Frequently Asked Questions

Which Ports Need to Be Opened for MassTransit?

In order to allow inbound connections to MassTransit, you need to have the following ports opened, depending on the communication method you use:

• TCP/IP – port 50000;
• TCP/IP Secure – port 443;
• UDT – port 50000;

FTP:

• Active FTP:
  • command port – 21;
  • data port – 20;
• Passive FTP port range (MassTransit uses a randomly assigned port of the specified port range) – from 1024 to 65535;
  • SFTP – port 22.

If you wish to use other ports, you may, but you will need to make sure they are not in conflict with other processes.

In case you only want to allow outbound connections, you can create contacts to which you can connect and pull files from them.

What Does A "Connection Closed Unexpectedly (Or Timed Out) During Probes" Error Mean?

This message primarily means that a TCP Connection was initiated on a port that MassTransit was listening on (typically port 50000). After MassTransit has opened the socket, it begins to “probe” the remote destination for authentication. Here it is determined whether the remote side is a legitimate MassTransit contact, and which contact is calling. If no information is passed during this "probing period", the connection will eventually time out and produce this error message.

• If you see this error message on a server or client that is not placing any calls, this is likely due to an activity monitor or port scanner that is opening a TCP connection on the MassTransit port. When your MassTransit listen does not receive any further expected data, it times out the connection with this error message.
• If you see this error message while trying to place a call to a remote destination, this likely indicates some sort of transient network failure between the two endpoints. This can be due to extreme latency, or any other number of network factors that may account for a slow response from the remote server. In these cases, the problems generally correct themselves when the underlying problem is corrected.
• In some cases, this may be due to a firewall or NAT problem. Your MassTransit server may establish a connection with a remote firewall or NAT, but the MassTransit packets are not properly forwarded on to a MassTransit endpoint. In that case, MassTransit also believes that the connection had been established, but is unable to receive any authentication data.

Another possible cause for this error message is a problem with the encryption if TCP/IP Secure protocol is used. You can find more information here.

MassTransit Engine Terminates Unexpectedly: Incorrect Key File for Table

The MassTransit Engine on Microsoft Windows platforms terminates unexpectedly. The Windows Application Event Log reports the following error message:

“Invalid key file for table ‘xxxxx’; try to repair it.”

Steps to Reproduce:

The MassTransit Engine may terminate unexpectedly. Following this event, both the MassTransit Engine and the MySQL Server services will produce errors that are visible within the Application Log of the Windows Event Viewer.

• The MySQL Server service may report the following error:

  “C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server x.x\bin\mysqld-nt: Incorrect key file to table ‘xxxxx’; try to repair it.”

• The MassTransit Engine service may also report a similar error:

  “SA_Exception[xxx]: DB_Files_Add: Incorrect key file for table ‘xxxx’; try to repair it.”

To view the Application Log of the Windows Event Viewer, please follow this procedure:

1. Start → Settings → Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Event Viewer.
2. Once the Event Viewer has launched, select the “Application” log in the left window pane.

Cause:

The MySQL Server service utilizes temporary data files to store information during normal operations. These files are written to the Windows temporary directory, normally found at the location: C:\Windows\Temp. The data contained within these files is then flushed to the ‘live’ MySQL database, which is found at the location: C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server x.x\data.

In certain cases, other services that actively monitor these directory locations may interfere with access to these temporary files or live databases. As a result, MySQL is unable to flush data to the live database. In this event, MySQL may report the error as mentioned above. Following this error, the MassTransit Engine, which relies upon the MySQL backbone, will terminate.

Workaround:

It is recommended that the Windows Temporary directory and the MySQL Data directory be excluded from any products that may obtain an active file handle (or lock) on files contained within these directories. The specific directories are:

• On Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 with MySQL Server 5.0: C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0\data
• On Microsoft Windows 2003 64bit with MySQL Server 5.0: C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0\data
• On Microsoft Windows 2003 with MySQL Server 5.1: C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\data
• On Microsoft Windows 2008 with MySQL Server 5.1: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\data
• On Microsoft Windows 2008 64bit with MySQL Server 5.1: C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\data

Note: x.x should be replaced with the version of MySQL Server currently in operation.

