Portal authentication failing intermittently post self registration

Question

We are in the process of upgrading from EP6 to EP7 and have hit a critical authentication problem that is proving difficult to diagnose and resolve.
Our self registration process leads straight into user logon:
1) the user fills in the registration form with their user ID, password etc and selects Submit which creates the user ID in our R/3 user store
2) the user is presented with text informing them that their registration has been successful and a Proceed button which when selected authenticates them with the portal with their newly created user ID
Step 2) above is working intermittently in our EP7 system - sometimes the process works exactly as expected others an exception is raised (com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException: USER_AUTH_FAILED).
It seems as though the cause is that the user creation process has not completed fully before the logon step.
We tried implementing a wait step (10 seconds) following selection of the Proceed button which reduced the incidence rate of the problem but didn't cure it entirely.
A possible contributing factor is hardware performance as we are testing the upgrade on an impact analysis system which is not as efficient as our live portal landscape.
I've pasted the code which performs the authentication and extracts from the DIAGTOOL portal logs below which show the login module configuration (SAP standard I believe).
Any help/advice what to try next would be greatly appreciated as we are running out of ideas.
Thanks,
Alan
The following code performs the authentication and redirection to the portal user's home page:
public void onRedirect(Event event) throws PageException {
               getBean();
               //Get resource bundle
               ResourceBundle rbSetup =
                    ResourceBundle.getBundle(
                         "setup",
                         ((IPortalComponentRequest) this.getRequest()).getLocale());
               ILogonAuthentication logonAuthentication =
                    UMFactory.getLogonAuthenticator();
               HttpServletRequest req =
                    ((IPortalComponentRequest) this.getRequest())
                         .getServletRequest();
               HttpServletResponse res =
                         (IPortalComponentRequest) this
                              .getRequest())
                              .getServletResponse(
                         true);
               req.setAttribute(
                    ILoginConstants.LOGON_UID_ALIAS,
                    SelfRegBean.getLogonUid());
               req.setAttribute(
                    ILoginConstants.LOGON_PWD_ALIAS,
                    SelfRegBean.getPassword());
               Subject subject = null;
               try {
                    subject = logonAuthentication.logon(req, res, AUTHSCHEME);
                    if (null != subject) {
                         res.sendRedirect(rbSetup.getString("REDIRECT_URL"));
               } catch (LoginException e) {
                    SelfRegBean.setError(rb.getString(LOGIN_FAILED));
               } catch (IOException e) {
                    SelfRegBean.setError(rb.getString(REDIRECT_FAILED));
Full exception thrown when the authentication process fails:
com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException: USER_AUTH_FAILED at com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.SAPJ2EEAuthenticator.logon(SAPJ2EEAuthenticator.java:949) at uk.ac.ncl.SelfRegistration$SelfRegistrationDynPage.onRedirect(SelfRegistration.java:507) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:324) at com.sapportals.htmlb.page.DynPage.doProcessCurrentEvent(DynPage.java:172) at com.sapportals.htmlb.page.PageProcessor.handleRequest(PageProcessor.java:115) at com.sapportals.portal.htmlb.page.PageProcessorComponent.doContent(PageProcessorComponent.java:134) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.AbstractPortalComponent.serviceDeprecated(AbstractPortalComponent.java:209) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.AbstractPortalComponent.service(AbstractPortalComponent.java:114) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.callPortalComponent(PortalRequestManager.java:328) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:136) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:189) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.PortalComponentResponse.include(PortalComponentResponse.java:215) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.pom.PortalNode.service(PortalNode.java:645) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.callPortalComponent(PortalRequestManager.java:328) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:136) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:189) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.runRequestCycle(PortalRequestManager.java:753) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.connection.ServletConnection.handleRequest(ServletConnection.java:240) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.dispatcher.Dispatcher$doService.run(Dispatcher.java:524) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.dispatcher.Dispatcher.service(Dispatcher.java:407) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.servlet.InvokerServlet.service(InvokerServlet.java:156) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.HttpHandlerImpl.runServlet(HttpHandlerImpl.java:401) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.HttpHandlerImpl.handleRequest(HttpHandlerImpl.java:266) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.startServlet(RequestAnalizer.java:386) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.startServlet(RequestAnalizer.java:364) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.invokeWebContainer(RequestAnalizer.java:1039) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.handle(RequestAnalizer.java:265) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.Client.handle(Client.java:95) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.Processor.request(Processor.java:175) at com.sap.engine.core.service630.context.cluster.session.ApplicationSessionMessageListener.process(ApplicationSessionMessageListener.java:33) at com.sap.engine.core.cluster.impl6.session.MessageRunner.run(MessageRunner.java:41) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.ActionObject.run(ActionObject.java:37) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.SingleThread.execute(SingleThread.java:102) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.SingleThread.run(SingleThread.java:172) -
Key log extracts from DIAGTOOL:
Exception on login: 
[EXCEPTION]
com.sap.security.core.server.userstore.UserstoreException: Could not refresh user postsp15p
Caused by: com.sap.security.api.NoSuchUserAccountException: USER_AUTH_FAILED: User account for logonid "postsp15p" not found!
