM |Finished loading Data Adapter DEMO.CHAT_ROOM
18-Sep-13 10:18:14,605|INFO |LightstreamerMonitorText |Timer-1 |Total threads = 41, Total heap = 127926272 (free = 101086800), Sessions = 0 (max = 0), New sessions = [+0, -0], Connections = 0 (max = 0), New connections = [+0, -0], In-pool threads = 10, Active threads = 0, Available threads = 10, Queued tasks = 0, Pool queue wait = 0, NIO write queue = 0, NIO write queue wait = 0, NIO write selectors = 0, NIO total selectors = 0, Subscribed items = 0, Inbound throughput = 0 updates/s (pre-filtered = 0), Outbound throughput = 0 updates/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Lost updates = 0 (total = 0), Total bytes sent = 0, Client messages throughput = 0 msgs/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Total messages handled = 0, Extra sleep = 0, Notify delay = 0
18-Sep-13 10:20:14,628|INFO |LightstreamerMonitorText |Timer-1 |Total threads = 39, Total heap = 127926272 (free = 100320128), Sessions = 0 (max = 0), New sessions = [+0, -0], Connections = 0 (max = 0), New connections = [+0, -0], In-pool threads = 10, Active threads = 0, Available threads = 10, Queued tasks = 0, Pool queue wait = 0, NIO write queue = 0, NIO write queue wait = 0, NIO write selectors = 0, NIO total selectors = 0, Subscribed items = 0, Inbound throughput = 0 updates/s (pre-filtered = 0), Outbound throughput = 0 updates/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Lost updates = 0 (total = 0), Total bytes sent = 0, Client messages throughput = 0 msgs/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Total messages handled = 0, Extra sleep = 0, Notify delay = 0
18-Sep-13 10:22:14,650|INFO |LightstreamerMonitorText |Timer-1 |Total threads = 39, Total heap = 127926272 (free = 99971384), Sessions = 0 (max = 0), New sessions = [+0, -0], Connections = 0 (max = 0), New connections = [+0, -0], In-pool threads = 10, Active threads = 0, Available threads = 10, Queued tasks = 0, Pool queue wait = 0, NIO write queue = 0, NIO write queue wait = 0, NIO write selectors = 0, NIO total selectors = 0, Subscribed items = 0, Inbound throughput = 0 updates/s (pre-filtered = 0), Outbound throughput = 0 updates/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Lost updates = 0 (total = 0), Total bytes sent = 0, Client messages throughput = 0 msgs/s (0 kbit/s, max = 0), Total messages handled = 0, Extra sleep = 0, Notify delay = 0
18-Sep-13 10:23:20,987|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.external |Thread-2 |Could not connect to external service to check for software updates. Please check proxy settings in lightstreamer_version_conf.xml.

It doesn't even report anything about the webserver.

The only thing that I can see "might" be a problem is:

18-Sep-13 10:23:20,987|INFO |LightstreamerLogger.external |Thread-2 |Could not connect to external service to check for software updates. Please check proxy settings in lightstreamer_version_conf.xml.

The log that you posted shows that the Lightstreamer Server startup procedure has never finished. Indeed it is waiting for Remote Metadata Adapter connections.
Please note that in case of Remote Metadata Adapters the server is blocked waiting for the connections, even in the case you are using the "robust" version unless in the file "adapters.xml" is present this configuration

<param name="first_connection_timeout_millis">10000</param>

that sets a timeout after which the startup procedure continues anyway.

So to solve your problem, if you do not intend to use the Remote Adapters anymore, please remove them from the folder "LS_HOME/adapters", otherwise if you want the Lightstreamer server (including the internal Web Server) starts even before all Remote Adapters are connected sets the <first_connection_timeout_millis> parameter in the <metadata_provider> section of "adapters.xml" configuration files.

I confirm you the message concerning external services does not affect in any way the regular operation of Lightstreamer server.

Ok, it seems there is a problem with my .NET adapters (probably the metadata adapters). They are never loaded fully (log is not reporting "Finished loading metadata adapter XXX").

If I remove them it works fine, so there is a problem with them apparently. I will investigate further into that.

Just read the reply - I will try that.

Thanks!

That works like a charm.

I had no idea that the timeout configuration was needed.

Thanks! ;)

Indeed the <param name="first_connection_timeout_millis"> parameter is not mandatory for the <metadata_provider> section.
But its default value is -1, which means endless waiting. This is because, in normal cases, is not convenient to proceed with the initialization of the server before the Metadata Adapter is properly connected.

Please refer to the auto-documented "adapters.xml" template in "LS_HOME/DOCS-SDKs/sdk_adapter_remoting_infrastructure/conf/sockets(robust)".

Code:

---

<!-- Optional, specific for RobustNetworkedMetadataProvider.
            The timeout for the first connection attempt. Upon the Proxy Adapter
            initialization at Lightstreamer Server startup, if a remote server
            is not available, Lightstreamer Server startup can be delayed until
            this timeout expires.
            A negative value stands for an unlimited timeout.
            Note that, as soon as Lightstreamer Server startup completes,
            as long as a connection to a remote server is still missing,
            all client requests will be refused.
            Default: -1. -->
        <param name="first_connection_timeout_millis">10000</param>

---

Yep, ok.

In my case the .NET adapter is implemented using a very simple scheme for connecting to the Lighstreamer server (based on your example with establishing TCP connections to specific ports inside a console process). It is kind of the "chicken and egg" problem. The LS process must be running for the adapter to connect - but the adapter must be running for the LS startup to complete.

However, running the adapter first - and implementing retry logic (to set up the communication channels), e.g. detecting when LS server is available, should fix that problem.

For now, I have just added the timeout and that works fine.