HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Using AutoRestart/iX for Mini-Dump
by Pat Alvarez
Commercial Systems Division
Included with this version of MPE/iX is an enhanced version of
AutoRestart/iX. In addition, a new ASCII file, MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP,
has been added to the AutoRestart/iX product. This enhanced version
includes the functionality for creating a mini-dump when the system goes
down due to a system failure. AutoRestart/iX is used for preallocating
the mini-dump, setting up the environment for creating the mini-dump and
configuring system failure numbers to indicate whether the mini-dump and
a full dump will be taken. The mini-dump that is created consists of an
ASCII file containing output from SAT summarizing the system failure.
Specifically, the mini-dump contains a date and time stamp, the MPE/iX
version identification, the system failure number, and a stack trace.
The information in a mini-dump can be used to track system failures, and
because it is relatively small, it can be easily transmitted across a
network to notify a remote system manager.
CONFIGURING AND USING MINI-DUMP
Using the mini-dump feature involves taking some steps to prepare your
system. Also, it involves understanding the steps involved when a
mini-dump is taken. The following is a brief overview of these steps.
Preparing your system for mini-dump involves the following steps:
* Estimate the size of your mini-dump and create it.
* Set up information defining the contents of the mini-dump.
* Define the criteria for which a full dump should be taken in
addition to a mini-dump.
* Create an autoboot format file specifying that SAT should be
invoked.
Once a system failure occurs the following takes place:
* The system boots into SAT.
* SAT uses the information defined regarding the contents of the
mini-dump.
* SAT uses the criteria you have defined to decide whether a full
dump should be taken.
* SATs output is written to the mini-dump file.
* SAT exits and either a full dump is taken or the system is
restarted based on the criteria you have specified.
The following example describes the steps necessary to initially
configure and use the mini-dump feature. It assumes that AutoRestart/iX
has been installed and configured.
To configure the mini-dump feature, follow these steps:
1. Log on as MANAGER.SYS (or any account with system manager
capability). Enter:
:HELLO MANAGER[/userpass].SYS[/acctpass],mygroup
2. Invoke the BLDDUMP utility. At the system prompt, enter:
:RUN BLDDUMP.HP36375.TELESUP
3. Use the BUILDMD command to build the mini-dump file, specifying a
file size. At the BLDDUMP prompt, enter:
(#1) blddump> BUILDMD 1000
where 1000 is the size of the mini-dump in 80 byte records.
The mini-dump that is built has the name MINIDUMP in the
group and account MPEXL.SYS.
Next, you need to define the contents of the mini-dump, that is,
initialize the file that contains commands that are used by SAT in
creating the mini-dump. The template, MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP,
contains the minimum set of SAT commands that must be used. In
order for SAT to use the commands in this file some data
structures must be initialized through the use of the BLDDUMP
command INITMD.
4. Use the command INITMD specifying MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP or a
local copy of this file (for example, mdinput.mygroup):
(#2) blddump> INITMD mdinput
Next, you need to specify criteria where a full dump should be
taken in addition to a mini-dump.
5. First, you must use a text editor to construct an ASCII format
file. You can explicitly specify that the default for the
mini-dump feature is that only a mini-dump should be taken for all
system failures by putting the ASCII string DEFAULT on the first
line of the file followed by the action for a nulldump, that is,
the name of the macro that will not take a full dump. This macro
is defined in the file MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP.
At this point, if a mini-dump is sufficient to analyze all system
failures, keep the file as an unnumbered file and skip to step 6.
Otherwise, each subsequent line should have a system failure
number prefixed with a SA or SD specifying whether the failure is
a NM System Abort or a CM SuddenDeath. In addition, on this same
line separated by blanks you must specify the SAT macro that takes
a full dump when the system fails with this number. The macro
that takes a full dump, fulldump, is included in the template,
MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP. The last line in this file should contain
the ASCII string EOF. To specify that a full dump should be taken
when the system fails with a 1451 ora 2001 you would create a file
with the following information:
:RUN EDITOR.PUB.SYS
HP32201A.07.20 EDIT/3000 FRI, JUL 10, 1992, 1:30 PM
(C) HEWLETT PACKARD CO 1990
/ADD
1 DEFAULT NULLDUMP
2 SA1451 FULLDUMP
3 SA2001 FULLDUMP
.
