java.util.Prefs throwing BackingStoreException - Why?

Question

I have a system that caches the tiny/simple results of an on-startup SOAP call

I need instances to be able to reload their cache on startup (in case the SOAP service is

Answer 1

"I now suspect that it might be because we have multiple JVMs sharing this Backing Store"

This could absolutely be the case! If two JVMs attempt to lock the file at the same then this is what you'll see.

The exact details will depend on the type of lock, operating system and file system.

You might want to try wrapping the operation that causes this in a try/catch block, then retry the operation if it fails.