NETCONTROL TRACEON and TRACEOFF

Syntax

  NETCONTROL {TRACEON=type[,options]} [;{NI=niName [;PROT=niprot]} ]
             {TRACEOFF              }   {NET=niName              }
                                        {GATE=gatehalfname       }
                                        {PROT=gprot              }

    [DISC][,[filename][,[recsize][,filesize] ]]

Parameters

TRACEON

Enables tracing for the one entity specified by the NI, PROT, NET, or GATE keywords, or for the control process if none of those keywords are specified. The control process will be started if it is not already running. This function cannot be used to modify any parameters of tracing which has already been enabled. If tracing is already enabled for the specified entity, a "PREVIOUSLY ENABLED" error will occur.

type

(Required). Specifies the type of data to trace from the specified entity. This field is made up of one or more of the following key letters, concatenated, and entered in any order:

  M —  Trace Messages
  H —  Trace Packet Header Data
  D —  Trace Packet Data
  S —  Trace State Transitions
  B —  Trace Buffers
  N —  Trace Nodal Management Events

Recommended type setting is MHD. There is no default.

options

Specifies additional information about where to put the collected trace data. There are several parameters.

NOTE: A comma must precede a parameter whenever (a) that parameter is included or (b) that parameter is omitted but any other parameter which follows it is included.

DISC

(Optional). Trace information will be written to a disc file, specified by the filename parameter. DISC is the default and the only valid input.

NOTE: Tracing to tape is no longer available on MPE/iX.

filename

(Optional). The name of the file to which trace data will be written. The default is to automatically create the next highest numbered NMTCnnnn.PUB.SYS file, where nnnn is a 4-digit number, for each TRACEON command entered.

If you wish several TRACEON commands to trace to the same file, you must specify that filename using this parameter. You may choose an automatically created file for this purpose.

recsize

(Optional). Logical record size of the records in the file to which trace data will be written, in number of 16-bit words. This is an internal limit for the tracing facility; the physical record size is always 128. Valid range is 5<=recsize<=1024. Default is 128.

filesize

(Optional). Maximum number of records in the trace file. When this limit is reached, the file "wraps", and tracing continues. The valid range is 32<=filesize<=32000. Default is 1024.

TRACEOFF

Disables previously enabled tracing for one entity, which is specified by the NI, PROT, NET, or GATE keywords, or for the control process if none of those keywords are specified. If tracing is not enabled for the specified entity, a "NOT TRACING" error will occur.

NI=niname

Specifies the name of a configured network interface the trace will apply to. Enter any valid NI name from the NMMGR Network Interface screen which is not a gateway half. If the specified NI was not previously configured and started, a "NOT STARTED" error will occur.

Specifying NI=niname without the ;PROT= option, or NET=niname, starts tracing for the network interface itself.

NET=niName

Specifies the name of a configured network interface which is not a gatehalf. Enter any valid NI name, as configured with NMMGR. Using this parameter, the function applies only to the network interface itself, not to any attached protocols.

GATE=gatehalfName

Specifies the name of a configured gateway half network interface to start tracing on. Enter any valid gatehalf NI name from the NMMGR Network Interface Configuration screen. If the specified gatehalf NI was not previously configured and started, a "NOT STARTED" error will occur.

PROT=gprot PROT=niProt

Specifies that a protocol is the pertinent entity for each specified function to act on. Enter the name of the protocol, as follows:

gprot

Specifies the name of one transport general protocol to start tracing on. Valid inputs are TCP, UDP, PXP, or IPU. If the specified protocol did not start or is not one of these inputs, a "NOT ACTIVE" error will occur.

niprot

Specifies the name of one network interface protocol to start tracing on; must be used in conjunction with the NI=niname parameter. Valid inputs depend on the NI type, as shown here. If the specified protocol did not start, is not configured, or is not one of these inputs, a "NOT ACTIVE" error will occur.

NI Type:	Valid Network Interface Protocol Names
LAN	IP, PROBE, ARP
TOKEN	IP, ARP
FDDI	IP, ARP
100VG-AnyLAN	IP, PROBE, ARP
100Base-T	IP, PROBE, ARP
ROUTER	IP, DIAL
X.25	IP, X25
GATEHALF	IP, DIAL
LOOP	IP

Discussion

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The tracing functions allow you to enable collection of internal information about what the various transport modules are doing, or what packets are being sent and received at the transport level.

Using TRACEON you instruct a specific module not only to begin tracing, but also what kind of data to trace and what file to put it in. Tracing continues until explicitly stopped via a matching TRACEOFF command, or until the specified module, or all of transport, is stopped. If multiple modules had tracing enabled to capture a problem, stopping transport is the usual way to stop all tracing.

For most problems you will need to enable TCP tracing, and for IP store-and-forward problems you should enable IP tracing; see the examples for sample commands. For link-related problems you should enable link tracing (see the LINKCONTROL command). Other NS tracing can be enabled under the guidance of your HP support representative.

When tracing is enabled successfully, the name of the active trace file is displayed. You should write this down as it will not be repeated at TRACEOFF time; otherwise, to determine which trace file contains the desired data, check trace file creation times by using :LISTF NMTC####.PUB.SYS,3.

As soon as your problem has been duplicated, you should stop tracing to avoid having the file "wrap" and overwrite the data. At completion of tracing, a trace file may be formatted using the NMDUMP.PUB.SYS utility. Much of the information traced will be meaningful only to HP support personnel.

Example

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To enable TCP tracing, enter

  :NETCONTROL TRACEON=MHD; PROT=TCP
  TRACE FILE IS NMTC0128.PUB.SYS. (NETXPORT 2000)

To disable TCP tracing, enter

  :NETCONTROL TRACEOFF; PROT=TCP

To enable control process tracing, TCP tracing, and IP tracing on the "LAN1" NI, all to the same file, enter

  :NETCONTROL START; NET=LAN1
  :NETCONTROL TRACEON=MHDSBN
  TRACE FILE IS NMTC0129.PUB.SYS. (NETXPORT 2000)
  :NETCONTROL TRACEON=MHD,DISC,NMTC0129.PUB.SYS; PROT=TCP
  TRACE FILE IS NMTC0129.PUB.SYS. (NETXPORT 2000)
  :NETCONTROL TRACEON=MHD,DISC,NMTC0129.PUB.SYS; NI=LAN1; PROT=IP
  TRACE FILE IS NMTC0129.PUB.SYS. (NETXPORT 2000)

To disable all this tracing once enabled, enter

  :NETCONTROL TRACEOFF; NI=LAN1; PROT=IP
  :NETCONTROL TRACEOFF; PROT=TCP
  :NETCONTROL TRACEOFF

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