C H A P T E R 2 - Diagnostic Testing Software

C H A P T E R 2

Diagnostic Testing Software

This chapter contains information about a diagnostic software tools that you can use.

Note - This chapter applies to all Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 and X4200/X4200 M2 servers, unless otherwise noted.

SunVTS Diagnostic Tests

The servers are shipped with a Bootable Diagnostics CD (705-1439) that contains SunVTS trademark software.

SunVTS is the Sun Validation Test Suite, which 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.

Only 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 Floppy 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)

SunVTS software has a sophisticated 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 information on SunVTS software, go to this site:

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/coll/1140.2

Diagnosing Server Problems With the Bootable Diagnostics CD

SunVTS software is preinstalled on these servers. The server is also shipped with the Bootable Diagnostics CD (705-1439). This CD is designed so that the server will boot from the CD. This CD will boot the Solaris trademark Operating System and start SunVTS software. Diagnostic tests will run and write output to log files that the service technician can use to determine the problem with the server.

Requirements

To use the Bootable Diagnostics CD, you must have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor attached to the server on which you are performing diagnostics.

Using the Bootable Diagnostics CD

To use the Bootable Diagnostics CD to perform diagnostics:

1. With the server powered on, insert the Bootable Diagnostics CD into the DVD-ROM drive.

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

3. 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.

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

The Boot Device Priority screen appears.

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

6. Save and exit the BIOS screens.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

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/opt/SUNWvts/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/opt/SUNWvts/logs/vtsk.err. 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/opt/SUNWvts/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.

a. Click the Log button.

The Log file window is displayed.

b. 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.

c. With the three lower buttons you can do the following actions:

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 dismissed.

Note - If you want 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.