Unable to start DHIS2 after installation

[danboy (Russell)]

Thanks Sohel @jomutsani ,

But, I am not sure who marked this as a “Solution” but the issue is far from resolved and the final post can’t possibly constitute a definative solution.

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

Hi @danboy,

Hope you are well. Did you manage to find a workaround this ?

[danboy (Russell)]

Hi @jomutsani, sadly no!

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

Have you tried using @sohel’s recommendations?

@sohel

Here I am giving you my choices for your help (you/other may totally different kind of preference )
OS:ubuntu 16.04, java:8, postgres:10, tomcat:8.59/9, dhis2:2.32/2.31

[danboy (Russell)]

Hi James

You might be aware that Sohel’s recommendations differ wildly to the “recommended” or prescribed method in “Official” Implementation Guide dated May 2019. It is akin to try this or that and suck it and see!

However, if I don’t find a better alternative I may have no choice.

Thanks

Russell

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

I hear you @danboy. Let me try and link you up with @julhas whom I am quite sure can help sort you out.

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

I hear you @danboy. Let me try and link you up with @julhas whom I am quite sure can help sort you out.

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

I hear you @danboy. Let me try and link you up with @julhas whom I am quite sure can help sort you out.

[phil (Philip Larsen Donnelly)]

@danboy

Which JDK are you using? I see from earlier in the thread that you were using JDK11 initially at least. DHIS2 will not work with JDK11 at this time; you need JDK8.

Kind regards,
Phil

[julhas (Julhas Sujan)]

Hi @danboy, I can see your issues over skype. My skype id is “julhas08”.

Thanks @jomutsani.

[jomutsani (James Omutsani)]

Thank you @phil and @julhas

[danboy (Russell)]

Thanks @jomutsani

@julhas & @phil I will contact Julhas by Skype at 1400 BST tomorrow.

I have two no three environments none of which work, however I’ll focus on the one and take it from there:

Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic running as a VM on Citrix with 4GB RAM
Postgres 10

Tomcat 8; Open Java 8
Using CATALINA_BASE: /home/dhis/tomcat-dhis
Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/share/tomcat8
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/temp
Using JRE_HOME: /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64
Using CLASSPATH: /usr/share/tomcat8/bin/bootstrap.jar:/usr/share/tomcat8/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
Tomcat started.
Tomcat started

As you can see from the sample below, Tomcat runs, however the deployment of the war file fails. Attempts to reach localhost:8080 and localhost:8080/management both fail returning 404

This is a Sample Web Application - Snoop Servlet

Host Name & IP Address: dhistest01 with IP=192.168.30.111

JVM Name: null

Date & Time: Mon Oct 14 19:34:20 BST 2019

HTTP Request URL : http://192.168.30.111:8080/SampleWebApp/welcome.jsp

HTTP Request Method : GET

HTTP Request Headers Received

host	192.168.30.111:8080
user-agent	Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:69.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/69.0
accept	text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,/;q=0.8
accept-language	en-GB,en;q=0.5
accept-encoding	gzip, deflate
referer	http://192.168.30.111:8080/SampleWebApp/
connection	keep-alive
cookie	JSESSIONID=EADA88005CF99538CFD5A423062F1FCF
upgrade-insecure-requests	1
cache-control	max-age=0

HTTP Cookies Received

Thanks

[Resten_Madzalo]

Unable to start DHIS2 after installation what could be the problem?

Catalina.out log

root@resten:/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis# cd logs/
root@resten:/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/logs# tail -f catalina.out
<6>Loaded Apache Tomcat Native library [1.2.31] using APR version [1.7.0].
<6>APR capabilities: IPv6 [true], sendfile [true], accept filters [false], random [true], UDS [true].
<6>APR/OpenSSL configuration: useAprConnector [false], useOpenSSL [true]
<6>OpenSSL successfully initialized [OpenSSL 3.0.2 15 Mar 2022]
<6>Initializing ProtocolHandler [“http-nio-8082”]
<6>Server initialization in [1016] milliseconds
<6>Starting service [Catalina]
<6>Starting Servlet engine: [Apache Tomcat/9.0.58 (Ubuntu)]
<6>Deploying web application archive [/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/webapps/ROOT.war]
<6>At least one JAR was scanned for TLDs yet contained no TLDs. Enable debug logging for this logger for a complete list of JARs that were scanned but no TLDs were found in them. Skipping unneeded JARs during scanning can improve startup time and JSP compilation time.

