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Troubleshooting the Analytics Aggregator Service

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PreEmptive Analytics for TFS User Guide
Troubleshooting the Analytics Aggregator Service
www.preemptive.com

Glossary Item Box

This section provides troubleshooting information related to the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service. This service is responsible for sending requests to the Query Service to get recent exception data, manage criteria (rules) for exception types, and connecting to TFS to create work items.

Issues experienced by the aggregator service are logged in the Windows Event Log, in the PreEmptive node of the Applications and Services Logs section. Examining this log can often provide assistance in resolving aggregator service issues.

Problem Potential Cause Solution
Work Items are not showing up as expected. Raw data service endpoint is not running. See the Troubleshooting the Analytics Endpoint Services topic.
Raw data service endpoint is not accessible from the machine hosting the aggregator service.
  1. Attempt to ping the server hosting the Raw Data service from the machine hosting the Aggregator service.
  2. Check firewall settings on both machines.
  3. Ensure you are able to browse to the raw data service endpoint URL (If you used the default values during installation, this should follow the form http://<endpoint services machine name>/analytics/FaultQuery.svc.)
  4. If you are able to browse to the endpoint URL but see an HTTP error code, reference the Troubleshooting the Analytics Endpoint Services topic with any HTTP Error code displayed.
Raw data service is experiencing an error. See the Troubleshooting the Analytics Endpoint Services topic.
Raw data service endpoint is using basic authentication and credentials in the aggregator service .config file are missing or incorrect.
  1. Open the PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe.config file from within the Service subdirectory of the PreEmptive Analytics aggregator service install directory (by default, C:\Program Files (x86)\PreEmptive Solutions\PreEmptive Analytics CE) using a text editor.
  2. Locate the <appSettings> element and specify the user name and password used to access the endpoint raw data service in the EndpointUserName and EndpointPassword values.
Raw data service endpoint is using basic authentication and login name in the aggregator service .config file is not an authorized user in IIS.
  1. Click Start.
  2. In the Search Programs and files textbox, type inetmgr
  3. Expand Sites.
  4. Expand Default Web Site.
  5. Click analytics.
  6. Double-click .NET Authorization Rules.
  7. Ensure the EndpointUserName in the PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe.config file is listed (or is a member of a listed group.)
Raw data service endpoint is using basic authentication, aggregator service is configured to connect using http URI scheme (not https.) Using basic authentication over SSL is highly recommended, as credentials are transmitted in plain text. However, if your configuration requires the PreEmptive Analytics endpoint raw data service to use basic authentication over unsecured HTTP instead of SSL, you will need to locate the <binding> element named BasicSecurity and change its security mode value from Transport to TransportCredentialOnly.
Aggregator service is not running.
  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator entry and choose Run.
Aggregator service is not running under an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server.

The Analytics aggregator service must be configured to execute using an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server.

  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service entry and choose Properties.
  3. Select the Log On tab.
  4. Specify the User ID and password of the current TFS Service Account. If the account is a local account, specify the full account name (e.g. COMPUTER\TfsService rather than simply .\TfsService or TfsService).
  5. Click OK.

To determine the name of an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server, launch the Team Foundation Server Administration Console and click on the Application Tier node. Click on Group Membership, and locate an account that is a member of a group with permissions to create and edit work items, such as the Team Foundation Administrators group.
Rule criteria not being met.

Using SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the exceptions database being used to persist exception data.  Query against the Exceptions table, and verify the number of exception report messages exceeds the threshold, and have been persisted within the time span specified in the rule.
  Exceptions received not in rule’s exception set. Inspect the exception set assigned to the rule and ensure the exceptions being received are included, or create a new exception set that includes the exceptions being received and assign it to the rule.
Team project is not provisioned for PreEmptive Analytics. See the Provision team projects section of the Provisioning Team Projects topic.
TFS Work item query does not include Incident work items. Ensure that the Incident work item type is included in the TFS work item query you wish to use for viewing work items created by the Aggregator service.
PreEmptive Analytics node is not visible in Team Explorer. Team project is not provisioned for PreEmptive Analytics. See the Provision team projects section of the Provisioning Team Projects topic.
Configuration Utility or VS extension can’t connect to configuration service. Aggregator service is not running.
  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator entry and choose Run.
Aggregator service credentials are incorrect.
  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator entry and choose Properties.
  3. Select the Log On tab.
  4. Verify the User ID and re-enter the password of the service account you wish to use. If the account is a local account, specify the full account name (e.g. COMPUTER\TfsService rather than simply .\TfsService or TfsService).
  5. Click OK.
  6. If you changed the service account, you must also grant it permissions to host the configuration service on port 80:
    1. Launch an elevated command prompt and execute the command netsh http del urlacl url=http://+:80/AggregatorConfigurationService/ to remove permissions from any other accounts. If running this command returns an error, it simply means that no other accounts had been granted permissions to host the service and you should proceed to the next step.
    2. Execute the command netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:80/AggregatorConfigurationService/ user="<Service Account User Name>" to grant permissions for the new service account to host the aggregator configuration service.
Aggregator service account does not have Log on as a Service rights.
  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator entry and choose Properties.
  3. Select the Log On tab.
  4. Verify the User ID and re-enter the password of the service account you wish to use. If the account is a local account, specify the full account name (e.g. COMPUTER\TfsService rather than simply .\TfsService or TfsService).
  5. Click OK. If permissions to log on as a service were not previously assigned to that account, you will be notified and they will be granted automatically.
Aggregator service account does not have permission to host configuration service on port 80.
  1. Click Start.
  2. In the Search Programs and files textbox, type eventvwr.msc
  3. Under Applications and Services Logs, select the PreEmptive node.
  4. Look for an error log entry with the phrase "HTTP could not register URL http://+:80/AggregatorConfigurationService/. Your process does not have access rights to this namespace".
  5. If such an entry exists, you must grant the service account permissions to host the configuration service on port 80:
    1. Launch an elevated command prompt and execute the command netsh http del urlacl url=http://+:80/AggregatorConfigurationService/ to remove permissions from any other accounts. If running this command returns an error, it simply means that no other accounts had been granted permissions to host the service and you should proceed to the next step.
    2. Execute the command netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:80/AggregatorConfigurationService/ user="<Service Account User Name>" to grant permissions for the new service account to host the aggregator configuration service.
Aggregator configuration service is being blocked by a firewall. Launch the configuration tool for your firewall. Allow the PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe application to accept incoming connections on port 80. The PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe application is located in the Service subfolder within the PreEmptive Analytics installation directory (by default, C:\Program Files (x86)\PreEmptive Solutions\PreEmptive Analytics CE)
Aggregator service raw data connection is configured incorrectly, or raw data service is inaccessible.
  1. Open the PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe.config file from within the Service subdirectory of the PreEmptive Analytics aggregator service install directory (by default, C:\Program Files (x86)\PreEmptive Solutions\PreEmptive Analytics CE) using a text editor.
  2. Locate the <endpoint> element and verify that the value of the address attribute is a valid exception endpoint query service URL.

