KB15301: MicroStrategy Intelligence Server does not start with the error message: 'MSTRCtl Error 0xFFFFFFFF: Unexpected error occurred Malformed XML'

SYMPTOM:
Strategy Intelligence Server does not start and the following error occurs when executing the start command:
 

# ./mstrctl -s IntelligenceServer start
/MicroStrategy/bin/MSTRCtl Error 0xFFFFFFFF: Unexpected error occurred.
Malformed XML.

 
CAUSE:
The 'status-iserver.xml' is the file Strategy Intelligence Server updates with the status information, for example, running, stopped, starting, etc.
 
If this file is corrupted or has inconsistent information about Strategy Intelligence Server status, then the server cannot update this file correctly and the error message is seen. However, if the server finds that the file does not exist, it will create a new one. This action can be used to workaround the error as described below.
 
ACTION:
Perform the following steps:
 

1. Locate the file 'status-iserver.xml' in the "Strategy home location/IntelligenceServer" folder.
2. Rename the file 'status-iserver.xml', for example 'status-iserver.xml.old' or delete the file.
3. Start the Strategy Intelligence Server. A new file 'status-iserver.xml' will be created and the Strategy Intelligence Server Universal should start normally.