WebSphere v7.0 doesn't start CREATE_LISTENER_FAILED_4

Question

I work with WebSphere v7.0. When I tried to start the server, I get the following error on the console.

[26/08/19 10:02:35:224 CEST] 00000000 WsServerImpl  E   WSVR0009E: Se ha producido un error durante el inicio
 com.ibm.ws.exception.RuntimeError: org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: CREATE_LISTENER_FAILED_4  vmcid: 0x49421000  minor code: 56  completed: No
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ORBImpl.start(ORBImpl.java:439)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ContainerHelper.startComponents(ContainerHelper.java:538)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ContainerImpl.startComponents(ContainerImpl.java:627)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ContainerImpl.start(ContainerImpl.java:618)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ServerImpl.start(ServerImpl.java:502)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServerImpl.bootServerContainer(WsServerImpl.java:298)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServerImpl.start(WsServerImpl.java:214)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServerImpl.main(WsServerImpl.java:666)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServer.main(WsServer.java:59)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:60)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:611)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.bootstrap.WSLauncher.launchMain(WSLauncher.java:213)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.bootstrap.WSLauncher.main(WSLauncher.java:93)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.bootstrap.WSLauncher.run(WSLauncher.java:74)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.runtime.PlatformActivator$1.run(PlatformActivator.java:78)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:92)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:68)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:400)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:177)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:60)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:611)
    at org.eclipse.core.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:340)
    at org.eclipse.core.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:282)
    at org.eclipse.core.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:981)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.bootstrap.WSPreLauncher.launchEclipse(WSPreLauncher.java:341)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.bootstrap.WSPreLauncher.main(WSPreLauncher.java:111)
Caused by: org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: CREATE_LISTENER_FAILED_4  vmcid: 0x49421000  minor code: 56  completed: No
    at com.ibm.ws.orbimpl.transport.WSTransport.createListener(WSTransport.java:867)
    at com.ibm.ws.orbimpl.transport.WSTransport.initTransports(WSTransport.java:605)
    at com.ibm.rmi.iiop.TransportManager.initTransports(TransportManager.java:157)
    at com.ibm.rmi.corba.ORB.set_parameters(ORB.java:1303)
    at com.ibm.CORBA.iiop.ORB.set_parameters(ORB.java:1690)
    at org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init(ORB.java:364)
    at com.ibm.ws.orb.GlobalORBFactory.init(GlobalORBFactory.java:92)
    at com.ibm.ejs.oa.EJSORBImpl.initializeORB(EJSORBImpl.java:179)
    at com.ibm.ejs.oa.EJSServerORBImpl.<init>(EJSServerORBImpl.java:102)
    at com.ibm.ejs.oa.EJSORB.init(EJSORB.java:55)
    at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ORBImpl.start(ORBImpl.java:432)
    ... 29 more

[26/08/19 10:02:35:135 CEST] 00000000 FfdcProvider  W com.ibm.ws.ffdc.impl.FfdcProvid

I checked the port BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS in the file serverindex.xml

 <specialEndpoints xmi:id="NamedEndPoint_1183122129640" endPointName="BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS">
      <endPoint xmi:id="EndPoint_1183122129640" host="F120000.cargas02.sir" port="2809"/>
    </specialEndpoints>

The output command netstat -ano is

TCP    0.0.0.0:2809           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       4072

How can I fix this error?

Answer 1

Usually an ORB Listener Thread creation failure occurs because either:

1. Another process is already listening on the port in question (in this case 2809).
2. The ephemeral port range has been expanded on the OS such that the WebSphere server port ranges (2800 - ~10000) are now included in that range, increasing the possibility of a WAS server port number being assigned to another process as an ephemeral port.

For scenario #1: use netstat -ano or lsof -i :<port#> commands and search for the port to find the process using the port. If a conflicting process is found, change the config/port ussage of that process. Or edit the WebSphere serverindex.xml file in dmgr-profile-root/config/cells/cellName/nodes/nodename (make sure to take a backup beforehand). Change the 2809 port to another port not in use. Save and sync the changes.

For scenario #2: Check the ephemeral port range on the server box (internet search based on the OS will give specific instructions for this). Make sure the low end of the port range is sufficiently greater than the highest WebSphere server ports found in the serverindex.xml file.

Finally, it's also possible the WebSphere server did not properly shutdown and close all ports from its previous run. An OS reboot may be needed to release the port(s).