MySQL Support has additionally recommended the use of External Locking. “External locking is the use of file system locking to manage contention for database tables by multiple processes. External locking is used in situations where a single process such as the MySQL server cannot be assumed to be the only process that requires access to tables[files].” Please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual article for more information on External Locking. The URL to this documentation has been provided below.

Please refer to vendor specific product manuals for the procedures in which files and folders may be excluded from services that may conflict with MySQL Server.

Note: If the MySQL Data directory is excluded from any backup operations, it is important that alternative arrangements for data backups are made. Live system backups may be accommodated via the MySQL Administrator. Please reference the MySQL Reference Manual – External Locking for detailed instructions on enabling scheduled, repetitive MySQL database backups.

Fix:

1. Open a Windows command prompt as an administrator.
2. Invoke the MySQL monitor utility with the following command:
   mysql -uroot -p
3. Enter your root password as specified during the initial installation of MySQL server.
4. After successfully logging in, you should see a ‘mysql>’ prompt.
5. At the ‘mysql>’ prompt, type the command: connect mtdatabase
6. You should see the following notification: Current database: mtdatabase. Enter the following command: repair table tablename quick;

   Note: tablename should be the name of the table listed in the Event Viewer error message, such as dfiles. Note also that the semi-colon character (;) at the end of the statement is required.

7. When the repair process is completed, the results of the process will be displayed within the terminal.
8. You may now close your terminal window.
9. The status message should indicate that the repair status was successful by indicating “OK.” If any further errors result, it is important to contact Group Logic technical support for additional troubleshooting and repair instructions.
10. After a successful repair has been completed, you may now be able to restart your MySQL Service, followed by the MassTransit Engine Service.
    

Action Error: SMTP Server 'serveraddress' Not Found [00000020]

Question:

Why do I receive the following error when email notifications are set to send to more than one email address? “Action error: SMTP server ’serveraddress’ not found [00000020]“

Answer:

This error occurs when the email addresses to which the notifications are being sent are not separated by semi-colons.

For more information on email notifications, please review the MassTransit Actions.

Errors Related to Wrong TCP/IP Secure Encryption Configuration

These errors can occur if your SSL protocols are not matched up. To verify these settings first check the SSL encryption level for Incoming calls on the MassTransit Server. In MassTransit Administrator, open the Setup window by clicking on the Setup button from the Navigation Bar or select the Setup option from the Window main menu. In the 'Incoming Calls' tab, select TCP/IP Secure method and click on the Configure button. Here, you will see the minimum security level required (RC4-128, 3DES, AES-128, AES-256).The calling side should check their minimum encryption level: from the MassTransit Administrator - Select Contacts. Highlight the contact with whom the error occurs. Select Edit. Select the 'Outgoing Calls' tab. Select Configure. Here, you will also find a pull-down that specifies the minimum encryption level. Please make sure it matches what is set for the MassTransit Server being called.

Below is a list of such errors:

Errors displayed to the sender:

• Connection refused because the remote machine requires a higher encryption level than was used to initiate the connection (184)
• Connection refused, however no specific error was reported. Make sure the legacy protocol support is set up correctly for TCP/IP Secure incoming calls on the remote machine

Errors displayed to the receiver:

• Connection closed unexpectedly during probes.
• TCP/IP Secure reports: Secure incoming call refused because the remote machine was using an incompatible protocol. Make sure the legacy protocol support is set up correctly for TCP/IP Secure incoming calls (267) (6776)

Note: Depending on whether the usage of legacy SSLv2/3 protocol is enabled, the list of available encryption methods will change to reflect the methods supported by the protocol.

Error Messages When Trying to Load the MTWeb Site in a Browser

Symptom:

Instead of loading the MTWeb login page (or any other MTWeb page), I see a page with one of the following error messages:

• 500 - Internal server error. There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.
• An Error occurred during write of application cached xml file.

