SharePoint 2010: Event 6398: The Execute method of job definition Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPTimerRecycleJobDefinition threw an exception

Problem


You perform routine review of farm server event logs and find the following event appearing in the server's Application log:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Microsoft-SharePoint Products-SharePoint Foundation
Date:          [date/time]
Event ID:      6398
Task Category: Timer
Level:         Critical
Keywords:     
User:          [farmServiceAccount]
Computer:      [machineName]
Description:
The Execute method of job definition 
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSqmTimerJobDefinition 
(ID 2912d44e-0ada-4536-8e05-d79fbeae9fcc) threw an exception. 
More information is included below.
Data is Null. This method or property cannot be called on Null values.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-SharePoint Products-SharePoint 
       Foundation" Guid="{6FB7E0CD-52E7-47DD-997A-241563931FC2}" />
    <EventID>6398</EventID>
    <Version>14</Version>
    <Level>1</Level>
    <Task>12</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="[date/time]" />
    <EventRecordID>33386</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{2217063A-9355-4C01-83AA-7C121F704FC9}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="2296" ThreadID="5900" />
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>[machineName]</Computer>
    <Security UserID="[SID]" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="string0">Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.
            SPSqmTimerJobDefinition</Data>
    <Data Name="string1">2912d44e-0ada-4536-8e05-d79fbeae9fcc</Data>
    <Data Name="string2">Data is Null. This method or property cannot 
be called on Null values.</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Troubleshooting

1. Perused Application log for other instances of the 6398 event associated with a timer definition execution failure
• Result: several other instances of the same timer failure were found.
2. Launched Central Administration; navigated to: Monitoring > Check Job Status; selected Job Definition from the View dropdown (upper right corner); selected CEIP Data Collection from the Job Definition dropdown.
• Result: Verified failed status of jobs; also verified time of failed job status matched with event time in Application log.
3. In Central Administration, navigated to: Application Management > Web Applications > Manage Web Applications; selected each web application and then reviewed its General Settings in turn:
1. Result: three of four web applications had the Enable Customer Experience Improvement Program set to No.  One web application (of all things, CA itself), had this set to Yes.
4. In Central Administration, navigated to: System Settings > Farm Management > Configure Privacy Options.
1. Result: the Sign up for the Customer Experience Improvement Program option was set to No.

Solution

1. Launch Central Administration
2. Navigate to: Application Management > Web Applications > Manage Web Applications
3. Select the target web application.
4. Select General Settings from the General Settings dropdown on the Web ribbon.
5. Scroll down to the bottom.
6. Set Enable Customer Experience Improvement Program to No.

References

• Wictor Wilen: About the Customer Experience Improvement Program in SharePoint 2010
• Event ID 6398 due to CEIP Data Collection for SharePoint Foundation