REST Connector troubleshooting

[intapiuser]

Sometimes a user can experience difficulties while defining a REST connector. This guide will help to troubleshoot these connectors.

Topics:

REST connector prerequisites

Timeout issue

Logs to review

Rest Connector Prerequisites:

Below are the prerequisites that need to be reviewed before troubleshooting a REST connector:

1. Make sure the config.json file is filled out correctly. You can find the relevant instructions here: REST API Reference
2. Copy a connector's .dll file ('Sisense.Connectors.RestConnector.dll) from a working REST connector (for example: C:\Program Files\Sisense\DataConnectors\DotNetContainer\RestSamples\REST.LinkedIn.Connector)
3. Make sure that the MongoDB driver is installed. The driver is essential to any REST connector since the data coming in from the REST sources is being temporarily stored in a MongoDB collection (see the following link for further instructions: Connecting to MongoDB). 

Timeout Issue:

Knowing how long the API request takes to resolve using Postman or any other API development environment is mandatory to understand two things: whether the API itself is working and to determine if increasing the Sisense timeout values is needed.

1 - Connector SessionTimeout:

There is a timeout parameter in the custom REST connector which checks if the data source is not responsive. In case the build exceeds this timeout, the build will fail.

The default time is 30 minutes, which should be enough in most cases, but in case you suspect that the build fails because of this timeout, you can extend it. Below the steps to review this property:

1. Open the "Sisense.Connectors.Container.Server.exe.Config" file which is located in "C:\Program Files\Sisense\DataConnectors\DotNetContainer".
2. The parameter which needs to be changed is the following:

   <!--<add key="Server.SessionTimeout" value="60.0" />-->

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3. Uncomment it (remove the <!-- and -->) and change its value according to your needs. (as you can see, it is set in default to 60 minutes here).
4. After modifying it, restart the Sisense.CLRConnectorsContainer service in order to apply the changes.

2- ElastiCube Server timeout:

The Elasticube manager has its own ETL timeout which in some cases can cause this issue especially when its value is less than 7200. Below the steps to review this property:

1. Open the "ElastiCubeConfiguration.xml" file which is located here: C:\ProgramData\Sisense\PrismServer.
2. The parameter which needs to be reviewed is the following:
   • 
3. Make sure that it is 7200 or larger.
4. Save the file then restart the Sisense.ECMS service.

3- Table Timeout:

There is also a way to force the table load Timeout. Below the steps:

1. Open the "config.json" file which is located the connector directory
2. Add the "Timeout" property as shown in the image (default value is 100000 (which is 100 seconds)) in every single table:
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3. Save the "config.json" if you edit it 
4. Restart the Sisense.CLRConnectorsContainer service

4- Large batch size:

Having a large batch of data can also cause this issue.

Below the steps to make sure that MaxDocs or FetchSize:

1. Open the "config.json" file which is located the connector directory
2. Make sure that MaxDocs and FetchSize properties are approximately the values shown in the image:
   • 
3. Save the "config.json" if you edit it 
4. Restart Sisense.CLRConnectorsContainer service

Logs to review:

Reviewing the connector logs can give more insights about the ongoing issue. below the log path: C:\ProgramData\Sisense\DataConnectors\DotNetContainer\Logs

Resources:

Troubleshooting the Custom REST Connector