Knowledge BaseMetric InsightsDistributionBurstsAfter restoring an older backup to a new 3.3 Virtual Machine, Bursts are not working

After restoring an older backup to a new 3.3 Virtual Machine, Bursts are not working

ISSUE

We are upgrading Metric Insights to a newer build of 3.3 using the upgrade-in-place process. We received a new 3.3 OVA file to deploy a new Metric Insights Virtual Machine. To complete the upgrade-in-place, we created a backup of the old Metric Insights, copied the backup over to the new VM, then ran a restore. This completed successfully and Metric Insights appears to be up and running. However, bursts are not going out

Favorite Digests go out and Send Test Email from Status Monitor also works. Trying to send a test burst from the Burst Editor fails however, with no errors to speak of. Why are the bursts not going out? 

RESOLUTION

Bursts are not going out because the HOSTNAME variable in Admin > more > Config Variables does not match the actual hostname of your MI instance. Correct the HOSTNAME variable by clicking the Edit Gear, then hit the Generate const.php button (see image below).

Note, the reason the HOSTNAME variable only affects Bursts is because:

- Bursts are based on templates and the template engine is based on phantomjs

- Phantomjs fails if it does not see the host which is determined by the HOSTNAME variable

In comparison, the other MI distribution methods are not based on templates.

RESOLUTION