HTTP Status 500-Internal Server Error in SAP BusinessObjects Intelligence Platform and Data Services

[Abhishek_Sinha]

Issue: HTTP Status 500-Internal Server Error
We have often seen this error in the SAP BI platform or Data Services, which rely on Tomcat services. This issue is observed when you try to access the application via the central management console. There might be a scenario where a few of the options work fine and a few give the below error message.

Even though sufficient memory is available on the VM to be utilized, this issue is still encountered. A quick resolution is to restart the Tomcat, which is not a sustainable solution.

Cause: The main reason for this issue is the heap memory utilization of Tomcat.

Tomcat is an essential component in SAP BusinessObjects (BO) architecture, particularly for hosting web applications. 

Role of Tomcat in SAP BusinessObjects (BO)
Apache Tomcat acts as the web application server for deploying SAP BO web applications such as:

Central Management Console (CMC) — for managing and configuring the SAP BO platform.
BI Launch Pad — for accessing reports, dashboards, and analytics.
Web Intelligence (WebI) — for interactive report creation.
Crystal Reports Viewer — for viewing detailed Crystal Reports.

Inefficient configuration of memory leads to crashes or out-of-memory errors.

It is a bit challenging to figure out the optimum configuration, hence, the issue of monitoring the heap memory utilization becomes critical.

A tool "jconsole" is offered by SAPJVM, which is available in the Business Objects executable.

Steps to set up the console:

• Set the below parameters in Tomcat configuration

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=8008
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

Restart the Tomcat for it to take effect.

Running the console

• Browse to the location of sapjvm, it is in the BI installation location - <install_location>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\win64_x64\sapjvm\bin
• Execute the jconsole - jconsole.exe <hostname>:8008    (Here, 8008 is the port which is set in property)

Using the various tabs, real-time monitoring can be done, and it will lead to setting up the optimum memory parameters for the system to run smoothly without any issues. An ad-hoc garbage collection can also be performed from here.

Conclusion: It is a great offering within the SAPJVM which empowers us as admins to monitor the Tomcat heap memory and fine-tune the parameters for optimum performance.