rypa
Hey all,
I’ve an Oban worker making a connection to a remote MSSQL DB to run a query and then process the results.
We’re using Tds to manage this and it works great when everything’s set up correctly.
Every now and again the underlying VPN isn’t established and despite the correct DB creds, the connection will fail resulting in a logged error:
[error] Tds.Protocol (#PID<0.864.0>) failed to connect: ** (Tds.Error) tcp connect: econnrefused
My frustration is that the initial connection function start_link/1 will almost always return {:ok, <pid>} so attempts to have a try rescue block aren’t matching – even without DB creds I get the ok tuple then a :killed error and shell reset (locally).
I’m hoping to to find a way to catch this error, handle the case and let the worker just retry. A Sentry issue is pointing to DBConnection for the source of the error, but I’m not certain how I can use that info.
Appreciate any insight 
Where Next?
Trending in Questions
Other Trending Topics
Latest Oban Threads
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Bringing learning, work and compliance together since 1987.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #library
- #deployment
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #elixirconf
- #channels
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #podcasts
- #javascript
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #ai
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ecto-query
- #blog-post
- #elixirconf-us
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #elixirconf-eu
- #api
- #forms
- #security
- #performance
Our Sponsors
Build Elixir applications with speed and confidence.
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Elixir, Erlang & BEAM conferences from Code Sync - join us in 2026!
Bringing learning, work and compliance together since 1987.
**Building the future of software with AI, trust, and human connection.**
The deployment platform built for Elixir: PaaS ease, VPS control.
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"
Showing Posts 1 to 2- Show Best Posts
- Show All (oldest first)
- Show All (newest first)
sorentwo
Any exception or crash that happens in a
perform/1block is already captured and converted into anOban.PerformErrorfor exceptions, orOban.CrashErrorfor an exit. You don’t have to add any special handling to handle the case and let the worker retry.rypa
So, the logged messaging wasn’t interfering with the worker’s performance, just a ping from
DBConnectioninternals.As queries do fail when the connection is improper, but work even when logs are streaming (this is mostly a local IEx problem), I’ve opted instead of filter out the logging.