52674 - Metadata server configuration fails and returns the message "Exception in thread 'main' java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError"

Installation Note 52674: Metadata server configuration fails and returns the message "Exception in thread 'main' java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError"

IBM introduced a change in a performance improvement to the Java class loader as an attempt to speed up the start of the Java virtual machine by not initializing classes until they are needed. This is documented in APAR IV36441 at IV36441: POOR PERFORMANCE WHEN CREATING EMPTY CLASSLOADERS.

This change causes configuration in the SAS^® Deployment Wizard of the metadata server on z/OS systems to fail with an error similar to the following:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError

A fix provided by IBM will be included in future Java service refresh levels. This fix is documented in APAR 1IV54864 at IV54864: NOCLASSDEFFOUNDERROR OBSERVED WHEN CUSTOM CLASSLOADER USED AS SYSTEM CLASSLOADER WITH LAZY CLASSLOADER INITIALIZATION.. The current Java levels that exhibit this problem are as follows:

Java 6.0 R14, SR15, SR15 FP1
Java 6.0.1 SR6, SR7, SR7 FP1
Java 7.0 SR5, SR6, SR6 FP1
Java 7.0.1 GA

Workaround

To circumvent this problem, you can force the SAS Deployment Wizard (setup.rexx) to use the private JRE supplied by SAS to perform the deployment as follows:

Use the SAS Installer user ID.
Reset JAVA_HOME using this command:

export JAVA_HOME=

Use this command to clear any references to Java in the PATH environment variable:

export PATH=new_path_list_without_access_to_java

Run the setup.rexx command with normal options to initiate server configuration.
If setup.rexx finds and lists Java installations from /usr/lpp/java, enter 0, to indicate that you do not want to use those versions of Java.
At the prompt If no Java at this level or higher is installed, enter NONE, specify NONE.
Proceed normally through the remaining prompts.

If for any reason you cannot use the private JRE that was provided by SAS, contact SAS Technical Support for another alternative.

Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	System	SAS Release
			Reported	Fixed*
SAS System	BI Server Tier	z/OS
		64-bit Enabled AIX

* For software releases that are not yet generally available, the Fixed Release is the software release in which the problem is planned to be fixed.

Type:	Installation Note
Priority:	alert

Date Modified:	2014-04-10 13:13:31
Date Created:	2014-04-02 10:08:14