WebLogic Managed Servers Fail to Start

Oct 11, 2012

Depending on the configuration of WebLogic Server 11g, when starting the managed servers (such as WLS_FORMS and WLS_REPORTS), they may either listen by the IP address of the PC/server or the computer name of the PC/server. Sometimes when a computer is moved to another room in a building, the IP address changes. If the managed servers listen to the IP address, a problem or error may occur during startup resulting in the WebLogic managed server not starting:
“Unable to create a server socket for listening on channel “Default”. The address ###.###.###.### might be incorrect or another process is using port ####: java.net.BindException: Cannot assign requested address: JVM_Bind.”
To fix this, you will need to modify some scripts so that the servers will listen on the new IP address:
A. startManagedWebLogic.cmd:

  1. Go to Start –> All Programs –> Oracle Classic Instance — asinst_1 –> Forms Services
  2. Right-click on Start Managed Server – WLS_FORMS
  3. Select Properties
  4. Change the IP address to the IP address your machine currently is
  5. Apply changes and click OK
  6. Repeat for Stop Managed Server – WLS_FORMS
  7. Go to Start –> All Programs –> Oracle Classic Instance — asinst_1 –> Reports Services
  8. Right-click on Start Managed Server – WLS_REPORTS
  9. Select Properties
  10. Change the IP address to the IP address your machine currently is
  11. Apply changes and click OK
  12. Repeat for Stop Managed Server – WLS_REPORTS

B. config.xml:

  1. Go to C:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\FormsDomain\config
  2. Make a backup of config.xml. This is important so you will have a backup just in case.
  3. Open config.xml in a text editor
  4. Replace all occurrences of the old IP address with the new IP address by using the Replace tool in the text editor
  5. Save all changes and close the file

C. Hosts file

  1. Go to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc
  2. Make a backup of the hosts file. This is important so you will have a backup just in case.
  3. Open up the hosts file in a text editor.
  4. If your old IP address is mapped to your hostname, change the IP address to the new one.
  5. Save and close the file.

You should be able to start your WebLogic managed servers without fail.

NOTE: If you make a change to the hosts file and the WebLogic servers still fail to start up, restart your PC/server and try again.

NOTE: Instead of the IP address, you can also use your PC’s hostname.