Teamcenter Java Troubleshooting Notes
Overview
IE9 is the formally supported web browser by the GM support team. Siemens (Teamcenter vendor) supports Chrome and Mozilla. The GM team will work best effort to help support Chrome and Mozilla.
The GM environment uses Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 9.
The GM environment uses JAVA 1.7.0_75, JAVA 1.8 has not been tested yet by GM, though in test cases it functions at this time). GM also highly recommends you do NOT set JAVA to auto-update as even Oracle’s minor JAVA 1.7 updates earlier this year caused security warnings and errors.
Teamcenter depends on a Web Browser working with java plugin. Symptoms of java issues include:
- Teamcenter Security Services (TcSS) Login page never displays
- Unexpected security warnings or errors EVERY session with no checkbox option to disable. (Some warnings are expected first time a given user works on a given PC client)
- Message: "The login applet is not ready yet. Please try again after a few seconds."
- Message: "Login was unsuccessful: The Single Sign-on login has been cancelled."
If troubleshooting steps do not resolve the issue, then a re-install may be necessary. Preference is to install Java 1.7.0_75 (tested).
1.1 - Perform Java Applet Test
The following test can be used to confirm if applets are running correctly, useful to communicate with any people that support the PC client, and to determine whether problem is with all applets or just Teamcenter login.
The below test (URL) will only work if the telnet tests below work.
telnet tcaeweb-pca2.naeng.gm.com 8080
telnet 148.93.41.202 8080
In IE, enter following URL: http://tcaeweb-pca2.naeng.gm.com:8080/testapplet/
Should select allow if security GUI comes up. If this test passes, screen will show smiley face.
Confirm these work:
telnet tcss.naeng.gm.com 9081
telnet 148.93.41.207 9081
Then retry using TcSS URL, for example https://tcss.naeng.gm.com:9081/tcss_sso/weblogin/home . If this test passes, the Java/IE applet environment is installed correctly and any login problems are due to other issues or settings.
If this test fails, continue troubleshooting the information below.
In a DOS command window run "java -version" command to see java version.
1.2 - Enable Java Plugins
Start Internet Explorer
Select Internet Options on menu (top right, looks like a gear)
Select “Programs” Tab
Select “Manage add-ons” Button
Change “Currently loaded add-ons” to “All add-ons”, Scroll down to Java
If any of the Java Add-ons are Disabled, Select Row and hit “Enable” button as shown below. (older screen shot)
1.3 - Confirm IE 64bit is the Default Browser
Start Internet Explorer
Select Internet Options on menu (top right, looks like a gear)
Select “Programs” Tab
If “Make default” button is not greyed out, that means IE is not the default browser. Click “Make default” button to make IE the default browser and retest login.
1.4 - Confirm Pop-up Blocker Disabled
Start Internet Explorer
Select Internet Options on menu (top right, looks like a gear), then examine Popup-Blocker, and ensure it is disabled, as indicated by the option "Turn on Pop-up Blocker" being available.
1.5 - Clear Java Cache
Start Java Control Panel (See Appendix A), following screen displays:
Click "Settings..." button, following screen displays:
Cick "Delete Files..." button, following screen displays:
Select all checkboxes, and hit "OK" to clear java cache
1.6 - Turn Auto-Update Off
In order to control exactly when updates occur as Teamcenter may be impacted, disable auto-update
Start Java Control Panel (See Appendix A), following screen displays:
If there is an "Update" tab, select it (otherwise auto-update is not available to be enabled or disabled)
Uncheck the box "Check for Updates Automatically", following dialog appears:
Click "Do Not Check" button
1.7 - Suppressing Mixed Code Warnings
The following steps are required to suppress warning messages every session, such as:
Start Java Control Panel (See Appendix A), following screen displays:
Select "Advanced" tab
Scroll down to "Mixed Code (sandboxed vs. trusted) security verification", and Select "Enable - hide warning and run with protections" (or if "Disable verification" was set for other applications, it can be left at this setting)
1.8 - Application Exclude Lists (required if TcSS Login page not displaying). This should not be required if running 1.7.0_75 but you could still try it?
Start Java Control Panel (See Appendix A), following screen displays:
Click on the "Security" tab
Click "Edit Site List..." button
Click "Add" button, and enter in TcSS server being used - in this example Warren TcSS server https://tcss.naeng.gm.com:9081
Or for any website you can just:
Appendix A - How to Start Java Control Panel
Java control panel can be started by multiple methods.
Control Panel
or
The default location on 64-bit clients for the latest 64-bit Java Version is: "C:\Program Files\Java\[JAVA_INSTALL_DIR]\bin\javacpl.exe" and search for most recent install
Double-click on the javacpl.exe and control panel should appear as follows:
You can confirm the version running by clicking on the "About..." button
Appendix B - Communications and other Issues (supplier fixes)
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Test for TcSS server access. In Internet Explorer, does access to TcSS web page display? – see list of sites below and choose site that corresponds to user location
If you cannot connect to URL:
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Make sure firewall and routing rules have been added to access 148.93.41.207 port 9081
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The traffic must be routed through your GM connection and not the internet.
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Has the most undated host file information from the GMSP website been added to your local host and DNS tables? If sure: 148.93.41.207 tcss.naeng.gm.com
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Can you telnet from a dos command window on users PC:
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Some suppliers have had to change the proxy settings on the client and/or firewall. (see supplier section below)
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Is error “Invalid credentials”, Note this is the most frequent error, that wrong password is being used or ID is being used without specifying the correct domain.
