WebSphere Plugin Error Log
Application server connection and failover errors
IBM WebSphere Application Server Plugin for Apache error logs recording connection failures, server failover events, transport errors, and application server communication issues
Overview
Records errors and warnings from the IBM WebSphere Application Server Plugin for Apache HTTP Server. Logs connection failures to application servers, server failover events, transport errors, SSL handshake failures, session affinity issues, and retry attempts.
When Generated:
- Failed connection attempts to WebSphere application servers
- Application server marked as down during health checks
- Transport stream read timeouts or connection refused errors
- SSL/TLS handshake failures with backend servers
- Server failover events when primary server is unavailable
- IOR (Interoperable Object Reference) file access errors
- Session affinity routing failures
- Maximum retry limits reached for server groups
Security Relevance:
HighCompliance:
Frequency Notes:
Low-frequency events under normal conditions (12-13 events/hour during business hours, 3 events/hour nights, 2 events/hour weekends). Frequency increases significantly during application server outages, network issues, or deployment activities. Healthy environments see minimal plugin errors.
Resources
Documentation
- IBM WebSphere Plugin Documentation official
- WebSphere Plugin Troubleshooting official
- WebSphere Plugin Configuration Guide official
- WebSphere Error Messages reference
Tools
-
WebSphere Plugin Analyzer
IBM tool for analyzing WebSphere plugin logs and configurations
-
Splunk App for WebSphere
Splunk application for monitoring and analyzing WebSphere logs
-
IBM Support Assistant
Diagnostic tool for WebSphere Application Server issues
Generation Configuration
Field Definitions
Complete field reference for this event type with data types, descriptions, and example values.
| Field Name | Type | Required | Format | Description | Example | Possible Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
timestamp
Source: now() | format_datetime('%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S.%f')
|
DateTime | Required |
DD/Mon/YYYY:HH:MM:SS.microseconds
|
Date and time when the plugin error occurred, with microseconds |
20/Dec/2025:15:31:09.53371
|
— |
|
request_id
Source: random_hex(10000000, 99999999)
|
String | Required |
8-digit hexadecimal
|
Hexadecimal request identifier for correlation |
0001da25
|
— |
|
thread_id
Source: random_hex(10000000, 99999999)
|
String | Required |
8-digit hexadecimal
|
Hexadecimal thread identifier |
a7af5700
|
— |
|
log_level
Source: random_choice(['ERROR', 'WARN', 'INFO', 'DEBUG'])
|
String | Required |
Log level
|
Severity level of the plugin log entry |
ERROR
|
ERROR
— Error condition requiring attention
WARN
— Warning condition, non-fatal
INFO
— Informational message
DEBUG
— Debug-level diagnostic information
|
|
component
Source: Embedded in error message
|
String | Required |
Component name
|
WebSphere plugin component that generated the log entry |
ws_common
|
ws_common
— Common plugin utilities and request handling
ws_server
— Server connection and failover management
ws_transport
— Transport layer and stream handling
ws_config
— Configuration management
|
|
function
Source: Embedded in error message
|
String | Required |
Function name
|
Function or method within the component where the error occurred |
websphereHandleRequest
|
— |
|
error_message
Source: random_choice of realistic WebSphere plugin error messages
|
String | Required |
Free text
|
Detailed error message describing the plugin issue |
Failed to execute the transaction to 'lpdscwasapp01Node_BOH_1' on host 'lpdscwasapp01.mclaneco.com:9450'
|
— |
|
server_name
Source: registry.get_random_device().hostname
|
String | Optional |
Server identifier
|
WebSphere application server name involved in the error |
lpdscwasapp01Node_BOH_1
|
— |
|
server_host
Source: registry.get_random_device().fqdn
|
String | Optional |
Hostname or FQDN
|
Hostname or FQDN of the WebSphere application server |
lpdscwasapp01.mclaneco.com
|
— |
|
server_port
Source: random_choice([9080, 9443, 9081, 9082])
|
Integer | Optional |
Port number
|
Port number of the WebSphere application server |
9450
|
— |
|
error_code
Source: random_int(104, 111) for connection errors
|
Integer | Optional |
Error number
|
OS-level error code (errno) when applicable |
104
|
— |