Using SunVTS Diagnostic Software

C H A P T E R 9

This chapter contains information about the SunVTS trademark diagnostic software tool.

This chapter includes the following topics:

About SunVTS Diagnostic Software

Running SunVTS Diagnostic Tests

About SunVTS Diagnostic Software

Sun Fire X4540 servers are shipped with a Bootable Diagnostics CD that contains SunVTS (Validation Test Suite) software.

SunVTS provides a comprehensive diagnostic tool that tests and validates Sun hardware by verifying the connectivity and functionality of most hardware controllers and devices on Sun platforms. SunVTS software can be tailored with modifiable test instances and processor affinity features.

The following tests are supported on x86 platforms. The current x86 support is for the 32-bit operating system only.

CD DVD Test (cddvdtest)

CPU Test (cputest)

Disk and Diskette Drives Test (disktest)

Data Translation Look-Aside Buffer (dtlbtest)

Floating Point Unit Test (fputest)

Network Hardware Test (nettest)

Ethernet Loopback Test (netlbtest)

Physical Memory Test (pmemtest)

Serial Port Test (serialtest)

System Test (systest)

Universal Serial Bus Test (usbtest)

Virtual Memory Test (vmemtest)

Accessing SunVTS

SunVTS software has a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides test configuration and status monitoring. The user interface can be run on one system to display the SunVTS testing of another system on the network. SunVTS software also provides a TTY-mode interface for situations in which running a GUI is not possible.

SunVTS Documentation

For the most up-to-date SunVTS documentation, go to:

http://www.sun.com/oem/products/vts/

Running SunVTS Diagnostic Tests

Using the Bootable Diagnostics CD

Use the Bootable Diagnostics CD to diagnose server problems. This CD is designed so that the server will boot from the CD. This CD boots the Solaris trademark operating system and starts SunVTS software. Diagnostic tests run and write output to log files that the service technician can use to determine the problem with the server.

SunVTS 7.0 or later software is preinstalled on these Sun Fire X4540 servers. The server is also shipped with the Sun Fire X4540 Server Bootable Diagnostics CD (Part number 705-1439).

SunVTS Log Files

SunVTS provides access to four different log files:

SunVTS test error log contains time-stamped SunVTS test error messages. The log file path name is /var/sunvts/logs/sunvts.err. This file is not created until a SunVTS test failure occurs.

SunVTS kernel error log contains time-stamped SunVTS kernel and SunVTS probe errors. SunVTS kernel errors are errors that relate to running SunVTS, and not to testing of devices. The log file path name is /var/sunvts/logs/vtsk_stderr.txt. This file is not created until SunVTS reports a SunVTS kernel error.

SunVTS information log contains informative messages that are generated when you start and stop the SunVTS test sessions. The log file path name is /var/sunvts/logs/sunvts.info. This file is not created until a SunVTS test session runs.

Solaris system message log is a log of all the general Solaris events logged by syslogd. The path name of this log file is /var/adm/messages.

Requirements

To use the Sun Fire X4540 Server Bootable Diagnostics CD, you must have a USB CD-ROM drive, keyboard, mouse, and monitor attached to the server on which you are performing diagnostics.

Using the Bootable Diagnostics CD

To use the Sun Fire X4540 Server Bootable Diagnostics CD to perform diagnostics:

1. Install the USB CD-ROM drive into the Sun Fire X4540 Server.

2. With the server powered on, insert the Sun Fire X4540 Server Bootable Diagnostics CD (705-1439) into the DVD-ROM drive.

3. Reboot the server, but press F2 during the start of reboot so that you can change the BIOS setting for boot-device priority.

4. When the BIOS Main menu appears, navigate to the BIOS Boot menu.

Instructions for navigating within the BIOS screens are printed on the BIOS screens.

5. On the BIOS Boot menu screen, select Boot Device Priority.

The Boot Device Priority screen appears.

6. Select the DVD-ROM drive to be the primary boot device.

7. Save and exit the BIOS screens.

8. Reboot the server.

When the server reboots from the CD in the DVD-ROM drive, the Solaris Operating System boots and SunVTS software starts and opens its first GUI window.

9. In the SunVTS GUI, press Enter or click the Start button when you are prompted to start the tests.

The test suite will run until it encounters an error or the test is completed.

Note - The CD will take approximately nine minutes to boot.

10. When SunVTS software completes the test, review the log files generated during the test.

Reviewing SunVTS Log Files

1. Click the Log button.

The Log file window is displayed.

2. Specify the log file that you want to view by selecting it from the Log File window.

The content of the selected log file is displayed in the window.

3. Choose the following actions from the three lower buttons:

Print the log file - A dialog box appears for you to specify your printer options and printer name.

Delete the log file - The file remains displayed, but will be gone the next time you try to display it.

Close the Log file window - The window is closed.

Note - To save the log files: You must save the log files to another networked system or a removable media device. When you use the Bootable Diagnostics CD, the server boots from the CD. Therefore, the test log files are not on the server’s hard disk drive and they will be deleted when you power cycle the server.