Gen 8.5 build tool

[alan hackler]

We have a new user who just installed the gen toolset 8.5 on a windows 10 pc.  When you open the build tool and open the profile manager there is nothing populated in the profile table when I click the "C" folder on the profile tree.  There is nothing in the Key column or in the Value column.  The same happens when i click the System folder, Options folder.  None of the folders are populated.  Any help would be appreciated.

Alan Hackler

Attachment(s)

build tool.docx   64 KB 1 version

[Lynn Williams]

Hi @Legacy User,
This sounds like it could be related to permissions under Windows 10.
I found a case you logged with us last year (20075815) where my colleague @Steve Holton advised to use "Run as administrator" to run the Build Tool i.e.
1. From Windows Explorer go to the Gen 8.5 install directory C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Gen85\Gen
2. Right click on BLDTOOL.BAT and select 'Run as administrator' 
If you have you already tried that and it does not help please let us know.

Thanks

Lynn

​

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[alan hackler]

many thanks for the reply.  we tried adding the user to the local administrative group and we still have the same issue of nothing appearing in the profile manager.  can anyone think of any other ideas?

thanks for the help.

[Daniel Stratton]

I've seen instances that I've never managed to nail down to a cause where the build tool was looking for profiles in %USERPROFILE% rather than %LOCALAPPDATA%\CA\Gen 8.5\cfg\buildtool\.

You could probably use Process Monitor (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon) to observe the file access behaviour for where it's looking for the profiles as well.

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Response Systems
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[Lynn Williams]

Hi @Legacy User,
Further to Daniel's advice, the BT UI display is controlled by the file user.configure normally found in the directory %LOCALAPPDATA%\CA\Gen 8.5\cfg\buildtool that Daniel mentioned (that directory is also where custom BT profiles are stored)
If the file is there stop the BT, rename/backup the user.configure file and see the result of a new BT startup which should create a new clean version of the file.
If you cannot find the file try a machine wide search from a command prompt: C:\>where /r c:\ user.configure

Regards,

Lynn

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[Lynn Williams]

@Legacy User,
Also do you already have other users running the Gen 8.5 BT successfully on Windows 10​?
If yes then maybe they are at a higher PTF level than base GA post-install?
I am not aware of a PTF that would directly influence this behaviour, but if you do have other working users with a higher PTF level (check directory "%GEN85%\PTF_Backups" for .BAK directories) then it might be worth applying the same e.g. Gen 8.5 IR3 PTF WKS85003:
https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/product-content//recommended-reading/technical-document-index/ca-gen-8-5-solutions-patches.html

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[Lynn Williams]

Hi Alan,
I installed base Gen 8.5 on my Windows 10 Pro (Version 1903, OS Build 18362.778) laptop. I used Gen 8.5 typical install.
I created a non-admin user and restarted the machine to complete the Gen 8.5 install.
I logged in with the new user, started the Gen 8.5 BT and in Profile Manager for profile DEFAULT I see Key/Value entries under the C node and other nodes.

I see just one file user.configure in the directory "C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\CA\Gen 8.5\cfg\buildtool" for that new user.
So maybe your security levels are higher than mine but normally it should not require an admin user nor run as administrator to run the Build Tool 100% successfully.

I note from your file "build tool.docx" that the Profile Manager screenshot from your working machine shows the usual default profile name of DEFAULT, but from the newly installed machine shows a profile name of default_2. Did the DEFAULT profile also show the same problem on the newly installed machine and you just created a new profile default_2 based on DEFAULT to see if the problem also existed in the new profile?
Is it only the Profile Manager that shows the problem i.e. the main BT panel is displaying OK i.e. Directory Tree on left panel and column headers on right panel?
Are you directly using the Setup.exe from Gen 8.5 iso file DVD04175233E.iso to do your installs or do you have a custom install package?

