Troubleshooting overview

Troubleshooting is the process of finding and eliminating the cause of a problem. Whenever you have a problem with your IBM software, the troubleshooting process begins as soon as you ask yourself what happened.

A basic troubleshooting strategy at a high level involves:

  1. Recording the symptoms.
  2. Recreating the problem.
  3. Eliminating possible causes.
  4. Using diagnostic tools.

Recording the symptoms of the problem

Depending on the type of problem you have, whether it be with your application, your server, or your tools, you might receive a message that indicates something is wrong. Always record the error message that you see. As simple as this sounds, error messages sometimes contain codes that might make more sense as you investigate your problem further. You might also receive multiple error messages that look similar but have subtle differences. By recording the details of each one, you can learn more about where your problem exists.

Recreating the problem

Think back to what steps you were doing that led you to this problem. Try those steps again to see if you can easily recreate this problem. If you have a consistently repeatable test case, you will have an easier time determining what solutions are necessary.

Eliminating possible causes

Narrow the scope of your problem by eliminating components that are not causing the problem. By using a process of elimination, you can simplify your problem and avoid wasting time in areas that are not culprits. Consult the information in this product and other available resources to help you with your elimination process.

Using diagnostic tools

As a more advanced task, there are various tools that you can use to analyze and diagnose problems with your system. To learn how to use these tools see Diagnosing problems.

Additional troubleshooting information

For specific troubleshooting issues and fixes, refer to the information below:

Troubleshoot problems based on function that occur during a task

Troubleshoot problems that crop up during a main task such as migrating, installing, administering, securing, or deploying applications. For more information, see Troubleshooting by function.

Debug applications during development

To debug applications that run on IBM® WebSphere® Process Server, version 6.0, you must use your application development tool. For more information, select Debugging components in the WebSphere Integration Developer, Version 6.0, information center or in the online documentation installed with IBM WebSphere Integration Developer, version 6.0.

Add tracing and logging to your applications

Designers and developers of applications that run on the application server might find it useful to use Java™ logging for generating their application logging. This approach has advantages over simply adding System.out.println statements to your code. For more information, see Adding logging and tracing to your application.

Use WebSphere Application Server troubleshooting capabilities

WebSphere Process Server is built on IBM WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment, version 6.0. WebSphere Process Server also works with infrastructure and platform services from IBM WebSphere Application Server, version 6.0. For more information about troubleshooting in WebSphere Application Server, select Troubleshooting and support in the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, Version 6.0, information center.


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Last updated: Thu Apr 27 15:07:55 2006

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