How does java net SocketException Connection reset happen
We are seeing frequent java.net.SocketException: Connection reset errors in our logs for a component that calls a third party Web service that sends SMS messages.
Our application is written in Java and runs on top of Tomcat 5.5. It was written by contractors who are no longer with us. The current team has no real Java expertise, and we are unsure as to where the Connection reset error is actually coming from, and how to go about debugging.
The issue appears to be completely intermittent, and unrelated to the messages we are attempting to send.
Any suggestions on what the typical causes of this exception might be, and how we might proceed, are welcome.
The whole call stack is included below for completeness.
(com.companyname.mtix.sms is our component)
java.net.SocketException: Connection reset
at java.net.SocketInputStream.read(SocketInputStream.java:168)
at java.io.BufferedInputStream.fill(BufferedInputStream.java:218)
at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read(BufferedInputStream.java:235)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpParser.readRawLine(HttpParser.java:77)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpParser.readLine(HttpParser.java:105)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpConnection.readLine(HttpConnection.java:1115)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodBase.readStatusLine(HttpMethodBase.java:1832)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodBase.readResponse(HttpMethodBase.java:1590)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodBase.execute(HttpMethodBase.java:995)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodDirector.executeWithRetry(HttpMethodDirector.java:397)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodDirector.executeMethod(HttpMethodDirector.java:170)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpClient.executeMethod(HttpClient.java:396)
at org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpClient.executeMethod(HttpClient.java:324)
at com.companyname.mtix.sms.services.impl.message.SendTextMessage.sendTextMessage(SendTextMessage.java:127)
at com.companyname.mtix.sms.services.MessageServiceImpl.sendTextMessage(MessageServiceImpl.java:125)
at com.companyname.mtix.sms.services.remote.MessageServiceRemoteImpl.sendTextMessage(MessageServiceRemoteImpl.java:43)
at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor203.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585)
at org.apache.axis.providers.java.RPCProvider.invokeMethod(RPCProvider.java:397)
at org.apache.axis.providers.java.RPCProvider.processMessage(RPCProvider.java:186)
at org.apache.axis.providers.java.JavaProvider.invoke(JavaProvider.java:323)
at org.apache.axis.strategies.InvocationStrategy.visit(InvocationStrategy.java:32)
at org.apache.axis.SimpleChain.doVisiting(SimpleChain.java:118)
at org.apache.axis.SimpleChain.invoke(SimpleChain.java:83)
at org.apache.axis.handlers.soap.SOAPService.invoke(SOAPService.java:453)
at org.apache.axis.server.AxisServer.invoke(AxisServer.java:281)
at org.apache.axis.transport.http.AxisServlet.doPost(AxisServlet.java:699)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:709)
at org.apache.axis.transport.http.AxisServletBase.service(AxisServletBase.java:327)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:802)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:252)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173)
at com.companyname.mtix.sms.http.filters.NoCacheFilter.doFilter(NoCacheFilter.java
The javanet socket exception states that it is thrown to indicate that there is an error in the underlying protocol such as a TCP error.
This javanet SocketException occurs on the server side when the client closed the socket connection before the response could be returned over the socket. In your case it seems that the connection has been closed by the server end of the connection. This could be an issue with the request you are sending or an issue at their end.
To aid debugging you could look at using a tool such as Wireshark to view the actual network packets. Also, is there an alternative client to your Java code that you could use to test the web service? If this was successful it could indicate a bug in the Java code.
As you are using Commons HTTP Client have a look at the Common HTTP Client Logging Guide. This will tell you how to log the request at the HTTP level.