Skip to main content

How to fix Windows Server AppFabric Dashboard on Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8

Image
Windows Server AppFabric is a great enhancement for IIS and its caching capabilities are great for .NET applications. But currently there is a very annoying bug regarding its monitoring UI, so called “Dashboard”. Especially for me as a non WF guy (I am actually just working with WCF) it was really hard to figure it out. Hence, many thanks to Gianluca from Distributed Services at Microsoft!

 Windows Server AppFabric Dashboard does not work on Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8. You will receive this error message "Unable to cast object of type 'System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject' to type 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Management.Data.GroupByInfo'." This error will cause that you cannot see any request statistics neither WF nor for WCF:


The reason is, I quote Microsoft here:

"[...] the root cause is a powershell script embedded in AF code that returns different results when ran on Windows 2012. This script is about statistics for Idle & persisted WF instances, if the related table in the SQL DB is empty then the script throws the exception that you see in the error message.  With just 1 idle or persisted WF the script runs to completion without any errors [...]"

The table is called "InstancesTable" and it is placed in the AppFabric Persistence database.

Actually there is no hotfix for this issue (Microsoft says we can expect it with CU5). To fix it follow the following steps:

1. Download this folder (source code can be found in the sub folder, hosted on OneDrive)

2. Deploy\Import the WF application "WorkflowService1.zip" on your IIS.

3. Execute "TestIdleWF.exe". You screen should look like this:



4. Check the event viewer in the section "Applications and Services Logs" => Microsoft => Windows => "Application Server-System Services". Here you should not find any issues regarding connection to your AppFabric Monitoring and Persistence databases. Otherwise you have to fix your SQL Server Connection Issues first and start again with step 3.


5. Check the table "InstancesTable" in your AppFabric Persistence database, it should contain at least one line now:


If the table is still empty you need to configure the persistence store for your application. Right click on your application -> Manage WCF and WF Services -> Configure -> Workflow Persistence:


6. Now you should be able to look into AppFabric Dashboard and see your requests now. For views where only WCF service history is displayed you will still find the known error message, but it can be ignored, Dashboard will work as expected. For views with WF or WF and WCF the message will disappear and reporting will be shown:


Update: Cumulative Update 5 will fix this issue!

Labels:
by

Popular posts from this blog

How to integrate AVM smart devices into HomeKit by using openHAB

by
After some evaluating openHAB (Vers. 2.2.0) on my NAS I wanted to do it right and started with this  (German) article to use openHABian together with a Raspberry Pi.My primary goal was to integrate my AVM smart home devices  to control them with HomeKit . To get started I used the following items: Raspberry PI SD Card 16 GB And the following software (I used a Mac, so you might need to replace some tools if you use another OS): Download the latest openHABian image here . This is a dedicated linux distribution to provide an openHAB server. Download SD Formatter here . Needed to format your SD card. Download Etcher here . Needed to install the openHABian image on the SD card. Installation openHABian Insert the SD card Connect the Raspberry Pi via LAN with your network Plugin the Raspberry Pi Wait about 45 minutes until all updates were installed When everything went well you should be able to connect to http://openhabianpi:8080 Connect via ssh: ssh openh...
Read more

Have you ever reconsidered your personal iPhone security policy?

by
Why should I reconsider my iPhone security policy? I have my iPhone four digit pass code and Find my iPhone feature feature is activated. So how should abuse be possible? What could a thief be doing with my stolen iPhone? Well, possibly quite a lot. At least the bold print bullets in this article should be mandatory for everyone. Of course this is no guarantee for invulnerability but it will improve your security. After watching this video you should consider the following actions: Change your Apple ID rescue mail address and do not add this mail account to your iPhone. Consider to use a proper and usable password policy for your Apple ID like this or this (German article) . Consider a complex pass code for your iPhone. As you can see in the video four digit pass codes can be hacked in no time on iPhone 4. For newer iPhone a leak is not yet known but it is properly there. Definitely do not use these pass codes . Alternative to point three: activate delete iPhone after 10 wrong...
Read more

Two annoying issues in Visual Studio regarding XSDs and WCF should be fixed immediately

by
In my daily work I am always stumbling on two annoying features in Visual Studio, and I think it could be improved easily. Here is what I am complaining about. WCF Test Client WCF Test Client might be a nice tiny tool for small WCF tests, especially when you are testing smaller scenarios or when you are starting to learn how to implement web services with .NET. But it can be very annoying when you are working on more advanced stuff and your are testing with your local IIS. WCF Test Client always(!) starts automatically when you press F5 for debugging and your opened .svc.cs file has the focus: When I have configured local IIS is the target for debugging, then I expect my application will start with local IIS and not with WCF Test Client. Always. Here is my first urgent request: Please give me an option to disable WCF Test Client completely! Update 03.03.2014: Workaround for WCF Test Client Issue Select project file -> Right click -> Properties -> Web -> Sele...
Read more