AIX® client dump capability

This topic describes how to create system dumps for SAN File System clients using the AIX operating system.

You may need to use the dump capabilities if the SAN File System client virtual file system (AIX) hangs, meaning that it is still running but will not respond to commands. Perform one of these steps to initiate a kernel dump.
Note: The SAN File System client runs in kernel space.
  • If you can access the client machine remotely (using telnet or ssh) to obtain a shell prompt, issue the command sysdumpstart. For information about using the sysdumpstart command, refer to either AIX 5L Version 5.1 Commands Reference, Volume 5 or AIX 5L Version 5.2 Commands Reference, Volume 5, s-u for more information about the syslogd daemon. These are available from the IBM® Web site.
  • If you cannot access the client machine remotely, you can initiate a kernel dump using the reset button on the front panel of the machine. See the documentation that was provided with the client machine to determine how to reset it.

By default, the dump file is saved as /var/adm/ras/vmcore.n, where n is a number that is incremented each time a dump file is created.

Parent topic: Client diagnostic tools

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