Overview

This article provides step-by-step instructions and guidelines on how to identify potential issues with the Softrip application and how to solve the most common problems that may arise.

Audience

This document is intended for IT managers and support staff at Softrip clients who self-host the Softrip application to help diagnose and solve common issues with the platform. When one of your users reports an issue with the application, this document should be your first step to get a quick resolution where possible.

Purpose

This guide covers common networking/infrastructure issues that are your IT team’s responsibility. Prior to contacting the Softrip Custom Satisfaction team, review this article and follow the steps herein to attempt to resolve the issues in-house.  

Glossary

Middle Tier (STServerWeb/Softrip NEXT)

• This is the business logic application in Softrip NEXT. The endpoint for this application is typically https://stsw.domain.com/

Middle Tier (STServer/SoftripNet)

• This is the business logic application in SoftripNet (legacy). The endpoint for this application is typically https://mt.domain.com/

Back-Office Applications

• These are the applications your internal staff use to load and manage products, contacts, services, and reservations in Softrip. The endpoint for back-office applications is typically https://www.domain.com/softripnext

• These include:

  • Operations

  • Product

  • Projects

  • CRM/Marketing

  • CMS Management

  • Accounting

  • Security

  • Reports

Reservations

• This is the Softrip reservation system. The endpoint for this application is typically https://www.domain.com/res/stwmain.aspx

CMS

• This is the Softrip Content Management System – your website. The endpoint for this application is typically https://www.domain.com/

RServer

• This is the Softrip external resource layer. This application connects to third-party services (for example GDS/Amadeus, hotel consolidators, etc.). The endpoint for this application is typically https://rserver.domain.com

Database

• This is the Microsoft SQL Server instance hosting your database.

Reporting Services

• This is the Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services instance hosting your reports.

Redis Server

• This is the back end for caching and data persistence used by the Softrip middle tiers.

• IIS Application Pools

  • These are the Microsoft IIS (web server) applications that run the middle tier, CMS, and reservation system in Softrip.

Restarting IIS Application Pools 

The information below outlines how to restart an IIS Application Pool.  

1. Connect Remote Desktop to the relevant server/endpoint

2. Open IIS:

3. 

4. Expand the server node, then “Application Pools”

5. Find the applicable application pool (typically named “STSW” or something similar)

6. Click “Recycle” to restart the Application Pool:

Your Endpoints

Consult with your Softrip contact and IT team to fill in the blanks and establish the endpoints that are referred to throughout this guide.

Back-Office Applications (Softrip NEXT) 

Below are some examples of common error messages your end-users may see as well as the steps to troubleshoot. 

Middle Tier Unresponsive

Users may receive the below error message in the back-office applications.

Below are the steps to follow to check the root cause:

1. Can the user access the internet?

• Have the user try to connect to https://www.google.com

  • If the page comes up, move on to the next troubleshooting step

  • If the page does not come up, the user has an internet issue that you should review with your IT team and/or ISP

1. Can the user access the middle tier directly?

• Have the user open the middle tier endpoint’s “Healthcheck” directly in their browser: https://stsw.domain.com/healthcheck.txt

  • If the page returns a single word “Healthy” and the application is still unresponsive

• If the page does not return

  • Check with your IT team whether there is a networking issue preventing the request from being routed from your user’s workstation to the middle tier endpoint.

  • Check that the application is running on your server

    • See IIS application pools

• If the page returns an error message

  • Check that the application is running on your server

    • See IIS application pools

  • Access the detailed “Healthcheck” using this URL:
    https://stsw.domain.com/healthcheck.json

Redis queuing issue

Users may receive the below error message:

If they do, this means that the Redis server is unresponsive, typically due to high volume. This can be solved by restarting the STServerWeb application pool (see IIS application pools).

Other Error Messages

If users are receiving other error messages that differ from what is stated above, then it is important to first make sure the error message is carefully read in full.  This will help you and your users determine if the error message indicates what went wrong.