Thanks

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[alan hackler]

Hello Lynn,

I have tried closing the BT and renaming the user.configure file to save it off. i restarted the BT and sill no values in the profile table side of the profile manager.  Yes, the name of the profile is defalut_2. I tried creating a new profile to see if that would work.  Both Default and default_2 have the same issue, no values.  We have added the user to the administrator group on the workstation to try to start the BT by "running as administrator".  now, trying to "run as administrator" is locking up and not even starting the BT. 

Also, we have another developer who just received a new laptop.  He has the same issue, nothing in the profile table of the profile manager.  At this point the second user is not in the admin group on the laptop.

Also, all of our group of developers are on the same PTF level.  we have applied no PTF's.

Still at a loss.

Thanks for the help.

Alan

[Lynn Williams]

Hi Alan,
I have discussed with GEN Engineering and they don't have any immediate suggestions.
We suggest you open a support case so we can research the problem with you in more detail.
Please also include the link for this Community thread when you open the case.

Thanks

Lynn

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[Kevin Bingham]

Hi Alan

I suspect this might be a Java version issue. I seem to remember a similar issue on a customer machine where they had a newer version of Java runtimes in the Environment, e.g. in the path ahead of those installed with Gen. When the PATH and other Env variables were adjusted to match what Gen had installed, then the BT worked.

I hope that helps.

Kevin

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IET - Information Engineering Technology Ltd
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[Lynn Williams]

Hi Kevin,
Yes good call and suggestion. I was starting to think along those lines because in Gen 8.5 the installer package does not distribute a Gen specific JRE but in Gen 8.6 it does:
https://techdocs.broadcom.com/content/broadcom/techdocs/us/en/ca-mainframe-software/devops/ca-gen/8-5/technical-requirements/general-comments.html

Gen Tools and Java Versioning

A 32-bit JRE is required for all Gen tools, for example, the Build Tool, Diagram Trace Utility, and Gen Studio; that reference the GEN85JRE environment variable. GEN85JRE is assigned to the user's chosen JRE install directory.

To work with all these Gen tools, the minimum JDK version 1.7.0.51 is required.

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/content/broadcom/techdocs/us/en/ca-mainframe-software/devops/ca-gen/8-5/release-notes/ca-gen-release-8-5.html

Build Tool

No Longer Deliver Java Runtime

As of Release 8.5, CA Gen no longer delivers a copy of the Java Runtime. Installation of the JRE is the responsibility of the customer.

On Windows, the %GEN85JRE% environment variable should be set to the Java Runtime Home directory. Although the Build Tool will function with a 64-bit JRE, Gen Studio and Diagram Trace Utility need a 32 bit JRE.

On UNIX/Linux, the new environment variable $IEFJRE should be set to the Java Runtime Home directory.

Environment Variable Changes

CA Gen  Release 8.5 includes two new Windows environment variables, %GEN85% and %GEN85JRE%. These environment variables mimic the two new environment variables that were introduced with CA Gen  r8.0. 
%GEN85%

Specifies the location of the root directory for the CA Gen installation. This environment variable contains a trailing delimiter, such as c:\Program Files\CA\Gen 85\. Use %GEN85%Gen to refer to the \Gen subdirectory. Using %GEN85% makes this environment variable unique from previous 

CA Gen  installations, and supports Side-by-Side installations.

%GEN85JRE%

Specifies the installation directory for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Using %GEN85JRE% makes this environment variable unique from previous 

CA Gen  installations, and supports Side-by-Side installations.

The installation will set GEN85JRE if a 32-bit JRE is already installed on the system. If only a 64-bit JRE is installed, the installation will not set GEN85JRE, because CA Gen Studio and the Diagram Trace Utility will not work with a 64-bit JRE.

On 64-bit Windows, %GEN85JRE% should be set to a 32-bit JRE.

On UNIX/Linux platforms, CA Gen Release 8.5 includes one new environment variable, $IEFJRE.

$IEFJRE

Specifies the installation directory for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

Per above the JRE needs to be 32-bit for all Gen  tools to startup successfully. My install latest install test found "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_231\" and set GEN85JRE to that directory.

