Update Ansible tasks for crowd-ehcache.xml after upgrading to Crowd 7.1 Data Center

Summary

This article explains how to update Ansible playbooks crowd-ehcache.xml after upgrading to 7.1 Data Center. It focuses on updating Ansible tasks, so they work with the new Ehcache 3 based XML structure and avoid startup failures caused by outdated cache configuration syntax.

When you upgrade to Crowd 7.1, Crowd changes its cache engine from Ehcache 2 to Ehcache 3, and the XML schema crowd-ehcache.xml changes significantly, including different element names, structure, attributes, and required values. If you have Ansible playbooks that edit crowd-ehcache.xml and they still assume the old Ehcache 2 schema, they may inject attributes that no longer exist, target elements that no longer exist, or use XPaths that no longer match anything. This can lead to XML validation errors (for example, type/union errors) and ultimately cause Crowd startup failures.

Solution

You need to update your Ansible tasks, not just the XML file, so they:

• Stop targeting the old Ehcache 2 elements/attributes

• Start targeting the new Ehcache 3 structure

Follow these steps in your playbook.

Remove Ansible tasks that target Ehcache 2 elements

Delete or update any Ansible tasks that:

• Refer to <defaultCache> elements, or attributes like:

  • maxElementsInMemory

  • overflowToDisk

  • diskExpiryThreadIntervalSeconds

• Use XPaths such as:

  • //ehcache/defaultCache

  • //ehcache/cache[@name='…']

These elements and attributes are part of the Ehcache 2 schema and are no longer valid in Ehcache 3.

Update Ansible tasks to work with the Ehcache 3 structure

Use Ansible’s xml module to target the new Ehcache 3 elements under ehcache:config. The examples below show Ansible YAML that:

• Edits crowd-ehcache.xml

• Uses XPaths that match the Ehcache 3 schema

• Sets attributes like unit and the element’s numeric value

  The XPaths refer to elements in crowd-ehcache.xml. The YAML itself is Ansible configuration, not XML.

To adapt these examples:

• Change value entries (e.g. 8000, 50, 300) to match your desired cache sizes/TTL.

• Adjust alias values if your cache names differ from the defaults.

Validate your changes

After updating your Ansible tasks and running them:

• Confirm that crowd-ehcache.xml is:

  • Well‑formed XML

  • Using the Ehcache 3 structure (no <defaultCache> elements, no Ehcache 2–only attributes)

• Check that ehcache:heap and ehcache:disk elements both have:

  • A unit attribute

  • A numeric value, for example:

  <ehcache:disk unit="MB">50</ehcache:disk><ehcache:heap unit="entries">8000</ehcache:heap>

• Restart Crowd and verify it starts without XML parsing or cache-configuration errors.

Troubleshooting common errors

If you see errors similar to: 'is not a valid value of union type 'propertyOrPositiveInteger'

check the following in crowd-ehcache.xml:

• Every <ehcache:disk> and <ehcache:heap> element:

  • Contains a numeric value (no empty elements)

  • Has a valid unit attribute (for example, MB, entries)

• Your Ansible tasks are not:

  • Creating empty elements

  • Setting attributes that are not part of the Ehcache 3 schema

    • Test all changes in a non-production environment before deploying to production.

    • Review the official Crowd and Ehcache 3 documentation for further details on supported configuration options.