Question

Gut-feeling: It looks a little bit like two threads both try to initialise disk-based overflow caches, and one of them fails.

There are two threads in this application. In the following log extracts they are denoted by the IDs 0000004a and 0000003d. They start at the same time:

[3/04/12 10:17:50:832 EST] 0000004a EhCacheManage I org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean afterPropertiesSet Initializing EHCache CacheManager
[3/04/12 10:17:50:832 EST] 0000003d EhCacheManage I org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean afterPropertiesSet Initializing EHCache CacheManager

EhCache is wired via Spring:

<ehcache:annotation-driven cache-manager="ehCacheManager"/>
<bean id="ehCacheManager" class="org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean"/>

And configured thusly:

<ehcache xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://ehcache.org/ehcache.xsd" updateCheck="false">
    <diskStore path="java.io.tmpdir/GMM_DAO_Caches"/>

    <defaultCache eternal="false" maxElementsInMemory="1000"
              overflowToDisk="false" diskPersistent="false" timeToIdleSeconds="0"
              timeToLiveSeconds="300" memoryStoreEvictionPolicy="LRU"/>

    <cache name="dao_results" eternal="false" maxElementsInMemory="1000"
           overflowToDisk="true" diskPersistent="false" 
           timeToIdleSeconds="0" timeToLiveSeconds="3600"
           memoryStoreEvictionPolicy="LRU"/>

    <cache name="dao_results_shortlived" eternal="false" maxElementsInMemory="1000"
           overflowToDisk="true" diskPersistent="false" 
           timeToIdleSeconds="0" timeToLiveSeconds="300"
           memoryStoreEvictionPolicy="LRU"/>

</ehcache>

The error:

Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.config.internalEhCach
eCachingAdvisor': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheStaticMethodMatcherPointcut#0' while setting bean property
 'pointcut'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations
.impl.CacheStaticMethodMatcherPointcut#0': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheAttributeSourceImpl#0' while sett
ing bean property 'cacheAttributeSource'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.g
ooglecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheAttributeSourceImpl#0': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'ehCacheManager' while setting bean property 'cacheManager
'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'ehCacheManager' defined in class path resour
ce [ApplicationContext-DAOs.xml]: Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is net.sf.ehcache.CacheException: Could not create cache directory "C:
\DOCUME~1\JMAWSO~1.NT3\LOCALS~1\Temp\GMM_DAO_Caches\ehcache_auto_created_1333412270879".
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:328)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:194)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelper.findAdvisorBeans(BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelper.java:86)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findCandidateAdvisors(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:100)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.findEligibleAdvisors(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:86)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.getAdvicesAndAdvisorsForBean(AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:68)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.wrapIfNecessary(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:359)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.AbstractAutoProxyCreator.postProcessAfterInitialization(AbstractAutoProxyCreator.java:322)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyBeanPostProcessorsAfterInitialization(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanF
actory.java:407)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1426)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:519)
        ... 35 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheStaticMetho
dMatcherPointcut#0': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheAttributeSourceImpl#0' while setting bean property 'cac
heAttributeSource'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.googlecode.ehcache.anno
tations.impl.CacheAttributeSourceImpl#0': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'ehCacheManager' while setting bean property 'cacheManager'; nested exception is
 org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'ehCacheManager' defined in class path resource [ApplicationContext
-DAOs.xml]: Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is net.sf.ehcache.CacheException: Could not create cache directory "C:\DOCUME~1\JMAWSO~1.NT3
\LOCALS~1\Temp\GMM_DAO_Caches\ehcache_auto_created_1333412270879".
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:328)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
        ... 53 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.googlecode.ehcache.annotations.impl.CacheAttributeSo
urceImpl#0': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'ehCacheManager' while setting bean property 'cacheManager'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.fa
ctory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'ehCacheManager' defined in class path resource [ApplicationContext-DAOs.xml]: Invocation of ini
t method failed; nested exception is net.sf.ehcache.CacheException: Could not create cache directory "C:\DOCUME~1\JMAWSO~1.NT3\LOCALS~1\Temp\GMM_DAO_Caches
\ehcache_auto_created_1333412270879".
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:328)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
        ... 63 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'ehCacheManager' defined in class path resource [Applicat
ionContext-DAOs.xml]: Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is net.sf.ehcache.CacheException: Could not create cache directory "C:\DOCUME~1\JM
AWSO~1.NT3\LOCALS~1\Temp\GMM_DAO_Caches\ehcache_auto_created_1333412270879".
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1420)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:519)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
        ... 73 more
Caused by: net.sf.ehcache.CacheException: Could not create cache directory "C:\DOCUME~1\JMAWSO~1.NT3\LOCALS~1\Temp\GMM_DAO_Caches\ehcache_auto_created_1333
412270879".
    at net.sf.ehcache.store.compound.factories.DiskOverflowStorageFactory.getDataFile(DiskOverflowStorageFactory.java:89)
    at net.sf.ehcache.store.compound.factories.DiskOverflowStorageFactory.<init>(DiskOverflowStorageFactory.java:71)
    at net.sf.ehcache.store.compound.impl.OverflowToDiskStore.create(OverflowToDiskStore.java:63)
    at net.sf.ehcache.Cache.initialise(Cache.java:969)
    at net.sf.ehcache.CacheManager.addCacheNoCheck(CacheManager.java:967)
    at net.sf.ehcache.CacheManager.addConfiguredCaches(CacheManager.java:608)
    at net.sf.ehcache.CacheManager.init(CacheManager.java:339)
    at net.sf.ehcache.CacheManager.<init>(CacheManager.java:280)
    at org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet(EhCacheManagerFactoryBean.java:115)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1477)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1417)
        ... 80 more

I suspect both threads are trying to write to the same file. Timestamps are not a good way to make unique filenames. This error occurs more frequently in apps with a larger number of threads.

How can I avoid these collisions? Preferably, I would like to embed the thread ID or some other unique identifier into the filename.

Answer 1

I would have thought that your setup could work just looking at the config.

One option would be to define two different cachemanagers, each with it’s own disk store.

Alternatively you could use CacheManager factory methods to create a singleton CacheManager, thus eliminating the contention caused by having two cache managers access the same store. Ehcache should handle that case however and give you a warning; might be a version specific problem.

Finally, check to see if this is a windows permission issue. Try an alternative location. For example:

<diskStore path="ehcache.disk.store.dir2" /> and set a -D variable to a location that you know is writable. For example:

-Dehcache.disk.store.dir2=C:/temp/ehcache

(Assuming that C:/temp exists)