You can first check the current server state by using the bin/server-state command. If the PingDirectory server was previously running but is no longer active, then the potential reasons include the following:

  • The PingDirectory server was shut down by an administrator. Unless the server was forcefully terminated (for example, using “kill -9”), then messages are written to the error and server.out logs explaining the reason for the shutdown.
  • The PingDirectory server was shut down when the underlying system crashed or was rebooted. If this is the case, then running the uptime command on the underlying system shows that it was recently booted.
  • The PingDirectory server process was terminated by the underlying operating system for some reason (for example, the out of memory killer on Linux). If this happens, then a message will be written to the system error log.
  • The PingDirectory server decided to shut itself down in response to a serious problem that had arisen. At present, this should only occur if the server has detected that the amount of usable disk space has become critically low, or if significant errors have been encountered during processing that left the server without any remaining worker threads to process operations. If this happens, then messages are written to the error and server.out logs (if disk space is available) to provide the reason for the shutdown.
  • The JVM in which the PingDirectory server was running crashed. If this happens, then the JVM should dump a fatal error log (a hs_err_pid{processID}.log file) and potentially a core file.

In the event that the operating system itself crashed or terminated the process, then you should work with your operating system vendor to diagnose the underlying problem. If the JVM crashed or the server shut itself down for a reason that is not clear, then contact your authorized support provider for further assistance.