Using SunVTS Diagnostic Software

C H A P T E R 4

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

The SunVTS Bootable Diagnostics CD that contains the Sun Validation Test Suite (SunVTS) software might be an orderable option for your server. You can also download SunVTS from:

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

Note - SunVTS 7.0ps2 is the minimum version supported with the Sun Fire X4150, X4250, and X4450 servers.

Running SunVTS Diagnostic Tests

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 for SunVTS 7.x:

Processor

Memory

Disk

Graphics

Media

Ioports

Interconnects

Network

Environment

SunVTS software has a sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI) that provides test configuration and status monitoring. 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:

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/test.validate

Choose the documentation that matches the version of SunVTS that you are running.

Make sure to read the most recent product Release Notes before running SunVTS on your server.

Diagnosing Server Problems With the Bootable Diagnostics CD

This Bootable Diagnostics CD is designed so that the server will boot from the CD. This CD boots 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.

Requirements

To use the diagnostics CD you must have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor attached to the server on which you are performing diagnostics, or available through a remote KVM.

Using the Bootable Diagnostics CD

To use the diagnostics CD to perform diagnostics:

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

2. Reboot the server, and press F2 during the start of the 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 appear 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 runs until it encounters an error or the test is completed.

Note - The CD takes 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.

a. Locate the log file.

The following files are located in /var/sunvts/logs:

sunvts.err: The SunVTS test error log contains time-stamped SunVTS test error messages. This file is not created until a SunVTS test failure occurs.

vtsk.err: The 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. This file is not created until SunVTS reports a SunVTS kernel error.

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

The following message log is located in /var/adm/:

messages: Solaris system message log is a log of all the general Solaris OS events logged by syslogd.

a. Click the Log button.

The Log file window appears.

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 appears in the window.

c. With the three lower buttons, you can 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 on the display, but it will not be available the next time you try to display it.

Close the Log file window - The window closes.

Note - If you want to save the log files: 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. To save the log files, you must save them to a removable media device or FTP them to another system.