Peter,

It turns out that there is an issue with Visual Business Director in combination with Java Runtime Environment v1.8

On January 20^th, 2015 Oracle started auto-updating Windows 32-bit and OS X, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) users from JRE 7 to JRE 8.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/autoupdatejre7tojre8-2389085.html

Thanks to product management and product engineering we now have a hotfix for the Exercise Environments “Pega Decision Management Essentials” and “Pega Marketing Essentials”.

The DSM Engineering team created a new VBD.war file and we tested all the exercises for both courses. On top of that we created the following instructions for patching the two environments.

You can either patch the environments yourself today of wait for one day and download tomorrow a new course image.

--

The steps to patch the VM are as follows:

1. Download the patched vbd.war file from the following location: https://app.box.com/s/umvf2py5ggbv5x1hl9cqooy8c67xun25
2. Configure a shared folder on the host machine to be accessible from the VM. Place the new vbd.war in this folder on the host machine.
3. Start the VM. Wait till the Tomcat is up and the PRPC log-in screen appears in the browser.
4. Log-in to the VM as root. (root/password)
5. Stop the tomcat using the command /etc/init.d/tomcat7 stop
6. Rename the existing vbd folder in the /usr/share/tomcat7/webapps folder to something like vbd-old (use the mv command)
7. Copy the new vbd.war to /usr/share/tomcat7/webapps folder from the shared host folder (the shared host folder is accessible from /mnt/hgfs/<name of the shared folder>)
8. Clean shutdown the VM using the command shutdown -h now
9. Start the VM again. Wait till the Tomcat is up and the PRPC log-in screen appears in the browser.
10. Log-in to the VM as root. Verify that a new vbd folder is now created in the /usr/share/tomcat7/webapps folder.
11. Stop the tomcat using the command /etc/init.d/tomcat7 stop
12. Delete the vbd.war from the /usr/share/tomcat7/webapps folder.
13. Clean shutdown the VM using the command shutdown -h now

--

Marco.

Marco

I had the same result when trying to view the VBD.  I followed the instructions above however I used the Tomcat Manager to deploy the war file on step 7.  Followed everything else to the letter and now I do not have any Data Sources listed in VDB nor do I have any views and I have this error message:

I'ld like to see the VBD in action.  So I have a couple of questions:

1.  Does the DSME715_SS_PVS_20150224.exe file have the fix for the VBD?  Because that is the version I downloaded from Pega Academy.

2.  Are there plans to update the image so you do not have to go through the steps to update the image?

3.  Can you give me detailed instructions for the following steps 6 and 7(the actual command lines you typed into the console?

I took your advice and refeshed my exercise system by extracting DSME715_SS_PVS_20150224.zip file into a new directory.  Went through all the exercises without incident however when I try and work with the Visual Business Director I receive this error:

When I click on the link I get this information from the dump thread stack:

Java Plug-in Proprietary information hidden
Using JRE version 1.8.0_31-b13 Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM
User home directory = C:\Users\hedes
----------------------------------------------------
c:   clear console window
f:   finalize objects on finalization queue
g:   garbage collect
h:   display this help message
l:   dump classloader list
m:   print memory usage
o:   trigger logging
q:   hide console
r:   reload policy configuration
s:   dump system and deployment properties
t:   dump thread list
v:   dump thread stack
x:   clear classloader cache
0-5: set trace level to <n>
----------------------------------------------------
Dump thread stack ...
----------------------------------------------------
2015-03-27 18:26:36
Full thread dump Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (25.31-b07 mixed mode):

"ConsoleTraceListener" #54 daemon prio=4 os_prio=-1 tid=0x054c8c00 nid=0x1394 in Object.wait() [0x0becf000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148ec5b8> (a com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.ui.ConsoleTraceListener$BoundedStringBuffer)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.ui.ConsoleTraceListener$ConsoleWriterThread.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148ec5b8> (a com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.ui.ConsoleTraceListener$BoundedStringBuffer)

