Posts Tagged ‘Service Pack 4’

Business Objects XIR2 SP4 Bug: Schedules Pending, Job Server Scheduling Dead

Breaking News

I have some breaking news, a scoop perhaps, on a new bug that may only impact some (not all) innocent Business Objects XIR2 SP4 shops. Apparently, my contacts tell me that within the last week, Business Objects has internally identified and even resolved a bug that can wreak havoc on the unknowing BO XIR2 users out there who make the leap to Service Pack 4 (SP4).

Symptoms of the Bug: All Schedules Pending

It seems that the bug causes a loss of communication between the BO XIR2 CMS server(s) and the job server(s). The strange part is that the only detectable error or problem is that suddenly no scheduled jobs process; they all go to an eternal “Pending” status. Every Job Server’s scheduling function ceases to function. Even stranger is that fact that this bug does not effect all Business Objects XIR2 SP4 installations. Some experience the issue and others do not. Some assume that the SP4 install may have changed their configuration or their security and caused the issue; however, it seems that all settings stayed unchanged (good!), but the job servers just ceased to do their job (very bad!).

No Fix Until Fix Pack 4.5

BO just released Fix Pack 4.3 for SP4 and the fix to this issue was not included. My resources tell me that it is planned for inclusion in BO XIR2 Fix Pack 4.5. I am not certain what the due date is for FP4.5, but I would imagine that is not going to be available until after Columbus Day and probably not until after Halloween.

Rethink Your Planned BO XIR2 SP4 Upgrade

If you are thinking about installing SP4 on your Business Objects XIR2 system I would encourage you to rethink this plan. Could your users accept the new functionality of completely disabled scheduling? I doubt it. Of course, there may be fixes to other functionality in the SP4 upgrade for which you cannot wait. If this is true then you might want to test out the fixed DLL on a test environment. Yes, BusinessObjects has already corrected the issue and released a Limited Availability patch. I have managed to get my hands on the patch info and the patch that BO’s product development group has developed.

Download the BO XIR2 SP4 XIR2.LAFix4.3.3 patch directly from Business Objects

Get the Fix for the BO XIR2 SP4 Bug

On September 24th, BO released a Limited Availability patch. In truth the fix is still considered a “beta” fix and so it comes with the standard disclaimer. Basically the LA Fix hasn’t been through full regression testing and it may inadvertently introduce other issues. BO Customer Assurance still needs to confirm the issue is fixed by this patch.” That is a pretty big disclaimer, but it is the standard one on such “hot-off-the-press” fixes. If you need this fix then test it yourself.

Regardless, I recommend that you immediately contact your BusinessObjects Account Rep and/or BO Support. The more attention this issue gets the more likely it will be officially fixed sooner.