TimeShiftX Troubleshooting

Most frequent TimeShiftX issues

Below are the most frequent issues seen with operating TimeShiftX with SAP, however, please find further troubleshooting for TimeShiftX from the Vornex documentation here.

1. SAP HANA Database does not start after a time shift

Possible Causes:
The HDB_TIMER parameter has not been set

Resolution:
Switch to the OS time mode – on the SAP HANA Database server
Set the environment variable ‘HDB_TIMER=system’ , i.e. in the .profile or .bash_profile for adm

Possible Causes 2:
Time travel command to a “specific clock” was used i.e.:
$ tsx set -u 02/02/2021 23:45 -l

Resolution 2:
Run the time travel command using “offset clock”
$ tsx set -u -d -2 -h 14 -m -15

2. SAP HANA Database locks bring the SAP system to a halt after time travelling

Possible Causes:
The SAP HANA Database configuration parameters have not been set for SAP HANA 2.0 SP04 or higher

Resolution:
Set the following parameters using HANA Studio->SQL Console
SAP HANA System Database (Multi Tenant or Single Tenant configuration)
ALTER SYSTEM ALTER CONFIGURATION (‘nameserver.ini’, ‘SYSTEM’ ) SET (‘delta’, ‘preallocated_nodebuffers’) = ‘1’ WITH RECONFIGURE
ALTER SYSTEM ALTER CONFIGURATION (‘indexserver.ini’, ‘SYSTEM’ ) SET (‘delta’, ‘preallocated_nodebuffers’) = ‘1’ WITH RECONFIGURE
SAP HANA on each Tenant Database
ALTER SYSTEM ALTER CONFIGURATION (‘indexserver.ini’, ‘SYSTEM’ ) SET (‘delta’, ‘preallocated_nodebuffers’) = ‘1’ WITH RECONFIGURE

3. The SAP Application or/and SAP Database hang or are frozen after time travelling

Possible Cause:
The time shift command was run when the SAP Application or/and SAP Database were still running

Resolution;:
Make sure that both the SAP Application and the Database have been shutdown before time shifting

4. The SAP Application does not start after time travelling

Possible Cause 1:
The time shift command was not properly run.

Resolution 1:
Check the time shift command for syntay errors, i.e. the TimeShiftX VCGui command is a comma separated list with no blanks

Possible Cause 2:
If SSO (Single Sign On) is used the snc/enable must be set to 0

Resolution 2:
Change snc/enable = 1 to snc/enable = 0 in the profile file
Make a copy of the current profile file to “*\\SYS\profile\.orig”
Change parameter snc/enable =1 to snc/enable =0 and add parameter login/quiet_mode = 0
Note: The Testimony RFC connection should have SNC set to inactive (under the Logon & Security tab in SM59)

5. Short Dump ZDATE_LARGE_TIME_DIFF occurs after a time shift

Possible Cause:
Not all SAP Database and Application users/processes/services are time travelling

Resolution:
Make sure that all relevant users/processes/services have been time shifted
If not all SAP Services are running under the SAPService user. For example if the SAP Database services are running under the SYSTEM user the C:\Program Files (x86)\Vornex\TimeShiftX\HookingRules.json file will need to be adjusted accordingly.

For example in case of MaxDB (see attachment):
(1) “user”: “SAPServiceTE1”}, {-> must be added to the “hook”: [ section
(2) Replace “sapstartsrv.exe” with “kernel.exe”
(3) Remove the {“user”: “SYSTEM”}, line from the “noHook”: [ section
(4) C:\> tsx set -u SAPService SYSTEM -d 1 add SYSTEM to the tsx command

6. Where can I see the license valid to date?

Resolution:
Linux: Open and read the a0.lic file located in the i.e. /etc/tsx/license directory
Windows: Open and read the a0.lic file located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Vornex\TimeShiftX\hooks directory

7. How to start the Vornex TimeShiftX service in MS Windows

Resolution:
Right click on the Taskbar and open the Task-Manager -> Services -> right click on Vornex TimeShiftX -> Start or run services.msc -> Services -> right click on Vornex TimeShiftX -> Start