gRPC-connected Cube not responding when Automation module is used

Affected versions

• Main Release versions from DataMiner 10.4.0 [CU16] to [CU18] and 10.5.0 [CU4] to [CU6]. In earlier Main Release versions, starting from DataMiner 10.3.0, the issue can also occur, but only if a recent version of Cube is used (i.e. 10.5.2521.130 or higher).
• Feature Release versions from DataMiner 10.3.2 to 10.5.5, but only if a recent version of Cube is used (i.e. 10.5.2521.130 or higher).

Cause

When Automation scripts are opened, it can occur that Cube sends a message to the server that is not supported, resulting in deserialization exceptions in SLNet. If gRPC is used, these exceptions are not handled correctly, resulting in the client waiting for a response that will never arrive, until the timeout time of 15 minutes has elapsed.

Workaround

If you are using a DataMiner version where this issue only occurs depending on the Cube version used, a workaround is to force Cube to use the version that was shipped with the server upgrade package (see Managing client versions). However, this workaround will not work for Main Release versions 10.4.0 [CU16] to [CU18] and 10.5.0 [CU4] to [CU6].

An alternative workaround for this issue is adjusting the configuration in ConnectionSettings.txt so the system will use .NET Remoting instead of gRPC for client connections. However, as .NET Remoting is less secure, we do not recommend this.

Fix

No fix is available yet.

Description

When scripts are opened in the Automation module in DataMiner Cube, after a short time, the user interface stops responding.

To check whether you are using a recent version of Cube that may cause you to run into this issue (i.e. 10.5.2521.130 or higher), open the user menu, select About, and then check the versions tab.

To check whether the Cube connection uses gRPC, open the user menu, select About, and then check the connection tab. If the Attributes line contains the GrpcConnection item, the connection uses gRPC.