Hope it helps

Regards,

Lynn

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[Lynn Williams]

Just some added info.
By default (with no parameters) the BT startup script bldtool.bat runs in (GUI) client mode and uses javaw.exe (non-console app launcher) i.e.
start "" "%GEN85JRE%\bin\javaw" -jar "%GEN85%\gen\bt\bt.ui.jar"
So in theory it should only be GEN85JRE that is influencing which java and associated components are used.
I have run tests with GEN85JRE set to a 64-bit Java 11 install directory and it did not give me your missing profile token symptoms (I also added the Java 11 bin directory to the front of my PATH). I also found similar using an old JDK 1.6 version.

Using this command might log a possible error when the tokens fail to display in standard out/error file "C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\CA\GEN8~1.5\logs\buildtool\log1.out"
"%GEN85JRE%\bin\javaw" -jar "%GEN85%\gen\bt\bt.ui.jar" > C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\CA\GEN8~1.5\logs\buildtool\log1.out 2>&1

If you still get no progress if you dump the full Windows environment variables into a file using command "set > set.out" we can see what you are using.

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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[alan hackler]

Lynn,
I tried what you suggested and results attached.  i could not get it to run from the Run prompt so i put it in a command file. had an issue with this in Win 10 so i split the command line apart and REM'd out the first part to get it to run. the log file is in the zip. Still a a loss.

Alan Hackler

Attachment(s)

log1.zip   1 KB 1 version

[Lynn Williams]

Hi Alan,
Sorry I think I confused you with my wording and it is only the text in bold that I wanted you to run as a command which you ended up doing :)
"%GEN85JRE%\bin\javaw" -jar "%GEN85%\gen\bt\bt.ui.jar" > C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\CA\GEN8~1.5\logs\buildtool\log1.out 2>&1
Anyway the log file only shows the Column names used in the BT main UI panel. I was hoping to see some errors generated when you invoked the Profile Manager.
I reviewed your set.out and cannot see anything significant with your Gen 8.5 related variables.
I took your Gen 8.5 related variables and PATH and used them in my test environment by creating a .cmd file which sets them and then I ran that file from a command prompt to get everything set and I then started the build tool. As part of that test I also installed the exact same 32-bit Java version as you have assigned to GEN85JRE i.e. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_111\". 
I still could not recreate the problem.

One thing I did notice is that directory "C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath" is first in your PATH.
I do not have that directory on my test environment. I do have "C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java" but no sub-directory "C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath".
From what I have read if it exists it will likely contain 3 files java.exe, javaw.exe, javaws.exe but they may be symbolic links to the real files somewhere else. Anyway although the BT specifically uses the javaw from GEN85JRE, per Kevin's earlier comments perhaps that directory is having an impact so you might want to test removing it from the PATH completely just to see if it has any effect.
To do that you could just start a command prompt and set path to the remainder of the existing PATH i.e. run command:
set PATH=C:\windows\system32;C:\windows;C:\windows\System32\Wbem;C:\windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Sennheiser\SoftphoneSDK\;C:\Windows\System32\dns\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\HID Global\ActivClient\;C:\Program Files\HID Global\ActivClient\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Micro Focus\InfoConnect\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\bin;C:\Users\c32pb\.dnx\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft DNX\Dnvm\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Gen85\Client\;C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Gen85\Gen\;C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Gen85\Gen\VS100;C:\Program Files (x86)\CA\Gen85\;C:\Users\c32pb\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;

Then from the same command prompt run:
cd "%GEN85%\Gen\"
.\bldtool.bat

Hope it helps. If not then I don't really have any more ideas and as I suggested earlier a support case would be the next option going forward.

Regards,

Lynn
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Lynn Williams
Senior Principal Support Engineer
Broadcom
Australia
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[alan hackler]

Hi Lynn,
that made more sense but I am still having the issue with the profile manager. no log file was created in the logs\builttool folder on my machine, which works fine, i have the java path in front of my system path.  next, we are going to rebuild the new machine again just to see what happens.  if it still does not work, i will open a ticket with CA/Broadcom.

many thanks for your efforts with this.

Alan Hackler

[alan hackler]

Thanks Lynn.  I will give this a try and let you know.