Collecting data with the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector

[Version 8.6 and later]Run the IBM® Support Assistant Data Collector to collect problem determination data from your WebSphere® eXtreme Scale environment. By using this tool, you can reduce the amount of time it takes to reproduce a problem with the proper RAS tracing levels set, and reduce the effort required to send the appropriate log information to IBM Support.

Before you begin

Before you run the tool, have the following system configuration information ready to provide to the tool:
  • File name for saving the collected data
  • java_home directory
  • wxs_home directory
  • Working directory used by WebSphere eXtreme Scale
  • Location of additional scripts files used to start servers

About this task

In previous releases of WebSphere eXtreme Scale, the IBM Support Assistant Lite tool was used for log gathering for problem determination. The IBM Support Assistant Lite tool continues to be shipped with the product in the wxs_home/isalite_wxs directory. IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is a more interactive tool that installs with Version 8.6 and later. IBM Support Assistant Data Collector improves ease of use of collecting data by remembering various inputs, reducing repetitive typing during console input.

Procedure

  1. Start the tool. The tool runs in console mode by starting the launch script from the command line.
    The script for the tool is installed in the wxs_home/isadc_wxs directory.
    • [Windows]isadc.bat
    • [Linux][Unix]isadc.sh
  2. Supply your system information to the tool.
    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 problem type in their corresponding MustGather documents. You also can provide the compressed file name and the directory location to which you want to save your bundled information.
  3. Stop the collector tool by typing the quit option in console mode.

Results

The following environment-related information is bundled in a compressed file that you named for saving the data:
  • Gather log files
  • Gather eXtreme Scale version information
  • Gather Java™ version information
  • Gather information about the wxs_home directory structure, including what files are currently stored in various directories. Actual files are not saved to the compressed file.
  • Gather the scripts currently in bin directory.

What to do next

Contact IBM support and provide the compressed file that you generated with the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector. For more information, see Contacting IBM Support.