Steps to Reproduce:

The errors occur if the permissions to the “parsed” and “templates_c” folders are not properly set. Load the MTWeb site in a browser. The “parsed” and “templates_c” folders within the MTWeb directory must have write permissions for the user running the web process. On Windows, this user is normally called the “Internet Guest” or “Anonymous Internet” account.

Fix:

Give WRITE permissions to the user running the web process for the “parsed” and “templates_c” folders which can be found inside the MTWeb directory. After granting permissions, delete the contents (if any) of the “parsed” and “templates_c” folders, except for the “readme.txt” files.

1. Right click on the folder and select Properties.
2. Click on the Security tab and verify that the appropriate Groups and Users have Full Control. At the least, the Administrator account (local computer) should have Full Control. If a folder needs to be accessed by a domain user then the domain user must also be given full control.
3. The web site configured in IIS for MassTransit use has a specific Windows user account associated with it to provide anonymous access to the web site. For the MassTransit web system to function properly, that user account must be granted “write permissions” to the “templates_c” and “parsed” folders (located within MassTransit’s “MTWeb” folder).

To determine the user account that the IIS website associated with MassTransit is using for anonymous access, please follow these steps:

1. Open “Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager” (Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager).
2. Within the “Web Sites” folder, right click the IIS website name for the site that was configured for MassTransit use, and then click “properties”.

   Note: If you do not see the list of websites, you may need to click the plus sign icon to expand the listing so that it shows all entries

3. Click the “Directory Security” tab, and then under the “Authentication and Access Control” section, click the “Edit” button.
4. In the “Enable Anonymous Access” section, look in the “User Name” field and it will indicate the user account that is being used by the website in the format: “COMPUTER NAME\USER ACCOUNT NAME”.
5. Click the “Cancel” button to exit out of the properties screens without making changes.

   Note: For further information, please consult the following Microsoft KB Article:

   http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/deploy/confeat/13w2kadc.mspx.

File Not Found Error When Forwarding a Job

MassTransit logs a “file not found” error when attempting to forward a file within a Forward To folder. This error occurs when a job is no longer located within a Forward To folder in the To Send mailbox folder of a MassTransit address book entry. The probable cause is that a user has manually moved or deleted the job.

To clear the error, go the MassTransit interface and click on the Job Browser button. Use the selector to choose the corresponding address book entry in which the Forward To folder has been placed. You may also select To Send as a selector. You will then be able to view the job in the browser. Go ahead and click on the job to highlight it. Then click the remove button. The job will be removed from the job browser window and you will no longer receive a file not found error in the log.

What Do These MySQL Errors Mean?

Symptom:

Errors similar to these appear in the Windows Event Log:

• error from MySQL:
  • "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\bin\mysqld: Table '.\mtdatabase\dlog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired"
  • "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\bin\mysqld: Table '.\mtdatabase\statistics' is marked as crashed and should be repaired"
• error from MassTransit Engine:
  • "[DbManager] SA_Exception [1062]: DBLoggerThread::gli_thread_main: Duplicate entry '472200' for key 'PRIMARY' sql: insert into dlog(id, time_stamp, error_code, severity, entry_type, log_time, client_id, meta_data_id, file_id) values( null, current_timestamp, 0, 3, 9, '2010-11-10 17:35:24.000000000', 0, 0, 0)"
  • "[DbManager] SA_Exception [1062]: DBLoggerThread::gli_thread_main: Duplicate entry '472200' for key 'PRIMARY'
    sql: insert into statistics(id, time_stamp, error_code, severity, entry_type, log_time, client_id, meta_data_id, file_id) values( null, current_timestamp, 0, 3, 9, '2010-11-10 17:35:24.000000000', 0, 0, 0)"

Fix:

These errors can occur when there is corruption in one or more of the MySQL database tables that MassTransit uses. They can usually be resolved by doing a repair of the affected table. Upgrading to a later version of MySQL will greatly reduce the chances of such problems. To upgrade MySQL 5.0.78 or 5.1.43 to MySQL 5.1.52, you need to follow the instructions from the Step 2: Upgrading MySQL section of the Upgrading MassTransit to 7 page.