Try to activate your ID first (may say already done) then change password or sometimes using forgot password works better.
If that does not work:
If there are additional GMID/Password issues – please contact the help desk at 888-337-2400, select 1 for password lock outs and select 9 to speak with a Service Desk Agent to assist in resetting your GMID password. DO NOT MENTION “TEAMCENTER” only that you need to have your GMID password reset.
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NAM\<user_id>
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EUR\<user_id>
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Is error “User or group account is disabled”?
There is an issue with your ID so:
Your ID is disabled in Active Directory. You will need to contact your GM Sponsoring Manager and have them contact the GM Service Desk to open a case to have your ID re-activated in Active Directory.
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Is error “Maximum number of allowable login attempts exceeded? Account locked”?
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This means user had 6 failed login attempts in a 30 minute period.
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User can wait 30 minutes for account to unlock
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Or user can try going to https://gmid.gm.com and resetting password.
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Is error “Login was unsuccessful: No home directory for user”
- Check for missing APPDATA environment variable by bringing up command window and running command “set APPDATA”
- If variable does not exist, as workaround run command “setx APPDATA c:\users\<userid>\Appdata\Roaming” and retest
- Try rebuilding user profile
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Do any lock files exist in following locations?’
- c:\temp\<userid>\*.lck
- c:\users\<userid>\Appdata\Roaming\teamcenter\sso\*.lck
- If so, delete the files and retest
Between/during testing and troubleshooting you may want to Reboot (to ensure no old Teamcenter windows (TAO) or processes(IE, etc.)) are running or open and then retry the TcSS login again.
In some cases suppliers have not updated to the current production TcUA version 10.1.1.2.a5 and this will cause an error as the newer config and data directories are needed for TcSS.
GM has tested and is using IE9 and JAVA 1.7.0_55.
We have heard that suppliers have gotten this to work with Firefox, Chrome and other versions of JAVA and IE while others have not. Each supplier seems and can be different, some say it is working with one version of JAVA/IE and others say that version does not work but another does. Some say IE does not work but Firefox or Chrome does while others say only IE works? ETC.
Other fixes suppliers have mentioned that worked for them:
Supplier 1:
Uninstalling both 32 & 64bit versions of Java, deleting all Java files in C:\Program Data & C:\Users\XXXX\AppData, and re-installing Java.
That seems to have fixed it. I’m starting to suspect that the user selected “Don’t allow” the first time she was prompted or when exiting. The applets were not even listed in Java’s temporary files.
Supplier 2:
It's a blank page, "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage". As it turns out, it appears to be a problem with our Proxy blocking access, because if we turn off proxy it connects. I didn't figure it was because we usually get a proxy error window telling us it's blocked. We are working on allowing access through our proxy and firewall internally. In the meantime, we're getting around it by unchecking proxy.
Supplier 3:
I was able to get to the website by adding the URL to the Exceptions list in Internet Explorer.
Supplier 4:
FYI, I’ve been able to fix the remaining issues with users not being able to get to the test page. I had to go into the users profile on windows, i.e. C:\users\userid\appdata\ and in the “local\microsoft\Internet Explorer” and in the “roaming\microsoft\Internet Explorer” directories, remove all the files to force IE to rebuild these. It appeared something in this directory was preventing the Java and/or page from loading properly.
Supplier 5:
I’ve had some success so far.
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On a couple, just a java un-install and re-install fixed the issue.
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On another one, I found the user had multiple add-on toolbars in the IE console. I removed all of these, as I couldn’t find where the pop-up blocker was on a couple of them, and I felt this may have been causing the issue. After doing this, removing Java and re-installing Java, it worked.
Even though Java was at the correct levels, it appears there was something corrupted or changed in the java registry entries or add-on pop up blockers on one that was causing the issues.
Supplier 6:
Turning pop-up blocker off
Supplier 7:
When we try to log into GM Teamcenter https://tcss.naeng.gm.com:9081/tcss_sso/weblogin/home we get unable to connect errors.
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If I add in the proxy exception *.gm.com we are able to get in (sometimes).
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I have found best success with installing Firefox since it will tell you why it is not connecting (make sure to add the proxy settings – may have to close & reopen Firefox after since it seems to hang)
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Sometimes I have to install Java
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Activate Java Deployment Toolkit (Select Allow and Remember)
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Firefox has prevented the outdated plug-in “Java™ Platform SE 7 U” from running on tcss.naeng.gm.com (Select Allow and Remember)
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Sometimes I have to turn pop up blocker off
Supplier 8:
The other issues where the users are unable to open the web pages. This is caused by the proxy server for http at our site. Since the connection to GM is via a site to site VPN. The proxy does not know to route certain sites through that VPN connection. If I turn off the proxy in the browser the GM sites work but normal Internet does not. I will put the two users in a non-proxy group until I can resolve the proxy issue on the gateway server with an exception.
Supplier 9:
Fix was to change IE options, connections, "LAN Settings" button, make sure "Automatically Detect Settings" is not checked.
One possibility if it is set is that it actually goes to the internet proxy at your site, routes the request to tcss.naeng.gm.com to the internet, and connection can't be made. If that's the case, then one option on your internet proxy is to put tcss.naeng.gm.com on exclude list
In all cases so far the issues have been on the supplier side and nothing caused on the GM side besides ID issues. Let me know which one of these worked for you so I may add them to the list. Thanks