Unhandled Communications Fault Occurred

Question

Until recently development against my implementation of MS Project Server 2010 has been working fine, save for my own programming trial and error.  Yesterday something new started happening that is not (directly) my fault and I can't figure it out.  It appears that ProjectServer.svc has stopped responding or having some sort of issue contacting the database.

Project Server can still access the database because PWA can still display information from the database. 

By way of test, I loaded the SDK sample program WCFHelloProject and when it gets to:

projectClient.QueueCreateProject(projectUids[i], projDs[i],

 

false);

I get an error "Unhandled Communication Fault Occurred".

Server stack trace:
   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.HandleReply(ProxyOperationRuntime operation, ProxyRpc& rpc)
   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.Call(String action, Boolean oneway, ProxyOperationRuntime operation, Object[] ins, Object[] outs, TimeSpan timeout)
   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel.Call(String action, Boolean oneway, ProxyOperationRuntime operation, Object[] ins, Object[] outs)
   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannelProxy.InvokeService(IMethodCallMessage methodCall, ProxyOperationRuntime operation)
   at System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannelProxy.Invoke(IMessage message)

Exception rethrown at [0]:
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.HandleReturnMessage(IMessage reqMsg, IMessage retMsg)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.PrivateInvoke(MessageData& msgData, Int32 type)
   at SvcProject.Project.QueueCreateProject(Guid jobUid, ProjectDataSet dataset, Boolean validateOnly)
   at SvcProject.ProjectClient.QueueCreateProject(Guid jobUid, ProjectDataSet dataset, Boolean validateOnly) in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Project 2010\Samples\WCFHelloProject\WCFHelloProject_vs10_CfgEd\WCFHelloProject\wcf.Project.cs:line 32075
   at WCFHelloProject.CreateProjects.Create() in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Project 2010\Samples\WCFHelloProject\WCFHelloProject_vs10_CfgEd\WCFHelloProject\CreateProjects.cs:line 78
   at WCFHelloProject.Program.Main(String[] args) in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Project 2010\Samples\WCFHelloProject\WCFHelloProject_vs10_CfgEd\WCFHelloProject\Program.cs:line 35
   at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args)
   at System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence assemblySecurity, String[] args)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly()
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

Any suggestions for where to look would be appreciated...thank you.

Answer 1

Check the ULS logs to see what's happening on the server side and ensure all services are running properly

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Answer 2

Chris,

I have reviewed the logs during the error and have not identified anything that specifically states an error.  I am doing more testing to see if anything untoward is happening.  All processes are running properly.

Interestingly a colleague has been having trouble WRITING to a DIFFERENT SQL Server database machine using BCS FROM the same machine (where Project Server is running) (he is working on a webpart within Sharepoint).  Does the WCF/PSI call use BCS?  Could we be experiencing the same problem?

-Kingsley

 

 

Answer 3

Hi Kingsley,

Just for the sake of getting context: What do you mean by "BCS" here? If you are indeed having problems connecting to SQL Server (either you or the process that runs the front-end), that may be the problem, but it is hard to diagnose without more data. Are there any interesting entries in the Event Viewer?

Thanks,

Boaz Lev

MSFT

Answer 4

Boaz,

Thanks for the response.  There is nothing interesting event viewer.  However, I rewrote the code of WCFHelloProject to directly set the client endpoints according to the Procedure 3 of http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee767691.aspx#pj14_DevelopingUsingWCF_ConfiguringAppConfig

The code fails in the same way, but with more detail in Setting Client endpoint, there may be a clue.

In step 6 it is said to check the values of the WCF settings, specifically System.ServiceModel.ChannelFactory and projectClient.endPoint.

What I get are different values from what is expected. 

System.ServiceModel.ChannelFactory = SvcProject.Project

projectClient.endPoint = null

At the time that I create the new projectClient I get a message in the Output window saying

A first chance exception of type 'System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException' occurred in System.Configuration.dll

Any suggestions for what this might be?  How do I see what is in the System.Configuration.dll??

thanks.

Answer 5

I think this was asked in another thread also, but I'll repeat the answer here :)

The exception you see is an internal exception that is plaguing some developers. It is an annoying obstacle when debugging, but fortunately there is an easy workaround for it:

1. In Visual Studio open the Exceptions dialog (Debug -> Exceptions)
2. Click "Add..." and select "Common Language Runtime Exceptions" in the top drop-down
3. In the Name field, enter the fully qualified type name "System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException" and press "OK"
4. You will now see that particular exception in the list of exceptions and you can remove the check-mark making sure that the debugger will not stop on this exception.

I have a feeling that the ConfigurationErrorsException you see is a red herring. If the steps above solve it, then happy to help :) If not, please report back what exception you see after having solved the configuration problem.

Have you by any chance changed password on any of the used accounts?

Hope this helps,

Boaz Lev

MSFT

Answer 6

Hi Boaz,

The error now is "System.ServiceModel.Fault Exception occurred in mscorlib.dll"  Unhandled Communication Fault.

In the output window there is the following"

A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in mscorlib.dll

A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in mscorlib.dll

among other things.

No, I have not changed any passwords.

Please help!

Answer 7

Hi Kingsley,

With the exceptions given above, I would think that something would be put in the ULS logs. Can you please check again? Note that the source of the exception may not be Project Server so you should probably find the exception in question regardless of what the source is. Or in other words, if something has gone awry with your SharePoint installation, say, that may prevent Project Server from working properly. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks,

Boaz Lev

MSFT

Answer 8

Another good way to track FileNotFound exceptions is to use Process Monitor to see what it isn;t finding.  I assume you have tried IISReset and reboots just to make sure all your web services are running OK - such as the secure token service?

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Answer 9

The System.ServiceModel.FaultException can show multiple errors. See the Creating a Project for a Department, and Using the WCF FaultException post in the project_programmability blog for sample code.

--Jim

Answer 10

The assembly binding viewer (fuslogvw) works well for tracking FileNotFound exceptions...

 

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