obdc

Collects information for the first-failure data capture of SAN File System problems, from either a client machine or the storage engine.

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram
>>-obdc--+-----------+--+----------------+---------------------->
         +- -c-------+  '- -cleanallobdc-'
         '- -confirm-'

>--+----------------+--+----------------+--+-------------+------>
   +- -h------------+  |            (1) |  '- -noarchive-'
   +- -home=--------+  '- -noprompt-----'
   '-home_directory-'

>--+--------------+--+---------+--+------------------+---------->
   '- -nocompress-'  +- -name=-+  +- -o--------------+
                     '-value---'  +- -output=--------+
                                  '-output_directory-'

>--+---------+--+----------+--+---------------------+----------->
   +- -q-----+  '- -stdout-'  +- -t-----------------+
   '- -quiet-'                +- -temp=-------------+
                              '-temporary_directory-'

>--+------------+--+----------+--+-----------+--+--------+------>
   +- -timeout=-+  '- -totals-'  +- -v-------+  '- -help-'
   '-value------'                '- -verbose-'

>--+-----------+--+------------------+-------------------------><
   '- -version-'  | .--------------. |
                  | V .-basic----. | |
                  '---+-config---+-+-'
                      +-crash----+
                      +-full-----+
                      +-hardware-+
                      +-images---+
                      +-info-----+
                      +-internal-+
                      +-logs-----+
                      +-os-------+
                      '-perf-----'

Notes:
  1. When specifying the -noprompt option, the responses to all questions are automatically yes. Be sure that this will produce the expected results.

Parameters

-c | --confirm
Requests that the user be required to provide a confirmation for each piece of data that is collected.
--cleanallobdc
Removes all old one-button data collection (OBDC) archives and core files from the system. The user is asked to confirm each deletion.
-h | --home= home_directory
Specifies the root of the installation directory for the SAN File System component installed on the local machine. The default is /user/tank. The user can specify the home directory as a fully qualified path name only.
--noprompt
Specifies that the command will not prompt the user for the answers to questions. Instead, it is to assume that the answers to all questions are affirmative.
Attention: This option applies to all other specified options, including the --cleanallobdc option, so be sure that you consider the results.
--noarchive
Specifies that the command is to generate the data in a directory tree below the target directory, instead of archiving the data into a zip file. The name of the target directory is OBDC-mmddyy-time-odbc_PID, where odbc_PID is the process ID for the OBDC command instance. For example, OBDC-012204-1312-28494.
--nocompress
Specifies that the command not compress the archive file. If you specify --nocompress, the name of the archive file is OBDC-mmddyy-time-odbc_PID.tar, where for example, OBDC-012204-1312-28494.tar and if you do not specify --nocompress, the name of the archive file is OBDC-mmddyy-time-odbc_PID.tar.gz, where odbc_PID is the process ID for the OBDC command instance. For example, OBDC-012204-1312-28494.tar.gz.
--name= value
Assigns a specific name to the resulting tar file.
-o | --output= output_directory
Specifies the directory in which to assemble the collected data. The default is /user/tank/OBDC.
-q | --quiet
This mode does not display any output.
--stdout
Specifies that only information about how the command ran be sent to standard output.
-t | --temp= temporary_directory
Specifies an alternate directory in which to store temporary files. The default is /tmp.
--timeout value
Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, before stopping an attempt to collect a single piece of data. The default is 30 seconds.
--totals
Displays the size and number of files acquired.
-v | --verbose
Enables verbose mode.
--help
Displays a detailed description of this command, including syntax, parameter descriptions, and examples. If you specify a help option, all other command options are ignored.
--version
Displays information about the version of the OBDC program.
basic, config, crash, full, hardware, images, info, internal, logs, os, perf
Specifies the type and amount of data to be collected. You can specify more than one value, separated by a space between each type.
basic
Collects only a small amount of fundamental system data, which is useful for addressing simple usage and configuration questions. This information includes configuration files, the internal state of the metadata server or client, operating system statistics, hardware specifications and log files.

This is the default collection option if no command-line options are specified.

config
Collects the configuration files for a metadata server or client.
crash
Collects crash dump files, such as operating system dumps, if they exist, or core files from the metadata server.
Tip: Using the crash value can cause the obdc command to collect a very large amount of data. For example, a client machine with 2 GB of memory produces a core file of the same size. (The binary file for the operating system can also be somewhat large). Therefore, you must take steps to ensure the availability of sufficient disk space in the output directory before invoking the obdc command with this value.
full
Collects all of the data necessary to handle the majority of problems. It includes as the information collected with the basic options plus crash dump files and performance information.
hardware
Collects hardware specifications.
images
Collects installation files.
info
Collects information about the metadata server.
internal
Collects different types of runtime state information for either the client or the metadata server.
logs
Collects log files from the metadata server or client.
os
Collects operating system statistics.
perf
Gathers statistics and metrics about the performance of a metadata server or client, which is useful in cases where system response has degraded.

Prerequisites

This task must be performed only by trained service technicians.

Description

The obdc command gathers data for diagnosing errors or failures associated with metadata servers and clients. This command is intended primarily for first-failure data-capture capabilities useful for investigating problems upon their initial occurrence, without requiring problem recreation or subsequent tracing.

This command must be invoked natively on the metadata server or client machine from which you want to collect information. For a metadata server, this command can be invoked using the SAN File System console or the administrative command-line interface (CLI). The CLI command is named collectdiag. For a metadata server or client, the command can be invoked from a command shell (on UNIX®) or a command prompt (on Windows®). The SAN File System console provides true one-button running of the command against a specified metadata server, but it always issues the command with the default parameters for all parameters. Invoke the command using one of the alternate methods if you need to specify non-default parameters.

Privileges

The obdc command relies upon a number of SAN File System and operating system commands that require certain administrative privileges. To run the command, you must be logged in as root on a UNIX platform or Administrator on a Windows platform.

Collected data

The obdc command collects data for metadata servers, administrative servers, and clients of a SAN File System configuration, regardless of platform. The command relies both on SAN File System administrative commands and on operating-system commands to obtain much of the data it collects. It creates a GZIP-compressed tar file (by default) in the time-stamped output directory to record the results of the administrative and operating system commands that it invokes. In the event that the process from which data is requested is unavailable (for example, if the metadata server is unavailable or unresponsive), the command records a suitable message and continues without collecting data from the unavailable process. This command also assembles various configuration, log, trace, and core files in the output directory.

The obdc command collects information related to both hardware and software. The specific information gathered depends on the platform, the SAN File System configuration of the machine, and the parameters specified. In general, this command collects more data for metadata servers than for clients, due to the greater function and complexity of the metadata server configuration.

For hardware, this command collects information about:
  • Processors
  • Memory
  • Network adapters (LAN and SAN)
  • Storage devices (local and SAN)
For software, this command collects information about:
  • Operating system
  • Network configuration (LAN and SAN)
  • Storage configuration (local and SAN)
  • SAN File System configuration

Within these general categories, the command gathers essential component information (for example, name, version, and configuration), current status, logged messages, trace and diagnostic output, core files, and performance statistics and metrics, among other things. Not all types of information pertain to all hardware and software components about which information is collected.

Example

Collecting basic information plus installation files The following example collects the basic data and installation files. The collected data is archived and compressed into a single output file for delivery to remote support personnel.
/usr/tank/client/bin/obdc basic images

Parent topic: Service commands and utilities

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