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User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
Troubleshooting
Configuration issues
If you encounter problems while configuring WebSphere Commerce, refer to the following resources for assistance.
Warning messages about system preferences received during instance creation
When you create a WebSphere Commerce instance, you review messages in the SystemErr.log file and the Configuration Manager client window and find warning messages that are related to system preferences.

User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
- Planning
  Creating a custom implementation of a WebSphere Commerce store requires a significant amount of planning. From gathering client needs, to deploying the live solution, much work is needed to successfully deploy a custom client store. Use the resources in here to help you plan every phase of store creation.
- Installing
  Review the following sections for information about installing the WebSphere Commerce product, associated maintenance, and WebSphere Commerce enhancements.
- Migrating
  Before you migrate to WebSphere Commerce Version 8.0, review this information to help plan and execute your migration.
- Deploying
  The topics in this section describe how to publish stores to either a test or production environment, and how to deploy customized code.
- Operating
- Integrating
  Topics in the Integrating category highlight the tasks that are commonly performed for using WebSphere Commerce in combination with other products.
- Administering
- Tutorials
  WebSphere Commerce provides many tutorials to help you customize and understand your WebSphere Commerce instance and stores.
- Samples
- Developing
  The topics in the Developing section describe tasks performed by an application developer.
- Compliance
  The following section describes how you can leverage WebSphere Commerce features and functionality to help your site be compliant with different privacy and security standards.
- Securing
  These topics describe the security features of WebSphere Commerce and how to configure these features.
- Performance
- Troubleshooting
  - WebSphere Commerce messages
  - Contacting HCL Customer Support
    HCL Customer Support provides assistance with product defects. Contact HCL if you require assistance with an WebSphere Commerce problem.
  - Installation issues
    Both installing and uninstalling WebSphere Commerce encompass a wide range of steps. If you encounter problems, refer to the following resources for assistance.
  - WebSphere Application Server issues
    Review this information when you encounter problems with the WebSphere Application Server that is associated with your WebSphere Commerce instance.
  - Configuration issues
    If you encounter problems while configuring WebSphere Commerce, refer to the following resources for assistance.
    - Gathering additional trace information from WebSphere Commerce Configuration Manager
      If you're having problems with WebSphere Commerce Configuration Manager, use the troubleshooting tips in this topic to gather additional trace information to help you solve the problem.
    - Instance creation fails during database creation
      A WebSphere Commerce instance creation fails during database creation.
    - Instance creation fails with "Could not build a list of prerequisite profile templates for profile template"
      The build fails when you attempt to create a WebSphere Commerce instance and you see a "Could not build a list of prerequisite profile templates for profile template" error.
    - Database update fails after instance creation
      After you create an instance using an existing database, an attempt to update the database fails.
    - Instance creation fails during database configuration
      A WebSphere Commerce instance creation fails while you configure a remote database. This error condition might occur after the installation of a WebSphere Commerce fix pack.
    - Returning to use a non-root user to run WebSphere Commerce
      Depending on security requirements, you might have set up WebSphere Commerce to run using the root user. To return to using a non-root user, steps need to be completed.
    - Error message when you access WebSphere Commerce tools
      Attempting to access the logon for a WebSphere Commerce tools page, an Error 403 error in the browser window.
    - Using a root user to run WebSphere Commerce
      Depending on security requirements for your WebSphere Commerce environment, you might be required to run WebSphere Commerce with a root user.
    - Warnings issued when creating an instance with the config_ant.bat command
      Warnings display when you create an instance in a WebSphere Commerce installation directory that contains spaces.
    - Warnings issued when removing an instance with the config_ant.bat command
      Warnings display when you remove an instance in a WebSphere Commerce installation directory that contains spaces.
    - WebSphere Commerce Integration Wizard hangs or times out
      When performing an integration step using the WebSphere Commerce Integration Wizard on a Windows operating system, it times out or appears to hang.
    - WebSphere Commerce command line utilities do not function properly
      When you use WebSphere Commerce command line utilities, the commands do not function as expected.
    - Validating the Oracle Environment for use with WebSphere Commerce
      WebSphere Commerce uses the Oracle type 2 (OCI) driver for tasks such as Instance Creation. The use of this driver requires the Oracle environment to be properly set for the WebSphere Commerce non-root user.
    - Timeouts occur during a server start and store publish
      When you start your WebSphere Commerce server or publishing a store, you might encounter a transaction timeout.
    - Database connection errors when you run utilities on a command-line interface
      If certain characters are used in a DB2 password, they can cause errors when the password is specified on a command-line interface when you run a utility.
    - Warning messages about system preferences received during instance creation
      When you create a WebSphere Commerce instance, you review messages in the SystemErr.log file and the Configuration Manager client window and find warning messages that are related to system preferences.
    - No data inserted after you run the setdbtype command
      An attempt to run the setdbtype command appears to be successful, but no data is inserted into the database.
    - Full import failed during di-buildindex utility
