[sims] Discover database connection problem

[bossman]

Hi all,

Having updated to the latest spring version of Sims and the latest version of discover and the clients updated I have this problem!

 

 

 

 

Would anyone have a clue as to why this is happening as there is no transfer of data going on as this is scheduled to commence at 6:30am, I have restarted all the services related to Discover data transfers and Synchronisation, I have even restarted the server and yet still get the same error on both the client and the server Discover configuration tool.

[lollettuk]

Not seen that one... my only suggestions:

 

1. Not all Discover Errors actually say what they mean! So double check your "Discover.Designer.Desktop.exe.config" pre and post Spring 2012.

(Spring upgrade defaulted back one setting that we needed!)

 

2. If you've got a copy of the Discover SQL DB before the upgrade restore / attach and re-run the upgrade on just the DB.

Also just before upgrading DB try Config Tool (doesn't seem to be version error pre/post upgrade) as I don't think it changed much and will see if error is present.

 

3. If not and users havn't put too much customisation in, backup / detach the Discover DB then install a clean Spring 2012 Discover Database (in advanced options)...

 

4. Worse case... call Capita and wait for the callback!

Edited April 17, 2012 by lollettuk

[bossman]

@lollettuk:

 

I seem to remember the Config tool was for split database configurations which we didn't have, hence the reason why I didn't utilise this in the first instance. I will of course log a call with our LA but thank you for the info.

 

Will of course update the post on finding a solution.

 

Just for my edification does anyone know how long data transfers take on an average size database?

[Michael]

Silly question, but I presume you're running SQL 2008 or SQL 2008 Express?

[bossman]

@Michael:

 

SQL 2008 enterprise..............why?

[Michael]

I can't for the life find it now, but I read something today about SIMS' database requirement and Spring 2012.

 

Either way, you should be fine by the looks of things.

[bossman]

@Michael:

 

It has been working fine for sometime until this latest update, then afterwards it failed to transfer the data from Sims DB into the Discover DB and insists that the transfer is in progress as per the screen shot.

 

Will keep everyone posted with this one hehe!

[Edu-IT]

I don't have an answer for you right now, but, I suspect Capita know about this so there must be information on a fix somewhere.

 

Our support unit advised that when we run the upgrade, Discover may get broken, but haven't yet done it so don't know if it's related. I can see if I can find out what will break and if it's related to this issue but I suspect you may find the answer before I do.

 

Edit: I've just asked them the question.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Edu-IT

[matt40k]

Cambs have reported issues with performance in this upgrade, wonder if it's related? Have you added on the time out yet? Are they both on the Spring release?

 

PS: Why on earth would you use SQL 2008 enterprise? And not standard?

 

 

[bossman]

@matt40k:

 

Have no problems with performance, in fact I would say it has improved the speed no end its just the data configuration tool which will not connect as in the screenshot, it states that the data transfer is ongoing and obviously this shouldn't take more than an hour should it?

 

The actual discover GUI comes up almost instantly (2-5secs) and data diagrams around 10 - 15 secs for example exclusions year to date.

 

Its what we got issued with as our upgrade from SQL 2005 ent when our LA installed it years ago and as we had a schools agreement license with Microsoft which was part of our status grant it cost us nothing in real terms.

 

It has caused us no problems until now so why not?

Edited April 17, 2012 by bossman

[matt40k]

True, it won't cause you any problems, but cost wise, it's 3x times the cost with no benefits (for schools anyway). I don't believe it's covered as part of MS schools agreement either. If it's what your LA supplied, fair enough. Be interested in there logic in case I'm missing something.

[lollettuk]

Our slowness is only around SIMS... Discover,FMS,etc all running normally.

 

I was also expecting the spring upgrade to break discover, but other than it changing one of the .configs in the hosted version back to default it went pretty smoothly on both standalone and hosted.

 

There are two flavours of the config tool, "Discover SIMS Hosted Transfer Configuration" and "Discover SIMS Configuration" (standalone)... The standalone is used to setup custom graphs - as it's still running you could export any you've setup, install a fresh Discover SQL DB and re-import them.

 

If your not comfortable with SQL then Capita would be your best bet as they've better know which SQL table needs looking at...

 

FYI: Our Discover transfers normally only take roughly one min

Edited April 18, 2012 by lollettuk

[Edu-IT]

Hi all,

Having updated to the latest spring version of Sims and the latest version of discover and the clients updated I have this problem!

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13627[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Would anyone have a clue as to why this is happening as there is no transfer of data going on as this is scheduled to commence at 6:30am, I have restarted all the services related to Discover data transfers and Synchronisation, I have even restarted the server and yet still get the same error on both the client and the server Discover configuration tool.

From what I understand you'll be unable to login to Discover until the syncronisation has ran. Have you tried running the sync directly on the server? Perhaps the upgrade has wiped the database or something so until the synch next runs it won't work?

[bossman]

@all:

 

It seems the upgrade has broken our discover DB and it thinks it is in transfer mode (still after 24 hours hehe!) called logged with Capita, will keep you all updated

[vikpaw]

If a reboot doesn't fix it. Reinstall.

[GazN]

Glad to hear it's not just me with this problem. A PC in our training room has the same problem, I've removed Discover and reinstalled it but it still thinks there is a transfer going on. I'm going to remove SIMS and Discover and reinstall both to see if it fixes the issue.

[Michael]

Another Capita product where you get to "Discover" how well the software has been written

[GazN]

I've finally got the PC in our training room working. What I did was remove Discover and reinstall it from 7.138 disc with a new database name and then upgrade it to 7.142 then 7.144 via the discs. Not the easiest way of fixing the problem but it has fixed it eventually.

[Greg]

@all:

 

It seems the upgrade has broken our discover DB and it thinks it is in transfer mode (still after 24 hours hehe!) called logged with Capita, will keep you all updated

 

Capita have a SQL script to stop and reset the transfer process, it worked fine for one of our schools who were stuck in transfer.

[GazN]

With the help of Capita we have fixed a Discover transfer problem we were having. There is a timeout value which needed to be increased and a patch which then needed to be re-applied and this seems to have fixed the failed transfer problem.

[Mcshammer_dj]

This is what Capita did for me and it fixed the problem..

 

 

apply patch 15769 to your SIMS .net database to resolve the first issue.

 

 

For the second, please could you extend the timeout for Discover by doing the following:

 

 

Go to C:\Program Files\SIMS\Discover Services

 

 

Take a copy of Discover.Warehouse.Service.exe.config and name it Discover.Warehouse.Service.exe.config.old. Then open Discover.Warehouse.Service.exe.config in notepad. There should be a section titled like below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underneath add the following:

 

 

 

 

Once done, please save the configuration file with these changes and restart the SIMS Discover Data Transfer service. This example will increase the timeout period to 15 minutes. Please could you also apply the re-index patch to your SIMS database via dbUpgrade, using the sysman SIMS user.

 

 

If the Discover Transfer continues to timeout please look at KB109255 in regards to Addressing Performance Issues.

[bossman]

Capita have a SQL script to stop and reset the transfer process, it worked fine for one of our schools who were stuck in transfer.

 

Yeah, apologies for late reply but this is what we did through SQL management studio.

 

Problem we have now is the user transfer service is throwing up a code error when trying to run through schedule task.

 

Call logged with Capita