"TimerQueue" #50 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054ca000 nid=0xf28 waiting on condition [0x0cffe000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (parking)
    at sun.misc.Unsafe.park(Native Method)
    - parking to wait for  <0x0f41e388> (a java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.park(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject.await(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.DelayQueue.take(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.TimerQueue.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"D3D Screen Updater" #48 daemon prio=7 os_prio=1 tid=0x054c9400 nid=0x1fa4 in Object.wait() [0x0b47f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: TIMED_WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148a88b8> (a java.lang.Object)
    at sun.java2d.d3d.D3DScreenUpdateManager.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148a88b8> (a java.lang.Object)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"TimerQueue" #46 daemon prio=4 os_prio=-1 tid=0x054c8800 nid=0x23d0 waiting on condition [0x0b06f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (parking)
    at sun.misc.Unsafe.park(Native Method)
    - parking to wait for  <0x0f20f6b0> (a java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.park(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject.await(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.DelayQueue.take(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.TimerQueue.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"AWT-EventQueue-1" #34 prio=6 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c6c00 nid=0x2358 waiting on condition [0x09f5e000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE
    at com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.ui.ConsoleHelper.dumpAllStacksImpl(Native Method)
    at com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.ui.ConsoleHelper.dumpAllStacks(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.uitoolkit.impl.awt.ui.SwingConsoleWindow$3.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent$ActionStandin.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.SwingUtilities.notifyAction(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent.processKeyBinding(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.KeyboardManager.fireBinding(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.KeyboardManager.fireKeyboardAction(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent.processKeyBindingsForAllComponents(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent.processKeyBindings(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent.processKeyEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.processEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.processEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager.redispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.DefaultKeyboardFocusManager.dispatchKeyEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.DefaultKeyboardFocusManager.preDispatchKeyEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.DefaultKeyboardFocusManager.typeAheadAssertions(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.DefaultKeyboardFocusManager.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.access$500(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

"AWT-EventQueue-2" #33 prio=4 os_prio=-1 tid=0x054c7c00 nid=0x1808 waiting on condition [0x0a0df000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (parking)
    at sun.misc.Unsafe.park(Native Method)
    - parking to wait for  <0x1498e088> (a java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.park(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject.await(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.getNextEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

"JVM[id=1]-Heartbeat" #32 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c7400 nid=0x1e60 in Object.wait() [0x09e5f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: TIMED_WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14908a68> (a sun.plugin2.message.Queue)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Queue.waitForMessage(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14908a68> (a sun.plugin2.message.Queue)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Pipe$2.run(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.util.Waiter$1.wait(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.util.Waiter.runAndWait(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Pipe.receive(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.server.HeartbeatThread.run(Unknown Source)

"Applet 1 LiveConnect Worker Thread" #30 prio=4 os_prio=-1 tid=0x054c6800 nid=0x22ac in Object.wait() [0x08a1f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14952838> (a java.lang.Object)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.client.LiveConnectSupport$PerAppletInfo$LiveConnectWorker.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14952838> (a java.lang.Object)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"Browser Side Object Cleanup Thread" #28 prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c5000 nid=0x1ef8 in Object.wait() [0x0903f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x149529d0> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x149529d0> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.client.LiveConnectSupport$BrowserSideObjectCleanupThread.run(Unknown Source)

"CacheCleanUpThread" #27 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c6000 nid=0x223c in Object.wait() [0x092ef000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x149529f0> (a com.sun.deploy.cache.CleanupThread)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.cache.CleanupThread.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x149529f0> (a com.sun.deploy.cache.CleanupThread)

"CacheMemoryCleanUpThread" #24 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c5c00 nid=0x1e48 in Object.wait() [0x0916f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14812678> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14812678> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.cache.MemoryCache$LoadedResourceCleanupThread.run(Unknown Source)

"MemoryCache-DelayedCleanup" #25 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c5400 nid=0x1edc in Object.wait() [0x08ecf000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14812818> (a java.util.TaskQueue)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.TimerThread.mainLoop(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14812818> (a java.util.TaskQueue)
    at java.util.TimerThread.run(Unknown Source)

"SysExecutionTheadCreator" #20 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x05406400 nid=0x2004 in Object.wait() [0x08b4f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14812828> (a sun.plugin.util.PluginSysUtil$SysExecutionThreadCreator)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin.util.PluginSysUtil$SysExecutionThreadCreator.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14812828> (a sun.plugin.util.PluginSysUtil$SysExecutionThreadCreator)

"AWT-EventQueue-0" #19 prio=6 os_prio=0 tid=0x054c2800 nid=0x22f0 waiting on condition [0x08c6f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (parking)
    at sun.misc.Unsafe.park(Native Method)
    - parking to wait for  <0x14812b30> (a java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport.park(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.locks.AbstractQueuedSynchronizer$ConditionObject.await(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.getNextEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

"AWT-Windows" #16 daemon prio=6 os_prio=0 tid=0x0829c400 nid=0x141c runnable [0x0277f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE
    at sun.awt.windows.WToolkit.eventLoop(Native Method)
    at sun.awt.windows.WToolkit.run(Unknown Source)

