intermittently occuring appium unknown server-side error - appium

Question

I seem to get this issue intermittently. no error if i were to un plug and replug the devices and re-excuite the test, however this is only temperory fix till the time it shows up again.
i have 2 instances of appium server for 2 devices-
server1
Host-0.0.0.0
server port-5050
Bootstrap port- 4734
allow session overrides- ticked
server2
Host-0.0.0.0
server port-4723
Bootstrap port- 4724
allow session overrides- ticked
appium version- 1.15.1
List of devices attached-
52002dd24392b5a1 device
5200472dec01a4a9 device
error on appium server console-
W3C] Encountered internal error running command: Error: Cannot start the 'com.XYZ.XYZ' application. Visit https://github.com/appium/appium/blob/master/docs/en/writing-running-appium/android/activity-startup.md for troubleshooting. Original error: Error executing adbExec. Original error: 'Command ''C:\\Users\\XYZ\\AppData\\Local\\Android\\Sdk\\platform-tools\\adb.exe' -P 5037 -s 5200472dec01a4a9 shell am start -W -n com.XYZ.XYZ/host.exp.exponent.LauncherActivity -S' timed out after 120000ms'. Try to increase the 120000ms adb execution timeout represented by 'adbExecTimeout' capability
[W3C] at ADB.startApp (C:\Program Files\Appium\resources\app\node_modules\appium\node_modules\appium-adb\lib\tools\apk-utils.js:153:11)
[HTTP] <-- POST /wd/hub/session 500 132866 ms - 1782
[HTTP]
[Instrumentation] .
[Instrumentation] Time: 123.085
[Instrumentation]
[Instrumentation] OK (1 test)
[Instrumentation] The process has exited with code 0
error on IDE-
org.openqa.selenium.SessionNotCreatedException: Unable to create a new remote session. Please check the server log for more details. Original error: An unknown server-side error occurred while processing the command. Original error: Cannot start the 'com.XYZ.XYZ' application. Visit https://github.com/appium/appium/blob/master/docs/en/writing-running-appium/android/activity-startup.md for troubleshooting. Original error: Error executing adbExec. Original error: 'Command ''C:\\Users\\XYZ\\AppData\\Local\\Android\\Sdk\\platform-tools\\adb.exe' -P 5037 -s 5200472dec01a4a9 shell am start -W -n com.XYZ.XYZ/host.exp.exponent.LauncherActivity -S' timed out after 120000ms'. Try to increase the 120000ms adb execution timeout represented by 'adbExecTimeout' capability
Driver info: driver.version: AndroidDriver
remote stacktrace: UnknownError: An unknown server-side error occurred while processing the command. Original error: Cannot start the 'com.XYZ.XYZ' application. Visit https://github.com/appium/appium/blob/master/docs/en/writing-running-appium/android/activity-startup.md for troubleshooting. Original error: Error executing adbExec. Original error: 'Command ''C:\\Users\\XYZ\\AppData\\Local\\Android\\Sdk\\platform-tools\\adb.exe' -P 5037 -s 5200472dec01a4a9 shell am start -W -n com.XYZ.XYZ/host.exp.exponent.LauncherActivity -S' timed out after 120000ms'. Try to increase the 120000ms adb execution timeout represented by 'adbExecTimeout' capability
desired capabilities for device1-
DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability("deviceName", "Tab");
capabilities.setCapability("platformVersion", "8.0.0");
capabilities.setCapability("platformName", "ANDROID");
capabilities.setCapability("udid", "5200472dec01a4a9");
capabilities.setCapability("noReset", "true");
capabilities.setCapability("appPackage", "com.xyz.xyz");
capabilities.setCapability("appActivity", "host.exp.exponent.LauncherActivity");
capabilities.setCapability("adbExecTimeout", 120000);
capabilities.setCapability("newCommandTimeout", 3000);
capabilities.setCapability("noSign", "true");
URL mobileURL = new URL("http://0.0.0.0:5050/wd/hub");
mobileParent = new AndroidDriver(mobileURL, capabilities);
mobile capabilities for device2-
capabilities.setCapability("deviceName", "Tab");
capabilities.setCapability("platformVersion", "8.0.0");
capabilities.setCapability("platformName", "ANDROID");
capabilities.setCapability("udid", "52002dd24392b5a1");
capabilities.setCapability("noReset", "true");
capabilities.setCapability("appPackage", "com.coachhire.kura");
capabilities.setCapability("appActivity", "host.exp.exponent.LauncherActivity");
capabilities.setCapability(AndroidMobileCapabilityType.AUTO_GRANT_PERMISSIONS, true);
capabilities.setCapability("adbExecTimeout", 120000);
capabilities.setCapability("newCommandTimeout", 3000);
capabilities.setCapability("noSign", "true");
URL mobileURL = new URL("http://0.0.0.0:4723/wd/hub");
mobileDriver = new AndroidDriver(mobileURL, capabilities);
any help greatly appretiated!

Answer 1

Looking at the details you have provided, there should not be any errors. It should work fine.
Unknown error usually accrues when Appium not able to figure out the list of capabilities provided for the run. I would suggest double check appPackage and appActivity details are right.
Also, try to run tests on one devices and see any errors. see the consistency of test run. if not errors than you can add one more device and see how it goes.
Add below in the capabilities,
"automationName": "UiAutomator2"
If you are running test on local machine use http://127.0.0.1:<Port>/wd/hubinstead 0.0.0.0
If you are running tests remotely make sure in above, local IP 127.0.0.0 replaced with the machine IP where Appium server is running.
As you are running Android devices only, I hope prerequisites softwares are installed as per Android test setup.
For mac device setup, follow steps here - https://www.swtestacademy.com/how-to-install-appium-on-mac/
Try below steps,
Check you can install the app manually by running below command.
adb -P <port> -s <device id > shell pm install -t -g <apk path>
If this could work, it indicates that there are no issues with the device. Else, you should reset the device and re test it.
Check Appium server is running with no issues. and access this link and see you get 200 response on appium server console.
http://<appium server ip>:4723/wd/hub/sessions
If you see an error there, it indicates that there is an issue with Appium. Un-install and install stable version of Appium and re test.
You should know that sometimes Node.js could not talk to 127.0.0.1:4723, So use 0.0.0.0:4723 instead and visa versa. Remember to change this in both code (DesiredCapabilities) and appium setting.
Try "udid" parametre is required for desired capabilities -
Example, caps.setCapability("udid", "ce0217124184c72505"); //DeviceId from "adb devices" command