MassTransit Unable To Establish Connection With Address

MassTransit servers and clients may report an inability to connect to a remote destination that is configured to use an IP address reserved for private internets (networks).

Organizations that require network connectivity internally, but do not require network layer connectivity outside of that organization may choose to use IP addresses that have been reserved for private internets. As indicated in RFC 1918, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved three specific blocks for such private internets. These blocks include:

• 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
• 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
• 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

MassTransit servers configured with IP addresses that fall within any of the above ranges will not be available via the public internet. However, servers and clients within that organization may continue to have network layer connectivity with that host, provided they exist on the same network.

A valid, publishable IP address or a Fully Qualified Domain Name(FQDN) is required to connect with MassTransit Servers that exist outside of the private enterprise.

In instances where a public IP address cannot be assigned to an internal host, but public internet connectivity is required, Network Address Translation (NAT) methods may be employed.

Will the Daylight Saving Time Schedule Cause Any Issues with MassTransit?

Question:

Will the new Daylight Saving Time schedule cause any issues with MassTransit?

Answer:

We do not make any assumptions as to when the Daylight Savings Time shift will occur in MassTransit. As long as the underlying Operating System properly accounts for the earlier DST shift date this year, our applications will behave in the same way as they would in any other transition to Daylight Savings Time.
Windows requires several updates applied in order to account for the earlier DST shift date; the update procedures are described in detail here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_overview.

Poor Performance and Other Network-Related Problems?

Clients suffer from extremely slow performance (up to 8 times slower) when browsing or performing read/write operations against Windows 2003 Servers (SP1 or above). The problem has been reported with Broadcom and other NIC Cards which are TOE (TCP Offload Engine) enabled. Some clients sending files to a MassTransit server may suffer slow performance.

List of other symptoms from Microsoft KB Article: (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936594)

• You experience slow network performance.
• Clients experience slow domain logons.
• Network Address Translation (NAT) clients that are located behind Windows SBS 2003 experience intermittent connection failures.
• When you try to connect to the server by using a VPN connection, you receive the following error message: Error 800: Unable to establish connection.
• You cannot create a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connection to the server.
• You cannot connect to shares on the server from a computer on the local area network.
• You cannot join a client computer to the domain.
• You cannot connect to Microsoft Exchange Server from a computer that is running Microsoft Outlook.
• You can only connect to Web sites that are hosted on the server or on the Internet by using a secure sockets layer (SSL) connection. In this scenario, you cannot connect to a Web site that does not use SSL encryption.
• You cannot create an outgoing FTP connection from the server.
• The DHCP Server service crashes.
• You experience intermittent RPC communications failures.
• Clients that are configured as SecureNat clients may be unable to connect to the Internet.
• Some Outlook clients may be unable to connect to Exchange.
• You cannot run the Configure E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard successfully.
• Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server blocks RPC communications.
• Clients cannot visit the http://companyweb Web site.
• You cannot browse Internet Information Services (IIS) Virtual Directories.

Steps to Reproduce:

Refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936594.

Cause:

Refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936594.

Workaround:

1. Turn off TCP Chimney using netsh.exe (does not require a reboot):
2. Open a command prompt.
3. Click Start.
4. Type cmd.
5. Right-click on the cmd icon and select Run as administrator.
6. At the command prompt, type the following and press enter:
   netsh int ip set chimney DISABLED

   Note: If you want to re-enable TCP Chimney type the following and press enter:

   netsh int ip set chimney ENABLED

Fix:

Contact your hardware vendor to check if there are any existing or forthcoming driver updates.

The MassTransit Server is Declining Calls from Unknown MassTransit Servers

When attempting to connect to a remote MassTransit server, the following error message is reported:

Authentication Failed. The MassTransit server is declining calls from unknown MassTransit servers.

This message is displayed within a dialog box at connection time, and is reported in the MassTransit log.

