Search server is already running

Symptoms

When starting the search server, the following message is displayed: 

The Appian Search Server is already running.

Cause

When the search server is started, a file called ss.pid gets created in the <APPIAN_HOME>/search-server/bin directory with the process ID of the search server. When the search server is stopped, this file gets deleted. If the environment experiences an improper shutdown, the process is unable to delete the file. Upon the next startup of the search server, since the ss.pid file is already there, the start script thinks that the search server is already running even though it's not. 

Action

1. Run the stop script to ensure the search server is not running.
2. Delete the ss.pid file from <APPIAN_HOME>/search-server/bin.
3. Start the search server.

Affected Versions

This article applies to all versions of Appian.

Last Reviewed: November 2017