MustGather: Nanny Problems in V4.0 on Unix® Platforms
 Technote (FAQ)
 
Problem
MustGather for Nanny problems (for example: Nanny process dies, or Nanny fails to restart the administrative server after it stops) with all releases of WebSphere® Application Server V4.0 running on Unix platforms. Gathering this information before calling IBM support helps familiarize you with the troubleshooting process and saves you time.
 
Solution
Nanny Problems in V4.0 on Unix® Platforms

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.

Nanny specific MustGather information

In the following text, $WAS_HOME refers to the directory where your WebSphere Application Server is installed. For example, in a Solaris™ system (under default installation paths), this would imply the directory /opt/WebSphere/AppServer.

Required Data:

There are three sets of trace data that you must gather for a Nanny investigation.
  1. The first set of data originates from the Java™ portion of WebSphere Application Server. This data collection is available only in WebSphere Application Server V4 PTFs 6 and above.
  2. The second set of trace data is from your administrative server.
  3. The third set of data is generated from your WebSphere Application Server native code. This is available across a broader set of releases.

How to Enable Data Capture:
  1. The administrative server and Nanny trace data collection are initiated through the admin.config file (located in $WAS_HOME/bin directory).
    1. In the admin.config file, specify the Nanny trace string for the sm component, the Nanny trace destination directory, the administrative server trace string for sm component, and the administrative server trace destination directory. The admin.config file should have the following four entries:
      com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.process.Nanny.traceString=com.ibm.ejs.sm.*=all=enabled
      com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.process.Nanny.traceFile=/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/logs/nanny.trace
      com.ibm.ejs.sm.adminServer.traceString=com.ibm.ejs.sm*=all=enabled
      com.ibm.ejs.sm.adminServer.traceOutput=/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/logs/admin.trace

      Notes:
      a. Leave no trailing spaces at the end of the line; the line must be exactly as it appears above without any intervening spaces.
      b. The trace destination files can be any valid filename. If absolute paths are not specified, the $WAS_HOME/bin directory is assumed to be your the base directory.

  2. Enabling Native Code Nanny logs. The native code debugging module is integrated with the WebSphere Application Server V4 PTF 8 release. Until then, to enable Nanny logs, please contact IBM Support for a debug module specific to your system. The steps are outlined here, but the debug module has to be recompiled by IBM support for your specific environment.

    Steps for the application of the debug module and logs:
    1. Copy the library file $WAS_HOME/bin/libWsProcessManagement.so to a safe place.
    2. Place the libWsProcessManagement.so supplied by IBM Support to your $WAS_HOME/bin.
    3. Stop your Application Server.
    4. Restart your Application Server.
    5. When you are ready to capture traces for native code, create a file called /tmp/wasdbg/321/1234.dfr.
    6. Execute the action that results in the core dump.
    7. To turn off native code tracing, remove the file /tmp/wasdbg/321/1234.dfr.
    8. There are a maximum of 3 files in /tmp -- ibmProcTrace, ipmPHTrace, and ibmGTrace.

      It is not necessary to switch libraries to turn off trace collection. Leave the native code library as it is. No performance penalty is incurred as long the file that enables tracing (/tmp/wasdbg/321/1234.dfr) is removed. Furthermore, the same native code is integrated into PTF 8 release and therefore can be left as an advance upgrade.

What Files to Send to IBM:
Please send the following:
  • The Nanny trace destination files (as specified in 1.2).
  • The administrative server trace file.
  • /tmp/ibmProcTrace
  • /tmp/ipmPHTrace
  • /tmp/ibmGTrace
  • The admin.config file.
  • The product.xml file.
  • A time-stamped sequence of activities that led to the incident.


Follow instructions to send diagnostic information to IBM support

For a listing of all technotes, downloads, and educational materials specific to the System Management/Repository component, search the WebSphere Application Server support site.

 
Related information
Ten Steps to Getting Support
 
 
 


Document Information


Product categories: Software > Application Servers > Distributed Application & Web Servers > WebSphere Application Server > System Management/Repository
Operating system(s): HP-UX
Software version: 4.0
Software edition:
Reference #: 1159163
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Dec 6, 2004