Using the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector

The IBM® Support Assistant Data Collector for WebSphere® Application Server is a tool that you can run to gather data from your application server system for problem determination purposes. It is an alternative to the collector tool (collector.bat or collector.sh).

[8.5.5.23 or later]Deprecated feature: The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector tool is deprecated. Use the Collector tool collector.bat or collector.sh file. See Gathering information with the collector tool.

About this task

The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector for WebSphere Application Server tool focuses on automatic collection of problem data. It also provides symptom analysis support for the various categories of problems encountered by IBM software products. Information pertinent to a type of problem is collected to help identify the origin of the problem under investigation. The tool assists customers by reducing the amount of time it takes to reproduce a problem with the proper RAS tracing levels set, as well as by reducing the effort required to send the appropriate log information to IBM Support.

Procedure

  1. Start the tool.
    The tool runs in console mode by starting the launch script from the command line.
    • In a Windows environment, run the app_server_root/bin/isadc.bat command.
    • In a Linux®, AIX®, HP-UX, Solaris, IBM i, or z/OS environment, run the app_server_root/bin/isadc.sh command.
    Note: You can optionally run the tool from a profile bin directory, instead of the app_server_root\bin\ directory: profile_root/bin/isadc.bat or profile_root/bin/isadc.sh.
  2. Run the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector tool with the user ID for which you configured your WebSphere Server instance.
    Depending on what collection you are running, you are asked for additional information to complete the data collection activities. A script might require more configuration information, information about the sequence of events leading up to the problem you are dealing with, or for your preferences regarding how it completes the collection.

    At each step, the choices are presented as numbered lists and you input the number of your selection and press the enter key. When input is required, prompts are displayed at which you enter your response and press the enter key. You can find collection details for each WebSphere Application Server problem type in their corresponding MustGather documents.

    The tool has a silent collection capability for recording your responses from a console mode session in a file and uses the file to drive subsequent instances of the same collection script. When run in this mode, you are taken to an ordinary interactive session, where you supply the responses to the script prompts. In addition to influencing the current collection, however, your responses are also saved in the file that you named. When the interactive session completes, you can use this response file to start the same script in the future without the need for explicit user input.

    Use the following command to create a response file that contains the answers to all the questions for a certain run through the data collector:
    • [Windows]app_server_root/bin/isadc.bat -record response_filename
    • [Linux][AIX][z/OS][HP-UX][IBM i][Solaris]app_server_root/bin/isadc.sh -record response_filename
    Use the following command to provide the response file when starting the tool:
    • [Windows]app_server_root/bin/isadc.bat -silent response_filename
    • [Linux][AIX][z/OS][HP-UX][IBM i][Solaris]app_server_root/bin/isadc.sh -silent response_filename
    The response file is a plain text file, so you can edit it to change the responses as needed. The file looks very much like a Java properties file, with comments that start with #, and a series of key-value pairs. You can add pauses to a response file using one of the following two keys:
    • PauseScriptTime=X, where X is a positive integer representing the number of seconds a script pauses. If anything other than a positive integer is found, an error message is written to both the console and the log, followed by a message telling the user to hit the enter key when they are ready for the script to proceed.
    • PauseScript=user-defined message - this string is printed to the console, along with a message to hit the enter key you are ready for the script to proceed.

    When using response files, remember that sensitive information, such as user names and passwords, might be stored in these files. It is important that you manage these files in a manner that prevents unauthorized access to sensitive information. Note that passwords are not encrypted.

    Tip: If you are not able to provide root or administrator access to the user to run the collection scripts, make sure that the user ID has administrator privileges for your WebSphere Server, for example, startServer, stopServer, and wsadmin commands.

    By default, the version of the tool (and the various subcomponents) is printed to the console from which it was launched.

  3. Stop the collector tool by typing the quit option in console mode.