This error message is generated when a MassTransit server receiving the call is configured to refuse connections from servers that have not previously placed calls with that server.
If you want to allow calls from unknown MassTransit servers, please refer to the 'Receiving a call from an unknown Server' section.

To resolve this problem, the remote MassTransit server that is declining the calls (receiving side) must first establish the connection to the new MassTransit server.

First, an address book entry for the new server must be created on the server that is declining calls from unknown hosts. Once the address book entry is saved, that server should initiate a call to the new MassTransit server.

After the first call has been successfully placed, the new MassTransit server will have successfully authenticated, and is subsequently a ‘known’ server. All subsequent calls to the remote server should authenticate properly.

Connection Closed Because Remote Protocol Was Incompatible

The MassTransit Log may display the following error: “Connection Closed because remote protocol was incompatible”

This error results from an unsupported version of MassTransit calls another MassTransit, e.g. if MassTransit 5.0 calls MassTransit 7.0.1.

MassTransit 7.x no longer supports MassTransit 5.0 and prior. Customers using these products will need to migrate to MassTransit 5.1 or later to continue to transfer files with MassTransit 7.x locations. Note that this only affects certain communication methods — primarily TCP/IP, TCP/IP Secure, UDT and SFTP. FTP and Hot Folder communications between such servers should be possible.

How to fix a conflict between IIS and MassTransit on port 443?

If IIS is conflicting with MassTransit on port 443 even after you have configured Multi-homing, you may fix the problem by:

• installing the latest Windows service pack – applicable if you are using Windows Server 2003; for information on how to obtain the latest service pack, please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889100;
• making the registry changes below:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
       HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP\Parameters
3. Right-click Parameters, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type DisableEndpointSharing, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click DisableEndpointSharing, click Modify, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
6. Open a command prompt as an administrator.
7. Delete any entries in the IP Listen list of IIS.
   1. if you have IIS 7, type the following commands at the command prompt:
          netsh http show iplisten – this command will show the IP listens of IIS. Then, you need to delete them using the following command:
          netsh http delete iplisten ipaddress=<ip> – where <ip> is the IP address that was returned when you entered the http show command.
          netsh http add iplisten ipaddress=172.17.200.20:443 – this command sets IIS 7 to listen on 172.17.200.20 address using port 443; replace the IP address and the port number with the ones you need.
   2. if you have IIS 6, type the following commands at the command prompt:
          httpcfg query iplisten – shows all addresses IIS 6 is listening on;
          httpcfg delete iplisten -i 0.0.0.0 – this removes IIS 6 from listening on all available IP addresses
          httpcfg delete iplisten -i 172.17.200.19 – removes IIS 6 from listening on the 172.17.200.19 address; replace the address with any other IP address you want to delete;
          httpcfg set iplisten -i 172.17.200.20:443 – this command sets IIS 6 to listen on the specified address (in this case, 172.17.200.20); that address with any other IP address you want to set;
          You may need to restart the HTTP service - or you may reboot the server by entering the following commands:
          net stop http – stops the HTTP service;
          net start http – starts the HTTP service;
          iisreset – resets IIS.

Note: To complete this action, you must have the Microsoft Windows Support Tools installed.

How to log the MassTransit installation process?

If you want to collect a log of the MassTransit installation process, you need to place the InstallMTHP.exe file in "C:\" and launch the installation from the command line using the following commands:
    cd "C:\"
    InstallMTHP /Log /Logfile hp_setup.log

Then, follow the instructions on the Installing MassTransit 7.1, starting from step 2, to complete the MassTransit installation.

After the installation completes, the log of the installation process (hp_setup.log) can be found in the same location as the InstallMTHP.exe file is located, in this case – "C:\".

How many characters can I enter in the Message field when configuring an email notification?

The number of characters is not limited, however, it is recommended that you enter no more than 10KB of characters in the Message field of the Configure Email Action window in order to make sure that the email notification packets will be processed successfully through the mail servers.

For more information on MassTransit actions and how to configure them, please refer to the Actions page.