      If you are using an Oracle database, you might encounter a Full import failed error similar to the following message during a di-buildindex run.
  - Web server issues
    Review this information when you encounter problems with the Web server that is associated with your WebSphere Commerce instance.
  - General issues
    Review the following information when you encounter any general problems with WebSphere Commerce.
  - Update Installer issues
    If you encounter issues with the WebSphere Commerce Update Installer, refer to the following topics.
  - Fix pack issues
    If you encounter problems during the installation or uninstallation of the WebSphere Commerce fix pack, review the following issues:
  - WebSphere Commerce Developer fix pack issues
    Common fix pack installation problems and solutions for WebSphere Commerce Developer.
  - Deployment
    The troubleshooting information for deployment is divided into the following categories: Custom WebSphere Commerce database assets, Custom WebSphere Commerce Enterprise Application (EAR) or Java EE assets and Custom WebSphere Commerce Web server assets.
  - Access control problems
    Access control problems are often indicated by generic application errors with error message keys such as _ERR_USER_AUTHORITY. The first step in problem determination is to enable tracing for the access control component.
  - Catalogs
    If you encounter problems when you are managing or displaying catalogs, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Contracts
    If you encounter problems working with contracts, review the following troubleshooting topics.
  - Messages
    Problems encountered when sending e-mail for error notification.
  - Workspaces
    If you encounter problems while using workspaces, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Management Center
    If you encounter problems while using the Management Center, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Aurora starter store
    If you encounter problems when you use the Aurora starter store, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Changed data
    When data is changed in the WebSphere Commerce database, it will sometimes appear not to have any effect on the server functionality -- specifically, when the values are modified directly through loading utilities or through SQL statements. Certain tables are cached for performance reasons, and their values will not be reread by WebSphere Commerce until the server is restarted or the registry is refreshed. Examples of cached tables are the STORE table or the URLREG table.
  - Promotion code problem
    When you try to log on to the storefront in a B2C store, the Logon URL is used to log on to the system. If information already exists for the guest customer, the guest customer's basic information, such as their shopping cart, is merged with the registered user. You might experience the following problem with the shopping cart merge because of promotion codes.
  - Guest shopping in the advanced B2B direct store
    When you try to log on to the storefront in an advanced B2B direct store, the Logon URL is used to log on to the system. If information already exists for the guest shopper, the guest shopper's basic information, such as their shopping cart, is merged with the registered user. You might experience the following problem with the shopping cart merge because of multiple pending shopping carts for the registered user.
  - Enabling error message details in the storefront
    The storefront hides specific error details from shoppers by default for security purposes. For example, instead of seeing a 404 error page with details, shoppers instead see a generic error page. If you need to enable error message details in the storefront, to satisfy a particular business requirement, you can enable verbose error messages in the configuration file.
  - Publishing a store archive
  - Storefront categories do not display after you publish a store archive
    After successfully publishing a store archive, the category navigation menu is not displayed in your storefront. For example, in the Aurora starter store, the Department menu does not display any categories.
  - Storefront does not display catalog filters
    When a catalog filter is applied to your store, the store continues to display catalog entries that are not included in the filtered catalog.
  - WebSphere Commerce Developer
    You might experience the following problems when you use WebSphere Commerce Developer.
  - Inventory issues
  - Logging issues
  - Member group issues
  - Promotions issues
  - Tax
    If you encounter problems while using the tax codes or calculation codes, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Utilities
    If you encounter problems while using WebSphere Commerce utilities, refer to the following troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - WebSphere Commerce Search
    If you encounter problems while you use WebSphere Commerce Search, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Search engine optimization (SEO)
    If you encounter problems using search engine optimization (SEO), review the following issues:
  - REST services
    If you encounter problems with WebSphere Commerce REST services, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Staging server
    Issues you may encounter while using the stagingprop utility.
  - Administrator is locked out from Administration Console
    In the event you are locked out from the Administration Console, you need to update the database directly to unlock your account.

Troubleshooting: Warning messages about system preferences received during instance creation

When you create a WebSphere Commerce instance, you review messages in the SystemErr.log file and the Configuration Manager client window and find warning messages that are related to system preferences.

Problem

You see errors similar to the following messages in the SystemErr.log, or in the Configuration Manager client window during instance creation:


Mar 22, 2006 2:11:35 PM java.util.prefs.FileSystemPreferences$3 run
WARNING: Could not create system preferences directory. System
preferences are unusable.
Mar 22, 2006 2:11:49 PM java.util.prefs.FileSystemPreferences
checkLockFile0ErrorCode
WARNING: Could not lock System prefs. Unix error code 273859672.
Mar 22, 2006 2:12:19 PM java.util.prefs.FileSystemPreferences
checkLockFile0
ErrorCode
WARNING: Could not lock System prefs. Unix error code 268911000.

Solution

If you encounter these warning messages, they can be safely ignored.