LOGIN.FAILED
User: N/A
Authentication Stack: ticket
Login Module                                                               Flag        Initialize  Login      Commit     Abort      Details
1. com.sap.security.core.server.jaas.EvaluateTicketLoginModule             SUFFICIENT  ok          false                 true      
        #1 ume.configuration.active = true
2. com.sap.engine.services.security.server.jaas.BasicPasswordLoginModule   REQUISITE   ok          exception             true       Authentication did not succeed.
3. com.sap.security.core.server.jaas.CreateTicketLoginModule               OPTIONAL    ok                                true      
        #1 ume.configuration.active = true
com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException:
ObjectID handed over is 'null'!
Guest | LOGIN.ERROR | null |  | Login Method=[uidpwdlogon], UserID=[null], IP Address=[10.64.65.191], Reason=[Authentication did not succeed.]
USER_AUTH_FAILED

Answer 1

We are in the process of upgrading from EP6 to EP7 and have hit a critical authentication problem that is proving difficult to diagnose and resolve.
Our self registration process leads straight into user logon:
1) the user fills in the registration form with their user ID, password etc and selects Submit which creates the user ID in our R/3 user store
2) the user is presented with text informing them that their registration has been successful and a Proceed button which when selected authenticates them with the portal with their newly created user ID
Step 2) above is working intermittently in our EP7 system - sometimes the process works exactly as expected others an exception is raised (com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException: USER_AUTH_FAILED).
It seems as though the cause is that the user creation process has not completed fully before the logon step.
We tried implementing a wait step (10 seconds) following selection of the Proceed button which reduced the incidence rate of the problem but didn't cure it entirely.
A possible contributing factor is hardware performance as we are testing the upgrade on an impact analysis system which is not as efficient as our live portal landscape.
I've pasted the code which performs the authentication and extracts from the DIAGTOOL portal logs below which show the login module configuration (SAP standard I believe).
Any help/advice what to try next would be greatly appreciated as we are running out of ideas.