How many email addresses can I enter in the To field when configuring an email notification?

The number of email addresses is not limited but you can only enter up to 255 characters in the To field of the Configure Email Action window.

You can leave the To field empty and check the Include Contact Email Address When Available check box below it – this will make the email notification available for sending to all contacts. If you want to apply this action for all contacts, you need to use this option.

In case you want to send email notifications to limited number of contacts only and you have integrated the Active Directory technology, you can add the contacts in a distribution list, for example, and enter the list name in the To field.

For more information on MassTransit actions and how to configure them, please refer to the Actions page.

How many characters can I enter in the Subject field when configuring an email notification?

You can enter up to 255 characters in the Subject field of the Configure Email Action window.

For more information on MassTransit actions and how to configure them, please refer to the Actions page.

Why can I not send more than 150 000 files?

By default, the limit of the MySQL queries length is 1 MB. The setting that controls the queries length is max_allowed_packet. This limitation results in limiting the maximum number of files that MassTransit can handle in certain situations to 150 000, for example:

• mailbox polling;
• file transfer;
• user interface operations.

That is why you will not be able to transfer more than 150 000 files, unless you change the packet size limit of the MySQL queries.

If you want to increase the maximum length of the MySQL queries in order to allow file transfers of more than 150 000 file, perform the following steps:

1. Open the my.iniMySQL configuration file in an application suitable for plain text edit. The file is placed in the MySQL installation directory, by default:
   • for MySQL 5.1 – %Program Files%\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1;
   • for MySQL 5.0 – %Program Files%\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0.
2. Add the following line at the bottom of the file in order to increase the maximum packet size of the MySQL queries to 4MB: max_allowed_packet=4194304
3. Save and close the my.ini file.
4. Stop the MassTransit services.
5. Restart the MySQL service from Start → Programs → Administrative Tools → Services console.
6. Start the MassTransit services.
7. Now, you should be able to transfer more than 150 000 files with MassTransit.

Transporter Service Initialization Failed

Question:

Why do I receive the following error?

Transporter service initialization failed (Could not connect to http://localhost:8002/GroupLogic/MTTransporterSvc/MTTransporterService. TCP error code 10061: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:8002. ).

Answer:

This error relates to the SFTP listen option in MassTransit 7. If you do not intend to have MassTransit act as an SFTP server you can just ignore the warning, it is displayed only at start-up.

If you do want to use SFTP, it is possible that the MassTransit Transporter service is not started, or that you are using multiple IP addresses on your server.

Starting the MassTransit Transporter Service:

1. Open the Services control panel from Start → Administrative Tools → Services
2. Right-click on the MassTransit Transporter service.
3. Select Start.
4. Resolving the conflict that's occurring due to the multiple IP addresses on the server:
5. Telnet to each of the server's IP addresses on port 8002 to see which one responds.
6. Open Command Prompt.
7. Enter telnet ipaddress 8002 by replacing ipaddresswith one of your IP addresses. You will receive one of the following:
   • Connecting To ipaddress...Could not open connection to the host, on port 8002: Connect failed. This means the port is not responding for the selected IP address. You should repeat the step with a different IP address.
   • A blank window. This means the port is responding and you can continue with the next step.
   • 'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. This message occurs when telnetis not running on your computer. To run telnet, enter the following in Command Prompt:
     • for any version of Windows Server 2003: sc config tlntsvr start= demand to enable the telnet service, and then net start telnet to start it. You can now repeat the step with the same IP address.
     • for any version of Windows Server 2008: servermanagercmd -i telnet-client to install telnet. This may take from 1 second up to 5 minutes depending on your computer configuration. After the installation finishes, repeat the step with the same IP address.
8. Navigate to the MassTransit installation folder and open MTTransporter.iniwith a text editor. The default path to the folder is:
   • on 32-bit versions of Windows: C:\Program Files\Group Logic\MassTransit Server
   • on 64-bit versions of Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Group Logic\MassTransit Server
9. Change TRANSPORTER_SOAP_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1:8002 to the IP address that responded in step 1 and add ":8002". For example, TRANSPORTER_SOAP_ADDRESS=192.168.1.100:8002
10. Save and close MTTransporter.ini, and open MassTransit Engine.cfg with a text editor.
11. Change TRANSPORTER_SERVICE_HOST = localhost and TRANSPORTER_CALLBACK_HOST = localhost to the IP address that responded in step 1. Do not add the port number. Save and close the file.
12. Restart both the MassTransit Engine and MassTransit Transporter process, and then try to re-enable the SFTP listen.
    