"AWT-Shutdown" #15 prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x054bf800 nid=0x794 in Object.wait() [0x07d0f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14812ea8> (a java.lang.Object)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at sun.awt.AWTAutoShutdown.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14812ea8> (a java.lang.Object)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"Java2D Disposer" #14 daemon prio=10 os_prio=2 tid=0x054bf000 nid=0x2124 in Object.wait() [0x0879f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14813048> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14813048> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    at sun.java2d.Disposer.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"Java Plug-In Pipe Worker Thread (Client-Side)" #13 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x05400400 nid=0x23fc runnable [0x0828f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE
    at sun.plugin2.os.windows.Windows.ReadFile0(Native Method)
    at sun.plugin2.os.windows.Windows.ReadFile(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.ipc.windows.WindowsNamedPipe.read(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.transport.NamedPipeTransport$SerializerImpl.read(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.transport.NamedPipeTransport$SerializerImpl.readByte(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.AbstractSerializer.readInt(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.transport.SerializingTransport.read(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Pipe$WorkerThread.run(Unknown Source)

"Timer-0" #10 prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x05403000 nid=0x23c in Object.wait() [0x07edf000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148135a0> (a java.util.TaskQueue)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.TimerThread.mainLoop(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148135a0> (a java.util.TaskQueue)
    at java.util.TimerThread.run(Unknown Source)

"Thread-0" #9 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x053a8400 nid=0x1848 waiting on condition [0x07bcf000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: TIMED_WAITING (sleeping)
    at java.lang.Thread.sleep(Native Method)
    at com.sun.deploy.util.SecurityBaseline$2.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"traceMsgQueueThread" #8 daemon prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x0537e400 nid=0x21d4 in Object.wait() [0x0774f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148138a8> (a java.util.ArrayList)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.trace.Trace$TraceMsgQueueChecker.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148138a8> (a java.util.ArrayList)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

"Service Thread" #7 daemon prio=9 os_prio=0 tid=0x05374800 nid=0x5d0 runnable [0x00000000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE

"C1 CompilerThread0" #6 daemon prio=9 os_prio=2 tid=0x0534d800 nid=0x1c8c waiting on condition [0x00000000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE

"Attach Listener" #5 daemon prio=5 os_prio=2 tid=0x0534c800 nid=0x20fc runnable [0x00000000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE

"Signal Dispatcher" #4 daemon prio=9 os_prio=2 tid=0x05349800 nid=0x980 runnable [0x00000000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: RUNNABLE

"Finalizer" #3 daemon prio=8 os_prio=1 tid=0x01230c00 nid=0x1c98 in Object.wait() [0x06a4f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x14814028> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x14814028> (a java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue$Lock)
    at java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue.remove(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ref.Finalizer$FinalizerThread.run(Unknown Source)

"Reference Handler" #2 daemon prio=10 os_prio=2 tid=0x0122bc00 nid=0x1538 in Object.wait() [0x0681f000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148141c8> (a java.lang.ref.Reference$Lock)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ref.Reference$ReferenceHandler.run(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148141c8> (a java.lang.ref.Reference$Lock)

"main" #1 prio=5 os_prio=0 tid=0x0097f800 nid=0x808 in Object.wait() [0x029df000]
   java.lang.Thread.State: WAITING (on object monitor)
    at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
    - waiting on <0x148141d0> (a sun.plugin2.message.Queue)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Queue.waitForMessage(Unknown Source)
    - locked <0x148141d0> (a sun.plugin2.message.Queue)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Pipe$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.util.Waiter$1.wait(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.deploy.util.Waiter.runAndWait(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.message.Pipe.receive(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.mainLoop(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.run(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.main(Unknown Source)

"VM Thread" os_prio=2 tid=0x01228000 nid=0x2234 runnable 

"VM Periodic Task Thread" os_prio=2 tid=0x05375c00 nid=0xc60 waiting on condition 

Rejecting attempt to specify insecure property: -Djava.security.manager

    at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.main(Unknown Source)

"VM Thread" os_prio=2 tid=0x01228000 nid=0x2234 runnable 

"VM Periodic Task Thread" os_prio=2 tid=0x05375c00 nid=0xc60 waiting on condition 

Rejecting attempt to specify insecure property: -Djava.security.manager

----------------------------------------------------
Done.

Seems to be a different error than Peter got however none the less I am unable to use the VBD.  Working with Windows 7 64-Bit and IE 9. Java version 8 update 40.

Any help would be appreciated.