Thanks,
Alan
The following code performs the authentication and redirection to the portal user's home page:
public void onRedirect(Event event) throws PageException {
               getBean();
               //Get resource bundle
               ResourceBundle rbSetup =
                    ResourceBundle.getBundle(
                         "setup",
                         ((IPortalComponentRequest) this.getRequest()).getLocale());
               ILogonAuthentication logonAuthentication =
                    UMFactory.getLogonAuthenticator();
               HttpServletRequest req =
                    ((IPortalComponentRequest) this.getRequest())
                         .getServletRequest();
               HttpServletResponse res =
                         (IPortalComponentRequest) this
                              .getRequest())
                              .getServletResponse(
                         true);
               req.setAttribute(
                    ILoginConstants.LOGON_UID_ALIAS,
                    SelfRegBean.getLogonUid());
               req.setAttribute(
                    ILoginConstants.LOGON_PWD_ALIAS,
                    SelfRegBean.getPassword());
               Subject subject = null;
               try {
                    subject = logonAuthentication.logon(req, res, AUTHSCHEME);
                    if (null != subject) {
                         res.sendRedirect(rbSetup.getString("REDIRECT_URL"));
               } catch (LoginException e) {
                    SelfRegBean.setError(rb.getString(LOGIN_FAILED));
               } catch (IOException e) {
                    SelfRegBean.setError(rb.getString(REDIRECT_FAILED));
Full exception thrown when the authentication process fails:
com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException: USER_AUTH_FAILED at com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.SAPJ2EEAuthenticator.logon(SAPJ2EEAuthenticator.java:949) at uk.ac.ncl.SelfRegistration$SelfRegistrationDynPage.onRedirect(SelfRegistration.java:507) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:324) at com.sapportals.htmlb.page.DynPage.doProcessCurrentEvent(DynPage.java:172) at com.sapportals.htmlb.page.PageProcessor.handleRequest(PageProcessor.java:115) at com.sapportals.portal.htmlb.page.PageProcessorComponent.doContent(PageProcessorComponent.java:134) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.AbstractPortalComponent.serviceDeprecated(AbstractPortalComponent.java:209) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.AbstractPortalComponent.service(AbstractPortalComponent.java:114) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.callPortalComponent(PortalRequestManager.java:328) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:136) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:189) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.PortalComponentResponse.include(PortalComponentResponse.java:215) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.pom.PortalNode.service(PortalNode.java:645) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.callPortalComponent(PortalRequestManager.java:328) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:136) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.dispatchRequest(PortalRequestManager.java:189) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.core.PortalRequestManager.runRequestCycle(PortalRequestManager.java:753) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.connection.ServletConnection.handleRequest(ServletConnection.java:240) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.dispatcher.Dispatcher$doService.run(Dispatcher.java:524) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at com.sapportals.portal.prt.dispatcher.Dispatcher.service(Dispatcher.java:407) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.servlet.InvokerServlet.service(InvokerServlet.java:156) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.HttpHandlerImpl.runServlet(HttpHandlerImpl.java:401) at com.sap.engine.services.servlets_jsp.server.HttpHandlerImpl.handleRequest(HttpHandlerImpl.java:266) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.startServlet(RequestAnalizer.java:386) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.startServlet(RequestAnalizer.java:364) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.invokeWebContainer(RequestAnalizer.java:1039) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.RequestAnalizer.handle(RequestAnalizer.java:265) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.Client.handle(Client.java:95) at com.sap.engine.services.httpserver.server.Processor.request(Processor.java:175) at com.sap.engine.core.service630.context.cluster.session.ApplicationSessionMessageListener.process(ApplicationSessionMessageListener.java:33) at com.sap.engine.core.cluster.impl6.session.MessageRunner.run(MessageRunner.java:41) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.ActionObject.run(ActionObject.java:37) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.SingleThread.execute(SingleThread.java:102) at com.sap.engine.core.thread.impl3.SingleThread.run(SingleThread.java:172) -
Key log extracts from DIAGTOOL:
Exception on login: 
[EXCEPTION]
com.sap.security.core.server.userstore.UserstoreException: Could not refresh user postsp15p
Caused by: com.sap.security.api.NoSuchUserAccountException: USER_AUTH_FAILED: User account for logonid "postsp15p" not found!
LOGIN.FAILED
User: N/A
Authentication Stack: ticket
Login Module                                                               Flag        Initialize  Login      Commit     Abort      Details
1. com.sap.security.core.server.jaas.EvaluateTicketLoginModule             SUFFICIENT  ok          false                 true      
        #1 ume.configuration.active = true
2. com.sap.engine.services.security.server.jaas.BasicPasswordLoginModule   REQUISITE   ok          exception             true       Authentication did not succeed.
3. com.sap.security.core.server.jaas.CreateTicketLoginModule               OPTIONAL    ok                                true      
        #1 ume.configuration.active = true
com.sap.security.core.logon.imp.UMELoginException:
ObjectID handed over is 'null'!
Guest | LOGIN.ERROR | null |  | Login Method=[uidpwdlogon], UserID=[null], IP Address=[10.64.65.191], Reason=[Authentication did not succeed.]
USER_AUTH_FAILED