If this is configured correctly:

  1. Attempt to ping the server hosting the raw data service endpoint from the machine running the aggregator service.
  2. Check firewall settings on both machines.
  3. Ensure you are able to browse to the raw data service endpoint URL (If you used the default values during installation, this should follow the form http://<endpoint services machine name>/analytics/FaultQuery.svc.)
  4. If you are able to browse to the endpoint URL but see an HTTP error code, reference the Troubleshooting the Analytics Endpoint Services topic with any HTTP Error code displayed.
(For VS extension) Aggregator service is not accessible from the machine running Visual Studio.
  1. Attempt to ping the server hosting the Aggregator service from the machine running Visual Studio.
  2. Check firewall settings on both machines.
  3. Ensure you are able to browse to the aggregator configuration service URL (This should follow the form http://<aggregator service machine name>/AggregatorConfigurationService/.)
Provisioning a team project fails. Aggregator service is not running under an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server.

The Analytics aggregator service must be configured to execute using an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server.

  1. Launch the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools folder. Double-click the Services icon.
  2. Right-click the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service entry and choose Properties.
  3. Select the Log On tab.
  4. Specify the User ID and password of the current TFS Service Account. If the account is a local account, specify the full account name (e.g. COMPUTER\TfsService rather than simply .\TfsService or TfsService).
  5. Click OK.

To determine the name of an account with permissions to create and edit work items in Team Foundation Server, launch the Team Foundation Server Administration Console and click on the Application Tier node. Click on Group Membership, and locate an account that is a member of a group with permissions to create and edit work items, such as the Team Foundation Administrators group.
PreEmptive Analytics hub is not visible in Visual Studio. Team project is not provisioned for PreEmptive Analytics. See the Provision team projects for PreEmptive Analytics section of the Provisioning Team Projects topic.
Visual Studio extension cache must be refreshed. Launch an instance of the Visual Studio Command Prompt and execute the command devenv.exe /setup to refresh the extension cache.
Sample reports are not working correctly. TFS data warehouse has not run.

The TFS data warehouse process executes every two hours by default. You can wait for the process to occur, or manually execute the data warehouse process by following the instructions in the Manually Process the Data Warehouse and Analysis Services Cube for Team Foundation Server topic of the Team Foundation Server documentation.
Report data is cached.
  1. Launch Internet Explorer and browse to your TFS reports site (typically, http://<Your TFS Server>/Reports/).
  2. Click on the TfsReports folder to open it, then open your team project collection folder, your team project folder, and finally the PreEmptive Analytics folder.
  3. Hover over the report in question and click to open the dropdown menu. Click Manage.
  4. Click Processing Options in the left navigation.
  5. Select the Always run this report with the most recent data radio button, and underneath it select Do not cache temporary copies of this report.
  6. Click Apply at the bottom of the page.
In TFS Web Access, the Incident work item does not show the exception information or an error is displayed. PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Visualizer extension is disabled or not installed. Follow the installation process in the Installing the Analytics Visualizer Extension for TFS Web Access topic. Ensure you enable the extension after it is installed.

Viewing the Aggregator Service Debug Console

Occasionally, a problem with the PreEmptive analytics aggregator service may present itself without writing a meaningful event to the Windows event log. In these cases, it can be useful to view the debug output of the aggregator service itself using the aggregator service debug console. Running the service in debug mode should only be done to debug specific issues - once the issues are solved, do not continue to run the service in debug mode. Instead, exit the debug console and start the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service from the Services console directly.

  1. Ensure the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service is stopped from within the Services console.
  2. From the command prompt, change directory to the Service subfolder within the PreEmptive Analytics installation directory (by default, C:\Program Files (x86)\PreEmptive Solutions\PreEmptive Analytics CE).
  3. Execute the command PreEmptive.Analytics.Aggregator.exe /debug to launch the debug console.
  4. Click the Start button to start the service in debug mode, and watch the Trace log window for debugging messages.
  5. When finished, click the Stop button and close the debug console. Restart the PreEmptive Analytics Aggregator Service from the Services console.

 

See Also

Troubleshooting the Analytics Endpoint Services

Installing PreEmptive Analytics
Installing the Analytics Visualizer Extension for TFS Web Access

Configuring your Team Projects for PreEmptive Analytics
Provisioning Team Projects
Defining Exception Sets and Rules

 

 

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