IBM BS029ML - WebSphere Portal Server Self Help Manual page 138

Slow login
When customers report a problem of slow login, usually they mean the span between the
time when they submit their user ID and password, and the time when the first page is
rendered. It is beneficial to understand what happens after the user ID and password are
submitted.
There are four stages after the user ID and password is submitted: the Portal login, WMM
retrieval of group information, PAC runtime decision making, and portlet aggregation and
rendering on the front page, called the
many components are involved and any one of them can potentially become a bottleneck. To
isolate the problem, it is normally an elimination process.
Review the JVM runtime SystemOut.log file to find the suspected spots by inspecting the
timestamps of the log entries. Based on this analysis, we recommend a set of traces to be
enabled on WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal. To discover whether there
is a problem associated with the LDAP server, authentication, or group retrieval, Portal PUMA
and WMM traces are recommended. If WebSphere Application Server authentication is
suspected, then a WebSphere Application Server security trace should be enabled.
If the bottleneck seems to be outside of portal system, we also suggest the traces to be
enabled on other components, such as LDAP, HTTP server, and External Security Manager
(ESM), such as Tivoli Access Manager (TAM). In some extreme cases, IP trace may be
required.
Figure 4-8 showed the "Login" process from user's experience.
Login
Figure 4-8 General process of "Login"
In the following sections, we give some sample log entries that would identify the start or end
of some of the components.
Login phase
In the authentication phase, under normal conditions, the LDAP request should come back
fairly fast, that is, in the milli-second range. This can be seen by comparing the timestamps
between when we see the Login portlet receiving the user ID and password, and when the
user's full DN is sent back to WMM for the next phase.
Portal login entries usually start with lines shown in Example 4-12.
Example 4-12 Portal login starting point
[8/3/07 11:27:54:500 EDT] 0000003f SessionValida >
com.ibm.wps.engine.commands.SessionValidator execute ENTRY [pathData = null,
queryData = { PC_7_NO2UF4I118ADC026HKQ8KC2GT1__login = Log in, password =
********, wps.portlets.userid = wpsadmin }, client = Microsoft Internet Explorer
6.0, locale = en, stateMap = null]
[8/3/07 11:27:54:531 EDT] 0000003f LoginUser
com.ibm.wps.engine.commands.LoginUser isAccessToPrivateArea ENTRY [pathData =
null, queryData = { PC_7_NO2UF4I118ADC026HKQ8KC2GT1__login = Log in, password =
********, wps.portlets.userid = wpsadmin }, client = Microsoft Internet Explorer
6.0, locale = en, stateMap = null]
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IBM WebSphere Portal V6 Self Help Guide
login landing page
Fetch
PAC
Groups
Runtime
(WMM)
sometimes. During these phases,
Portlet
Aggregation
and Rendering
>