Understanding The Logs; Capturing Logs With The First Time Data Capture Utility; Configuration And Log Files - IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module Installation And User Manual

Understanding the logs

The alert history log file along with the ones listed in this topic can be used to
view the information you need to diagnose and troubleshoot system events.
The IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module stores the alerts definition
file as a text based .ini file which also stores user-modified email settings.
The following additional files can be used in conjunction with the alert history log
file to provide information needed to diagnose RAID Controller configuration and
run time errors:

Capturing logs with the First Time Data Capture Utility

Use the First Time Data Capture Utility (FTDC Utility) to capture the software
diagnostic files produced by your RAID Controller.
The FTDC Utility is a command line program that collects, in a single execution, a
variety of support files from both RAID Controllers in the IBM BladeCenter S
chassis. Support files are made up of the error logs, configuration files, and trace
files, all of which contain vital information for maintaining the health of your
system and for troubleshooting issues if they occur.
The collected files are aggregated into a single tar file. The tar file is named using
the date, time and the IBM BladeCenter S chassis serial number. An example for a
file collected on June 2, 2008 (20080602) at 3:17:42 PM (151742 in 24-hour time)
from the RAID Controllers in IBM BladeCenter S chassis 23A6789 is as follows:
20080602.151742.23A6789.tar
Program versions for Windows and Linux
There are two versions of the program; one for the Windows environment and one
for the Linux environment. The two program versions collect the same support
files, and create tar files that are identical with the exception of timestamp
information.
You can run the FTDC Utility program in any directory on a Windows or Linux
workstation with a network connection to the IBM BladeCenter S chassis and the
RAID Controllers within that chassis.
The FTDC Utility consists of three files that must all be installed in the same
directory: The Windows version of the utility provides the three files in a
self-extracting ZIP file named FTDCn.nn.EXE. The Linux version of the provides the
Table 12. Configuration and Log Files
Header
Online Log
System Configuration Log
CLI History & Config Script Logs
Traces Log
Controller State Dump Log
Header
History of controller state changes
Stores current RAID controller configuration
when requested via API
Stores history of CLI and script-drive
configuration commands executed
Saves firmware debug trace information
Saves RSP register and data structure image
Chapter 11. Troubleshooting and support
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