.
.
9 EOF
10 //
...
/KEEP temp,unn
/EXIT
END OF PROGRAM
In order for the mini-dump feature to recognize the information
that you have specified in your file, some data structures must be
initialized through the use of the command INITMD. This is similar
to what was done in step 4.
Prior to using the command INITMD, your file must be of a specific
file format: 80 byte, fixed length record file. In order to get
it in this format, the following must be done.
6. Use the CI BUILD command to build a file with the specific
characteristics, then copy the file created above to this new file
using the FCOPY utility.
:BUILD mdinfo;rec=-80,,f,ascii
:FCOPY FROM=temp;TO=mdinfo
:PURGE temp
Now, invoke the INITMD command.
7. Use the command INITMD specifying your file.
(#3) blddump> INITMD ,mdinfo
8. Use the LISTMD command to display the name and size of the
mini-dump file you created, and to display the files that were
initialized using the INITMD command.
(#4) blddump> LISTMD
Mini-Dump Version A.00.00
Autoboot Status ON
Restart Enabled YES
Mini-Dump Enabled YES
MINI-DUMP FILE: MINIDUMP.MPEXL.SYS
MAXIMUM RECORDS: 1000
INPUT FILE: MDINPUT.mygroup.SYS
INITIALIZED: FRI, JUL 3, 1992, 1:10 PM
DUMP CRITERIA FILE: MDINFO.mygroup.SYS
INITIALIZED: FRI, JUL 3, 1992, 1:35 PM
9. Use the EXIT command to exit from BLDDUMP.
Next, the autoboot format file must be modified to contain
the following:
SAT SATINIT
START -R
10. Use a text editor to add the above commands to the AUTOIN file.
This file is used as the input file in creating the autoboot
format file. Refer to the AutoRestart/iX User's Guide
(36375-90001) for more information.
11. Use the FORMAT utility and SYSGEN to create the autoboot format
file and to activate the autoboot feature. Refer to the chapters
on "Creating the Autoboot Format File" and "Adding the Autoboot
File to your System's Configuration" in the AutoRestart/iX User's
Guide. You can also use the AUTOBOOT command to activate the
autoboot feature.
The mini-dump feature is now configured. If your system was started with
the -R option then at this point, if a system failure should occur, SAT
writes out the mini-dump information and the system automatically
restarts.
An example of how a mini-dump would look follows:
FRI, JUL 3, 1992 3:49 PM
RELEASE: A.41.00 MPEXL HP31900 A.51.07 USER VERSION: A.41.00
SYSTEM ABORT #1789 FROM SUBSYSTEM #107
PC=a.00196ec0 system_abort
NM* 0) SP=402c5e58 RP=a.003e50ac unlock_range_from_cache+$94
NM 1) SP=402c5e58 RP=a.003e8a68 unlock_from_vpn_cache+$c4
NM 2) SP=402c5de8 RP=a.002c5b08 change_vps_state+$3c0
NM 3) SP=402c5d50 RP=a.002cb0b0 reserve_page+$22c
NM 4) SP=402c5b20 RP=a.002b6f5c fetch__pages+$398
NM 5) SP=402c5a70 RP=a.002dd874 prefetch_+$63c
NM 6) SP=402c58a8 RP=a.00898df8 sm_soft_prefetch+$128
NM 7) SP=402c5370 RP=a.0089a5d0 disc_sm_start_read+$2e8
NM 8) SP=402c52e0 RP=a.0084b324 tm_ord_var_buf_disc.tm_read+$1d4
NM 9) SP=402c51b8 RP=a.0084d058 tm_ord_var_buf_disc+$12c
NM a) SP=402c5018 RP=a.00803e1c FREAD+$3dc
NM b) SP=402c4fa0 RP=a.00802094 ?FREAD+$8
Can't unwind. Error reading a value from virtual memory.
Can't get next stack frame. Can't trace any further.
