Knowledgebase

Intermittent WebDirect issues are frustrating, but they almost always have a specific cause. Here are the most common patterns and what to do about each one.

Stale sessions accumulating

Each WebDirect user holds an open connection to the server. If users close their browser tab without logging out, those sessions stay open and consume server resources. Over time this can cause slowness or prevent new users from connecting.

• Fix: In the FileMaker Server Admin Console, go to Clients and disconnect any sessions that appear idle. You can also set a session timeout in the Admin Console to reclaim stale connections automatically.

Memory pressure building up over time

The Web Publishing Engine can accumulate memory usage during long uptimes, eventually causing slowness or a crash. This is especially noticeable when WebDirect is fine in the morning but starts failing in the afternoon.

• Fix: A scheduled WPE restart during off-hours (nightly or weekly) can prevent this from building up. Contact support and we can set that up for you.

"Host Capacity Exceeded" message

Despite how alarming this sounds, it is almost always caused by stale connections rather than a real capacity limit. Restarting the FileMaker Server Engine (FMSE) clears all stale connection counts immediately.

Issue occurs at a predictable time

If the problem happens consistently at a specific time of day (for example, after a scheduled script runs, or at the end of the workday), it is likely tied to a particular operation that stresses the WPE.

• Fix: Open a support ticket and tell us exactly when the issue occurs. We will review your server logs for that window and identify the trigger.