Chapter 10 Working With Diagnostic Features; In This Chapter; Trace Dumps - Brocade Communications Systems 8 Administrator's Manual

Working with Diagnostic Features

In this chapter

Trace dumps

A trace dump is a snapshot of the running behavior within the Brocade switch. The dump can be
used by developers and troubleshooters at Brocade to help understand what might be contributing
to a specific switch behavior when certain internal events are seen. For example, a trace dump can
be created each time a certain error message is logged to the system error log. Developers can
then examine what led up to the message event by studying the traces.
Tracing is always "on." As software on the switch executes, the trace information is placed into a
circular buffer in system RAM. Periodically, the trace buffer is "frozen" and saved. This saved
information is a "trace dump."
A trace dump is generated when:
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(For information about the traceDump and traceTrig commands, refer to the Fabric OS Command
Reference.)
The trace dump is maintained on the switch until either it is uploaded to the FTP host or another
trace dump is generated. If another trace dump is generated before the previous one is uploaded,
the previous dump is overwritten.
When a trace dump is generated, it is automatically uploaded to an FTP host if automatic FTP
uploading is enabled.
Using the Trace tab of the Switch Administration window, you can view and configure the trace FTP
host target and enable or disable automatic trace uploads.
Web Tools Administrator's Guide
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DRAFT: BROCADE CONFIDENTIAL
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Trace dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
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Displaying switch information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
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Defining Switch Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
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Port LED interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
It is triggered manually (use the traceDump command).
A critical-level LOG message occurs.
A particular LOG message occurs (use the traceTrig command to set up the conditions for this).
A kernel panic occurs.
The hardware watchdog timer expires.
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