What's causing my java.net.SocketException: Connection reset?

Richard_E_39709 0
Viewed 1013438

We are seeing frequent but intermittent java.net.SocketException: Connection reset errors in our logs. 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 unrelated to the messages we are attempting to send. Note that the message is not connection reset by peer.

Any suggestions on what the typical causes of this exception might be, and how we might proceed?

Here is a representative stack trace (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:63)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173)
        at com.companyname.mtix.sms.http.filters.MessageFilter.doFilter(MessageFilter.java:53)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173)
        at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:61)
        at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:77)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173)
        at org.ajaxanywhere.AAFilter.doFilter(AAFilter.java:46)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:213)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:178)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:126)
        at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:105)
        at org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:541)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:107)
        at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:148)
        at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:869)
        at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11BaseProtocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.processConnection(Http11BaseProtocol.java:664)
        at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.PoolTcpEndpoint.processSocket(PoolTcpEndpoint.java:527)
        at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.LeaderFollowerWorkerThread.runIt(LeaderFollowerWorkerThread.java:80)
        at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPool$ControlRunnable.run(ThreadPool.java:684)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:595)

Our component is a web application, running under Tomcat, that calls a third party Web service that sends SMS messages, it so happens. The line of our code on which the exception gets thrown from is the last line in the code snippet below.

String aggregatorResponse = null;
HttpClient httpClient = prepareHttpClient( username, password );
PostMethod postMethod = preparePostMethod( textUrl );

try {
  SybaseTextMessageBuilder builder = new SybaseTextMessageBuilder();
  URL notifyUrl = buildNotificationUrl( textMessage, codeSetManager );
  String smsRequestDocument = builder.buildTextMessage( textMessage, notifyUrl );
  LOG.debug( "Sybase MT document created as: \n" + smsRequestDocument );

  postMethod.setRequestEntity( new StringRequestEntity( smsRequestDocument ) );
  LOG.debug( "commiting SMS to aggregator: " + textMessage.toString() );
  int httpStatus = httpClient.executeMethod( postMethod );
connection-reset socketexception sockets java
14 Answers

The javadoc for SocketException states that it is

Thrown to indicate that there is an error in the underlying protocol such as a TCP error

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.

user_707950

This error happens on your side and NOT the other side. If the other side reset the connection, then the exception message should say:

java.net.SocketException reset by peer

The cause is the connection inside HttpClient is stale. Check stale connection for SSL does not fix this error. Solution: dump your client and recreate.

Admin1

This error occurs on the server side when the client closed the socket connection before the response could be returned over the socket. In a web app scenario not all of these are dangerous, since they can be created manually. For example, by quitting the browser before the reponse was retrieved.

Paul_705830

The Exception means that the socket was closed unexpectedly from the other side. Since you are calling a web service, this should not happen - most likely you're sending a request that triggers a bug in the web service.

Try logging the entire request in those cases, and see if you notice anything unusual. Otherwise, get in contact with the web service provider and send them your logged problematical request.

user_168830

This is an old thread, but I ran into java.net.SocketException: Connection reset yesterday.

The server-side application had its throttling settings changed to allow only 1 connection at a time! Thus, sometimes calls went through and sometimes not. I solved the problem by changing the throttling settings.

user_55873560

I got this error when the text file I was trying to read contained a string that matched an antivirus signature on our firewall.

user_7330920

FWIW, I was getting this error when I was accidentally making a GET request to an endpoint that was expecting a POST request. Presumably that was just that particular servers way of handling the problem.

user_10038150

I was getting this error because the port I tried to connect to was closed.

user_46539270
Related