MicroStrategy ONE

Analyze a Server State Dump

A server state dump (SSD) is a collection of information related to the state of Intelligence Server that is written to the DSSErrors.log file, usually as a result of an unexpected shutdown of Intelligence Server. It provides insight into what was going on in Intelligence Server when the shutdown occurred. This information can be used to help diagnose the cause of the shutdown and avert subsequent problems.

Problems that trigger an SSD include memory depletion (see Memory Depletion Troubleshooting) or exceptions (see View and Analyze Log Files). Changes to the server definition trigger a subset of the SSD information.

Each SSD records information under the same process ID and thread ID. This information includes the server and project configuration settings, memory usage, schedule requests, user sessions, executing jobs and processing unit states, and so on. The SSD information is broken into 14 sections, summarized below.

Section 1: Triggering Error and Error Specific Preamble

This section precedes the actual SSD and provides information on what triggered the SSD, such as memory depletion or an unknown exception error.

Section 2: Server Executable Version and Build Information

This section provides information on the Intelligence Server executable version and build time so you can accurately identify the version of the MicroStrategy software.

Section 3: Server Definition Basic (Castor Server Configuration 'Project') Information

This section provides a subset of Intelligence Server level settings as they are defined in the Intelligence Server Configuration Editor (in Developer, right-click the project source, and select Configure MicroStrategy Intelligence Server). The settings consist of:

  • Server definition name
  • Maximum jobs per project
  • Maximum connections per project
  • Number of projects
  • Communication protocol and port

WorkingSet File Directory and Max RAM for WorkingSet Cache values are not listed in an SSD.

Section 4: Project/s Basic Information

This section includes basic information related to the state and configuration of projects. This shows settings that are defined in the Project Configuration Editor, such as:

  • Project name
  • Cache settings
  • Governor settings
  • DBRole used
  • DBConnection settings

Section 5: Server Definition Advanced Information

This section includes additional server definition settings, such as:

  • Thread load balancing mode
  • Memory throttling
  • History List settings
  • Idle timeouts
  • XML governors
  • Memory Contract Manager (MCM) settings

MCM is designed to help you avoid memory depletions. For more information on MCM, see Governing Intelligence Server Memory Use with Memory Contract Manager.

Section 6: Callstack, Lockstack, and Loaded Modules

The callstack dump provides information on the functions being used at the time the SSD was written. Similarly, the lockstack provides a list of active locks. The Module info dump provides a list of files that are loaded into memory by Intelligence Server, and their location in memory.

This information can help MicroStrategy Technical Support trace errors to specific areas of functionality.

Section 7: Server Process Memory Snapshot

This section contains the memory profile of the Intelligence Server process and machine. If any of these values are near their limit, memory may be a cause of the problem.

Section 8: Project State Summary

This section provides a summary of whether each project is Loaded and Registered, and the number of users logged in and jobs running at the time of the SSD.

Section 9: Schedule Request Information

This section provides a listing of schedule requests that Intelligence Server is configured for. This list includes:

  • Reports
  • Documents
  • Administration tasks, such as idling projects and other tasks related to cache management

For additional information about schedules and subscriptions, see Scheduling Jobs and Administrative Tasks.

Section 10: Database Connection Snapshot

This section displays a snapshot of the state of the database connections between Intelligence Server and the metadata and data warehouse databases. This information is similar to what is shown in the Database Connection Monitor. For more information about database connections, see Communicating with Databases.

Section 11: User Inbox Snapshot

The section provides information on the size of various user inboxes and information related to the WorkingSet.

Section 12: Jobs Status Snapshot

This section provides a snapshot of the jobs that were executing at the time of the SSD. This information may be useful to see what the load on Intelligence Server was, as well as what was executing at the time of the error. If the error is due to a specific report, the information here can help you reproduce it.

Section 13: User Session Snapshot

This section provides details on the various user sessions in Intelligence Server at the time of the SSD.

Section 14: Processing Unit Threads State Snapshot

This section provides information about the states of the threads in each processing unit in Intelligence Server. It also provides information on the number of threads per Processing Unit and to what priority they are assigned.