Troubleshooting BPEL Timeout Errors (Transaction rolled back / Transaction timed out / BPEL timed out) (Doc ID 1358900.1)

Last updated on MARCH 09, 2023

Applies to:

Oracle(R) BPEL Process Manager 10g - Version 10.1.3.1 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Purpose

Troubleshooting BPEL Timeout Errors

1. Introduction

BPEL instances may fail due to timeout errors for various reasons. A BPEL instance runs on top of a stack of many components, some of which have their own timeout behaviour. For this reason, it is sometimes difficult to isolate the specific timeout setting which is causing a particular timeout error. This document provides an overview of why timeouts occur and is a guide to troubleshooting them. For a deeper explanation of the behaviour of the individual components, references to the Oracle documentation are included at the end of the note.

A timeout occurs when a BPEL instance does not complete within a predefined amount of time, the timeout period or threshold. The default timeout period depends on the component involved and installation type. A component such as the application server or the BPEL engine has timeout settings defined to prevent long-running processes from holding resources over an extended period of time. When a component's timeout is reached, the component will return an error to the BPEL instance, causing it to fail with a specific error message and free up any resources held. The timeout settings will depend on the requirements and types of processes running. Some environments require a longer timeout period than others. For example, if all processes within a specific application server installation depend on access to a slow, remote web service, it may make sense to increase the overall timeout period for the application server. Applications which prefer a rapid response and high throughput might benefit from lowering the timeout, enabling them to react faster to a connection failure, for example. Similarly, it may be necessary to have different timeout values for separate applications or components within a single installation. For example, the overall application server timeout settings may be higher, to accommodate longer-running processes, while the BPEL engine or specific BPEL processes may require shorter timeout periods. The Oracle BPEL Process Manager and application servers allow you to set timeout thresholds at different levels within the stack.