WebSphere console error SRVE0260E

If when trying to log to a newly configured Deployment Manager in Websphere you see the following error with a stack dump:

Error Page Exception
SRVE0260E: The server cannot use the error page specified for your application to handle the Original Exception printed below.

Original Exception:
Error Message: java.lang.NullPointerException
Error Code: 500
Target Servlet:
Error Stack:
java.lang.NullPointerException
     at com.ibm.isclite.container.provider.PortletContainerContextProvider.addContainerService(PortletContainerContextProvider.java:101)


then you need to raise your system limit for number of open files. on linux you do it with ulimit command:

ulimit -f 8192

where number depends on the DMgr console configuration - for standard WebSphere 1024 is sufficient, whereas with WebSphere Process Server 7 you need to raise it more, to, say, 8192.

Using ulimit -f however sets ulimit for your shell session only, so next time when you restart dmgr in your shell you will hit the same problem again. You can either raise fopen parameter for your profile (in .profile) or for the whole system by inserting:

#<domain>      <type>  <item>         <value>

*               soft    nofile          8192

to /etc/security/limits.conf. You must reboot your Linux in order for this change to take effect.

But of course beware on the impact on your system and consider this change well.

Good luck! Please leave a comment if my hint helped you and feel free to contact me on G+ !