ArcIMS Site Properties is not being saved and the aimsdefaults.properties file size is 0 KB

Description

The aimsdefaults.properties file located under $HOME for the ArcIMS user, holds all the information about the ArcIMS Settings for the Site Properties. The contents of the file is erased and the file size is 0 KB.

This problem has been reported to occur:

1. When the Site Properties for ArcIMS 4.0.1 in the Administrator is completed, the prompt for the Site Properties repeats when logging in the next time.

2. While unable to create a map service in the Adminstrator.

3. When errors in the Adminstrator's Message Console include Memory errors such as:

Error: ImageMemory
Error: MaxImageMemory
....

4. While unable to log in to the Administrator. One of the most common errors is:
"URL Invalid or ArcIMS is not running"

5. When map services created during the first login no longer run adequately.

Cause

This is a known issue only with ArcIMS 4.0.1.

Solution or Workaround

1. Navigate to the Home Directory for the ArcIMS user ($HOME).
   
2. If the aimsdefaults.properties file is empty, delete the file.
   If not, manually edit the file to make sure the values for each variable accurately reflects the configuration.
3. For convenience, an aimsdefaults.properties template file is located under $AIMSHOME/Xenv directory.
   Here are the contents of the template:
   
   
   ##
   # ArcIMS v4.0.1 Site Properties Settings
   ##
   #UserName - Login for the ArcIMS Administrator
   #HostName - Full name of the host machine. The full name of the host machine may
   # mean including the domain name. For UNIX users, you will need to
   # include the domain name.
   #HostALIAS - Alias of the host machine
   #HostURL - URL of the host machine
   #WorkingDir - Default working directory, where map configuration files are stored
   #WebSiteDir - Default web site directory, where created sites are stored
   #ImagePath - Path to the image output directory
   #ImageURL - URL for image output (Using HostURL)
   #Scavenger - Scavenger cleanup interval in minutes
   #IndexBuilderEXE - Path of the geocoding index builder (aimsindxb.exe)
   #WebBrowser - Location of default web browser (required for OnLine Help)
   #WebBrowser.usesQuotes - Netscape 6 users must switch this value to true
   #ArcIMSHelp - Main HTML page for ArcIMS OnLine Help
   #ImageMemory - Amount of memory to reserve for Spatial Server images
   #MaxImageMemory - Maximum Image memory Limit allowed in Megabytes
   #ForceAddServers - Upon launching of ArcIMS Manager, if "true", a default server is added
   # to each monitors with no servers associated with it; if "false", no servers are added
   ##
   ImageURL=http\://ARCIMSHOST/output
   ImagePath=/disk1/ArcIMS/output
   HostName=ARCIMSHOST
   HostALIAS=ARCIMSHOST
   HostURL=http\://ARCIMSHOST
   Scavenger=10
   UserName=admin
   WebSiteDir=/disk1/ArcIMS/website
   WorkingDir=/disk1/ArcIMS/AXL
   IndexBuilderEXE=/<ArcIMS_Installation_Directory>/ArcIMS/IndexBuilder/aimsindxb.exe
   WebBrowser=/<Netscape_Installation_Directory>/netscape
   WebBrowser.usesQuotes=false
   ArcIMSHelp=/<ArcIMS_Installation_Directory>/ArcIMS/Manager/Help/arcims_help.htm
   ImageMemory=4
   MaxImageMemory=250
   ForceAddServers=false
   
   
4. If the file in $HOME was deleted, copy the template to the $HOME directory.
5. Open the aimsdefaults.properties file in a text editor and manually edit the values to each variable to reflect the configuration.
6. Save the file and change the permissions of the file to 'read only'.
   On UNIX, change the file to read only with the following:
   
   

   Code:
   chmod 444 aimsdefaults.properties