Since the mini-dump file is just an ASCII format file, you can view it
with the PRINT command, an editor, or any way that you would typically
view an ASCII file.
AUTORESTART/iX
AutoRestart/iX is a product that allows an automatic nondestructive
reboot when a system failure occurs and enables a machine to restart
itself without operator intervention. In addition, AutoRestart/iX allows
dumps to be written to disk.
The mini-dump feature is a new feature that is supported through
AutoRestart/iX. When a system failure occurs, the mini-dump feature
enables MPE/iX to write system failure information to a disk file, which
can be analyzed at a later time.
Mini-Dump Commands
The AutoRestart/iX BLDDUMP utility is used to configure and manage the
mini-dump feature. Using BLDDUMP, you can create, manage and purge the
mini-dump file. The commands that have been added to BLDDUMP to support
the mini-dump feature include the following:
BUILDMD file_size
BUILDMD builds the mini-dump file with the specified size in number of 80
byte records.
PURGEMD
PURGEMD purges the mini-dump file.
INITMD input_fileid criteria_fileid
INITMD initializes the file containing information defining the contents
of the mini-dump. The default file MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP is provided,
which defines the contents of the mini-dump. Also, INITMD initializes
the file containing criteria regarding the action that should be taken
for specified system failures.
LISTMD
LISTMD lists information pertaining to the mini-dump.
Autoboot file
The autoboot feature of AutoRestart/iX is also used in the overall
mini-dump scheme. A typical autoboot file would contain:
SAT SATINIT
START -R
Using these commands in the autoboot file, a mini-dump occurs prior to
subsequent MPE/iX startups. The option SATINIT, used above, is a new
option to SAT.
SAT
Standalone Analysis Tool (SAT) is a standalone image that is bootable
from ISL and is used to analyze a failure without going through the dump
process. SAT has been enhanced to support mini-dump. A mini-dump
consists of the output from a SAT session using a file containing a set
of SAT commands as input. The file containing the set of SAT commands,
MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP, is described in the following section.
For specific information on new SAT commands that have been created for
use by mini-dump, please refer to the article "SAT Enhancements" in this
section of the Communicator.
MDINPUT FILE
A mini-dump consists of the output of a SAT session based on a set of
commands that are supplied as input to SAT. When the option, SATINIT, is
specified, SAT automatically executes the commands in the file that has
been initialized through the BLDDUMP command INITMD.
The file MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP contains the set of commands that must
be used as input to SAT. In addition to initializing the mini-dump, the
commands in MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP creates a mini-dump with a date and
time stamp, the MPE/iX version number, system failure information, and a
stack trace. Modification of this file is not supported.
The INITMD command in BLDDUMP must be used specifying
MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP in order to initialize data structures so that
SAT can recognize the commands in the file.
SPECIFYING CRITERIA FOR FULL DUMP
When the mini-dump feature is configured on your system, it automatically
defaults and takes a mini-dump, in addition to a full dump every time a
system failure occurs. If you do not wish to take a full dump for every
system failure, the mini-dump feature allows you to configure this.
NOTE If a system failure occurs for a system failure number that you
have configured not to take a full memory dump, Hewlett-Packard
does not guarantee diagnosis of the failure, that is, a full memory
dump is required in order to get assistance from Hewlett-Packard in
determining the cause of the failure.
You can configure this through the use of the file
MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP, the BLDDUMP command INITMD, and an ASCII file
that you create specifying system failure numbers and the 'action' you
want taken based on these numbers. The two 'actions' that can be taken
include 1) taking a full dump, and 2) not taking a full dump.
The file MDINPUT.HP36375.TELESUP contains two SAT macros that comprise
the 'actions' that can be taken for the specified system failure numbers.
One macro takes a full dump and the other will not take a full dump. A
text editor must be used to construct an ASCII file containing system
failure numbers and actions that should be taken for each of them.
BLDDUMP must then be invoked with the INITMD command specifying this file
in order to initialize it and place it in a location so that it can be
used by SAT.
For more details on these enhancements, refer to the AutoRestart/iX
User's Guide(36375-90001).