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IBM Spectrum Protect FFDC logging explained.

Question & Answer


Question

What is the purpose of IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) FFDC logging?

Answer

With the introduction of IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) V6.3, new First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) logging was introduced. The FFDC log is used to gather diagnostic information about the server at the time of a failure. When an error occurs, data about the error is written to the FFDC log. This information can be provided to IBM support to help diagnose problems.

Please note that FFDC messages may or may not indicate an actual issue. It is not uncommon for these messages to be benign and not truly indicative of an operational failure. If you are experiencing operational issues that coincide with an FFDC message, and are unable to interpret the messaging using the IBM knowledge base (TechNotes and APAR's), IBM support should be contacted to investigate further.


Options (dsmserv.opt) available to change the behavior of the FFDC logging:

There are two options that are used to control the FFDC log name and size in all 6.3 and newer; FFDCLOGNAME and FFDCMAXLOGSIZE.

There is an additional option used to control the number of FFDC log file(s) created when using 7.1 and newer; FFDCNUMLOGS.

Subject to change at the discretion of IBM, there will be an additional option used to control which types of messages are written to the FFDC log file(s) beginning in 7.1.7 (via APAR IT15607); FFDCLOGLEVEL.


Additional details about these FFDC logging options:

The FFDCLOGNAME controls the name of the FFDC log file, which by default in 6.3 is the dsmserv.err file located in the server's instance directory, and by default in 7.1 is the dsmffdc.log file located in the server's instance directory.

The FFDCMAXLOGSIZE option controls the maximum size that the FFDC log file can grow to before circular logging occurs, which by default is 500kb in 6.3 and 1024kb in 7.1+.

The FFDCNUMLOGS option (7.1.0+ specific) controls how many unique FFDC log files are created at the FFDCMAXLOGSIZE before circular logging begins, and it defaults to 10.

The FFDCLOGLEVEL (7.1.7+ specific) option controls which FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER type messages are written to the FFDC log. FFDCLOGLEVEL only affects the FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER* message types. No other message types are affected by this option. Valid values are:

  • ALL - All FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_INFO, FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_ERROR, and FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_WARNING messages are written to the log.
  • WARN - Only FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_WARNING and FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_ERROR messages are written to the log, or
  • ERROR - Only FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_ERROR messages are written to the log.


Anatomy of an FFDC log message:

The formatting of an FFDC log message is as follows:

[Date and timestamp][ FFDC Message Type ]: (Message source file and line number) Additional diagnostic details and information.


Available FFDC Message Types based on server level:

Available FFDC Message Type's include for 6.3.0.000 and newer (valid as of 6.3.4.000 and 7.1.0.000):

FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_ERROR - Errors specific to general server operations.
FFDC_GENERAL_STAGENT_ERROR - Errors specific to storage agent operations.
FFDC_MSG_FROM_NDMP_DEVICE - Errors specific to NDMP backup/restore operations.
FFDC_ERROR_DBREPAIR - Errors specific to database repair operations.
FFDC_REPLICATION - Errors specific to NODE REPLICATION.


Additional new FFDC Message Type's for 7.1.3.000 and newer (valid as of 7.1.5.200):

FFDC_ERROR_FROM_DB2 - Errors specific to errors from DB2.


FFDC_DATABASE_RESTORE - Errors specific to RESTORE DB processing.
FFDC_PROTECTSTGPOOL - Errors specific to directory-container pool PROTECT STGPOOL.
FFDC_STGPOOL_REPAIR - Errors specific to directory-container pool repair operations.
FFDC_AUDIT - Errors specific to directory-container pool audit operations.
FFDC_CLOUD - Errors specific to cloud-based directory-container pools.
FFDC_DIAGNOSTIC_MSG - Errors specific to general diagnostic messages for server operations.

Additional new FFDC Message Type's for 7.1.7.000 and newer:

FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_WARNING - Warnings specific to general server operations.
FFDC_GENERAL_SERVER_INFO - Informational messages specific to general server operations.

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Product Synonym

ITSM ADSM TSM IBM SPECTRUM PROTECT

Document Information

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

swg21639703