MustGather: Crash on Microsoft Windows

Technote (FAQ)
Problem
MustGather for problems with a WebSphere® Application Server crash on a Microsoft® Windows® platform. Gathering this information before calling IBM® support will help familiarize you with the troubleshooting process and save you time.
Solution
If you have already contacted support, continue on to the component-specific MustGather information. Otherwise, click: MustGather: Read first for all WebSphere Application Server products.


Crash on Microsoft Windows specific MustGather information

The following steps outline where to collect information and begin troubleshooting a Java™ virtual machine (JVM™) crash on a Windows platform:

  1. Collect Drwtson32.log and user.dmp files. To determine what the "Log File Path" (location of drwtsn32.log) and "Crash Dump" (location of user.dmp) paths are set to, run drwtsn32 from a command line.
    • Default location for Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0:
      \Winnt\System32
    • Default location for Microsoft Windows 2000:
      \Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\DrWatson
  2. Collect javacore*.txt files located in the JVM working directory.
    • For the Application Server, Nanny and Administrative Server, the default working directory on the Windows platform is \Winnt\System32.
    • The Application Server working directory is specified in the Administrative Console in AppServer/General tab for V3.5 and V4.0.
  3. If the Java 2 SDK is V1.3.1 SR5 (131-20030618) or above, execute the following command from the Install_Root/java/jre/bin directory (after having copied the user.dmp file):
    jextract -o user_dmp.sdff [fully qualified path to user.dmp]

  4. Collect the following information:
    • For V6.0 release:
      • All files in <install_root>\profiles\<ProfileName>\logs\<ServerName> directory.
      • A copy of server.xml located in <install_root>\profiles\<ProfileName>/config/cells/<CellName>/nodes/<NodeName>\servers\<ServerName>director
    • For V5.0 and V5.1 releases:
      • Include all of the files from the <install_root>\logs\<ServerName>directory.
      • A copy of server.xml located at <install_root>\config\cells\<CellName>\nodes\<nodeName>\servers\<ServerName> directory
    • For V3.5 and V4.0 releases:
      • Include all of the files from the <install_root>\logs directory.
      • A copy of XMLExport for the server configuration
      • tracefile
    • drwtsn32.log
    • user.dmp
    • All javacore*.txt files
    • The user_dmp.sdff file created from jextract (step 3 above).
    • Note: For all versions, If you have configured the application server to write logs into a different location, send them accordingly.
  5. Follow instructions tosend diagnostic information to IBM support.

Steps to setup Microsoft Windows environment to generate DrWatson log and Userdump files

  1. On the Start menu, click Run.
  2. Enter drwtsn32, and then click OK. (This will bring up the DrWatson screen.)
  3. Type the location to where you want the Dr Watson log to be stored in the field provided for Log File Path.
  4. Type the location and the file name where you want the user.dmp file to be stored in the field provided for Crash Dump.
  5. Make sure that the following options are checked in DrWatson screen:
    • Dump Symbol Table
    • Dump All Thread Contexts
    • Visual Notification
    • Create Crash Dump file
    • For Windows 2003, "Crash Dump Type" option needs to be set to NT4 compatible Full
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click Run on the Start menu.
  8. Enter drwtsn32 -i and click OK. This will enable DrWatson to become the default debugger, and it will generate the DrWatson log and Userdump when an application crashes.
  9. Run the application.
  10. If the above steps do not result in the creation of a drwtsn32.log file or a user.dmp file, please follow the instructions in Java process exits without leaving a footprint in WebSphere log files.
  11. Follow instructions tosend diagnostic information to IBM support.

For a listing of all technotes, downloads, and educational materials specific to the Crash component, search the WebSphere Application Server support site.
Related information
Submitting information to IBM support

Steps to getting support

MustGather: Readme first

Troubleshooting guide












Document Information

Product categories: Software, Application Servers, Distributed Application & Web Servers, WebSphere Application Server, Crash
Operating system(s): Windows
Software version: 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0
Software edition: Advanced, Base, Express, Network Deployment, Single Server
Reference #: 1053924
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: 2004-12-10