Why Does an Error Occur When Many AgilePoint Workflows are Started Simultaneously from a SharePoint Library?

Summary

When many AgilePoint NX workflows are started simultaneously from a SharePoint library, sometimes the process fails to start and/or memory errors occur on the SharePoint server. This most often occurs during stress testing.

Details

This issue occurs because of the SharePoint Workflow Throttle setting, which limits the number of workflows that can be processed at any one time (the default value is 15). If the limit is exceeded, the workflows over the limit will be held, and then run later by the SharePoint Timer Service. By default, the SharePoint Timer Service does not recognize AgilePoint.

You can fix this issue in one of the following ways.

Increase the SharePoint Workflow Throttle setting

You can increase the SharePoint Workflow Throttle setting to handle a larger number of simultaneous workflows. For instructions, see the following article: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/office/developer/sharepoint-services/dd441390(v=office.12).

Add a Configuration File

You can add a configuration file to the SharePoint Sever, so that AgilePoint is recognized by the SharePoint Timer Service:

  1. In a text editor, create a file named owstimer.exe.config.
  2. Paste the following information in the text file:
        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
          <configuration>
            <appSettings>
              <add key="APSettingsListName" value="AgilePoint Configuration" />
              <add key="APSettingsSiteUrl" value="http://[AgilePoint Server host]" />
              <add key="APSettingsWebName" value="" />
            </appSettings>
          </configuration>
  3. Save the file to the following location on your SharePoint machine:

    [SharePoint server extensions folder]\BIN