• INFO 2022-12-14T09:29:00,095 Context variable dhis2-home not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2022-12-14T09:29:00,105 System property dhis2.home not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2022-12-14T09:29:00,106 Environment variable DHIS2_HOME not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2022-12-14T09:29:00,106 Directory /opt/dhis2 cannot be created (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• ERROR 2022-12-14T09:29:00,107 No Home directory set, and /opt/dhis2 is not a directory (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
  <2>Error deploying web application archive [/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/webapps/ROOT.war]
  <2>java.lang.IllegalStateException: Error starting child
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:729)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:698)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:696)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployWAR(HostConfig.java:1024)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig$DeployWar.run(HostConfig.java:1911)
  <2> at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:515)
  <2> at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
  <2> at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.InlineExecutorService.execute(InlineExecutorService.java:75)
  <2> at java.base/java.util.concurrent.AbstractExecutorService.submit(AbstractExecutorService.java:118)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployWARs(HostConfig.java:825)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployApps(HostConfig.java:475)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.start(HostConfig.java:1618)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.lifecycleEvent(HostConfig.java:319)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:123)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.setStateInternal(LifecycleBase.java:423)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.setState(LifecycleBase.java:366)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:946)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:835)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:183)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1396)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1386)
  <2> at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
  <2> at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.InlineExecutorService.execute(InlineExecutorService.java:75)
  <2> at java.base/java.util.concurrent.AbstractExecutorService.submit(AbstractExecutorService.java:140)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:919)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:263)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:183)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:432)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:183)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:927)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:183)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:772)
  <2> at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
  <2> at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
  <2> at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
  <2> at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:345)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:480)
  <2>Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[]]
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.handleSubClassException(LifecycleBase.java:440)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:198)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:726)
  <2> … 37 more
  <2>Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Properties could not be loaded
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.conf.DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.loadDhisConf(DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.java:343)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.conf.DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.init(DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.java:113)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.webapi.servlet.DhisWebApiWebAppInitializer.getConfig(DhisWebApiWebAppInitializer.java:115)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.webapi.servlet.DhisWebApiWebAppInitializer.onStartup(DhisWebApiWebAppInitializer.java:61)
  <2> at org.springframework.web.SpringServletContainerInitializer.onStartup(SpringServletContainerInitializer.java:174)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5219)
  <2> at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:183)
  <2> … 38 more
  <2>Caused by: org.hisp.dhis.external.location.LocationManagerException: External directory not set
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.location.DefaultLocationManager.buildDirectory(DefaultLocationManager.java:303)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.location.DefaultLocationManager.getFileForReading(DefaultLocationManager.java:233)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.location.DefaultLocationManager.getInputStream(DefaultLocationManager.java:206)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.location.DefaultLocationManager.getInputStream(DefaultLocationManager.java:199)
  <2> at org.hisp.dhis.external.conf.DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.loadDhisConf(DefaultDhisConfigurationProvider.java:332)
  <2> … 44 more
  <2>
  <6>Deployment of web application archive [/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/webapps/ROOT.war] has finished in [15,864] ms
  <6>Starting ProtocolHandler [“http-nio-8082”]
  <6>Server startup in [16059] milliseconds

[Hobbes]

I’m getting a similar issue deploying on an AWS EC2 instance of Ubunuty 18.04, and as far as I can figure out it feel like a permissions issue and my env variable isn’t working.

From my log file, I think this is my issue, but haven’t figured out the fix yet.
<6>Starting Servlet engine: [Apache Tomcat/9.0.16 (Ubuntu)]
<6>Deploying web application archive [/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/webapps/ROOT.war]

• INFO 2023-01-08T17:11:26,707 Context variable dhis2-home not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2023-01-08T17:11:26,728 System property dhis2.home not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2023-01-08T17:11:26,735 Environment variable DHIS2_HOME not set (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• INFO 2023-01-08T17:11:26,737 Directory /opt/dhis2 is not writeable (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
• ERROR 2023-01-08T17:11:26,739 No Home directory set, and /opt/dhis2 is not a directory (LogOnceLogger.java [main])
  <2>Error deploying web application archive [/home/dhis/tomcat-dhis/webapps/ROOT.war]
  <2>java.lang.IllegalStateException: Error starting child

I don’t have a lot of experience with Tomcat so tried 8 as well but also didn’t have any luck. I’m going to see if I can get something else running just to make sure its not my Tomcat instance, because that also seems like it might be my problem.

Catalina.out.doc (33.5 KB)

[julhas (Julhas Sujan)]

Hi @Hobbes

Are you able to fix this problem? I can help you if not.

Julhas

[Hobbes]

I had a few issues, but wound up finding the main answer on the forum in that 2.39 without https setup doesn’t display anything when connecting to it via http. Tried using 2.38 and seemed to get through my issues.

See my attached post for a working install process for my application, and let me know if you have any suggestions on what I could do better.

Commands to install DHIS2 2.38 on an AWS t2.medium EC2 instance with ubuntu 18.04 LTS with 2 vCPUs and 4GB of RAM

Alright, if you are new, be forewarned before installing DHIS2 for your needs. There are a ton of links on this forum, but many of them are now dead and just forward you to the general documentation page (which also only seems to contain general and non-specific information) If you are not new, I welcome any feedback to my ubuntu DHIS2 install cheat sheet and if I get time I’d be happy to update this thread with the latest, or I’ll incorporate it into my next version if I ever get to that. I …

Do you have any more detailed info on how to get HTTPS to actually work? Haven’t starting digging too deep, as I think it’s just a matter of getting the right file in the right place, but my current site-wide https through cloudflare breaks the maintenance app and the capture app, and shows there’s a problem with the encryption.