Factors Affecting MassTransit Performance

This page describes factors that affect MassTransit performance, including CPU utilization, effects of compression on performance and TCP/IP network performance.

MassTransit CPU Utilization

MassTransit is designed to transfer files as quickly as possible. As such, when connections are actively transferring files, you should expect to see the computer’s CPU utilization spike towards 100% (e.g. in the Windows Task Manager window). This is completely normal and is to be expected as MassTransit is doing disk I/O, file compression, database access, and network I/O in order to pump data through the network as fast as possible. If other applications are also running on the same computer, MassTransit assumes that the operating system will do its job and distribute CPU cycles to all processes.

MassTransit may also appear to be taking CPU cycles when no connections are active. MassTransit constantly polls mailboxes to see if new files have been added. It will take all available processor time to do this as quickly as it can. On a slower machine or on a fast machine with other CPU tasks, the polling will be slower. If another process requires the CPU, MassTransit will not take as much of it since the polling is done only when MassTransit is given idle time.

This polling behavior will be improved in the next generation of MassTransit.

MassTransit on Multiple CPU Computers

While MassTransit is a threaded application, its use of multiple CPUs is limited as of this – writing. As such, additional CPUs will not result in large performance gains although performance will not be lower than that of a single CPU. This will be addressed in a future version of MassTransit.

Effects of Improved Hardware on MassTransit Performance

The speed of the CPU affects the performance of MassTransit especially when there are a large number of simultaneous connections. In this situation, the CPU spends considerable time compressing and decompressing data. A faster CPU will make these operations faster thus increasing performance.

The amount of RAM installed does not directly affect MassTransit performance. However, each active connection consumes RAM. Therefore, to support a large number of simultaneous connections, sufficient RAM must be installed. If physical RAM is exhausted, then the operating system will swap data to disk, which will cause MassTransit’s performance to drop.

Note: For detailed information about the recommended minimum system requirements for your MassTransit version, please see the ReadMe.rtf file located in the MassTransit installation directory.

Effects of Compression on MassTransit Performance

MassTransit’s default setting is to compress files as they are transferred. Under normal circumstances, this results in greatly increased throughput. The size of the increase depends heavily on the types of files being transferred and how much they can be compressed. Files that are already compressed, e.g. JPEG files, reduce the throughput gains that can be had with compression. MassTransit constantly monitors how much a particular file is being compressed while it is being transferred. If compression does not result in significantly less data being transferred, MassTransit disables compression for that file. Thus, a ZIP, StuffIt, or other uncompressible file will transfer in the same amount of time regardless of whether compression is enabled.

In some circumstances, however, compression may actually reduce throughput. On high bandwidth networks, it may take more time to compress the data, send the compressed data, and decompress the data than it does to just send the uncompressed data. If this is the case, you should disable compression by unchecking the Compress Files During Transfer checkbox on the Security tab of the Contact Information dialog box for editing contacts. Several variables determine whether compression should be disabled and include the bandwidth of the connection between sender and receiver and compressibility of the files being transferred.

High Bandwidth, High Latency Connections

The TCP/IP stacks shipped with current operating systems are configured to provide good throughput in specific network conditions, e.g. high bandwidth, low latency networks such as LANs. However, these default settings are not optimal for DSL, cable modems, and other high bandwidth, high latency wide area networks. For these networks, the TCP/IP configuration may need to be adjusted to get optimal performance.

The Tuning MassTransit section of the Communications page provides more information about tuning MassTransit TCP/IP performance.