How to Diagnose Server Problems With the Bootable Diagnostics CD

SUNVTS.7.0ps8 or later software is preinstalled with Oracle Solaris 10 Operating System on the server. The server is also shipped with the Bootable Diagnostics CD. This CD is designed so that the server boots from the CD. This CD boots the Solaris operating system and starts SunVTS software. Diagnostics tests run and write output to log files that the service technician can use to determine the problem with the server.

Before You Begin

You must have a USB DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse, and as well as a monitor attached to the server for booting over the CD locally. For booting over a Remote Console, see the instructions in the Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) 3.0 Supplement for the Sun Fire X4800 Server for setting up the remote console.

With the server powered on, insert the Bootable Diagnostics CD into the DVD-ROM drive.
Do one of the following:
- To run SunVTS one time only, press F8 during the reboot and select the DVD-ROM drive as the boot device.
- To change the boot device to the DVD-ROM in the BIOS:
  1. Press F2 during the start of the reboot so that you can change the BIOS setting for boot-device priority.
  2. When the BIOS Main menu appears, navigate to the BIOS Boot menu.
    Instructions for navigating within the BIOS screens are available on the BIOS screens.
  3. On the BIOS Boot menu screen, select Boot Device Priority.
    The Boot Device Priority screen appears.
  4. Select the DVD-ROM drive to be the primary boot device.
  5. Save and exit the BIOS screens.
  6. Reboot the server.
    When the server reboots from the CD in the DVD-ROM drive, the Solaris OS boots, and the SunVTS software starts and opens its first GUI window.
Press Enter or click the Start button when you are prompted to start the tests.
The test suite runs until it encounters an error or the test is completed.

Note - The CD takes approximately nine minutes to boot.
When the test is completed, review the log files generated during the test.
SunVTS software 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.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/sunvts/logs/sunvts.info. This file is not created until a SunVTS test session runs.
- Solaris system message log – A log of all the general Solaris events logged by syslogd. The path name of this log file is /var/adm/messages.
To view a log file:
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 windows.
  The content of the selected log file is displayed in the windows.
3. Use the three lower buttons to perform 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 it will be gone the next time you try to display it.
  - Close the log file window.
    The window closes.
    
    Note - To save the log files, you must save them 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 hard disk drive, and they are deleted when you power cycle the server.

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