2.3 Running the Application Server Debugging Scripts

This section describes the appserver_8_hang.sh and pkg_app scripts.

• 2.3.1 Running the appserver_8_hang.sh Debugging Script

• 2.3.2 Running the pkg_app Script

2.3.1 Running the appserver_8_hang.sh Debugging Script

The goal of the appserver_8_hang.sh script is to automate the collection of debug data if the Application Server gets into an unresponsive state when running on a Solaris system.

To Run the appserver_8_hang.sh Script

All data generated by the script is compiled under a single tar.gz file named APPSERVD_DATA_ddmmyyhhmmss.tar.gz, where ddmmyyhhmmss is the date and timestamp.

In addition to general debug data, this script gathers data three times on the specific instance (prstat -L -p, pflags, pstack, pmap, pldd, pfiles), separated by the time specified in the variable INTERVAL (see below).

• The script also enables you to optionally get:

  • gcore

  • Java thread dumps by sending a SIGQUIT signal to the process (note that this output is sent to the Application Server server.log file)

  • Truss

  • HTTP 1.0 and 1.1 requests

  • Java 5–specific information (jps, jinfo, jmap, jstack)

• Known limitations:

  • Only data from DAS instances or specific instances can be gathered.

  • If there are two or more Application Server domains with the same name running on the same machine, there is no guarantee that the data gathered will correspond to the intended domain.

1. The following variables must be defined before running the script:

   DAS_OR_INSTANCE

   Either domain name, if gathering DAS instance information, or instance name, if gathering non-DAS instance information

   DAT_DIR

   Output directory where temporary and final data will be stored

   HOSTNAME

   Host name/IP of the interface on which the HTTP requests will be made when using the INTERVAL variable (see below)

   DAS_OR_INSTANCE_HTTP_PORT

   HTTP port on which the HTTP requests will be made (see below)

2. Optionally, you can set the following at run time:

   INTERVAL

   Determines the interval between loops (see above); defaults to 10 seconds

   JAVA_5

   If the app server is running Java 5, choose “yes” to have the script run additional Java 5–specific commands (jps, jinfo, jmap, jstack)

   JAVA_HOME

   Required if JAVA_5=yes

   GCORE

   Determines whether a gcore of the Application Server process will be taken (GCORE="yes") or not (any other value); running the pkg_app.sh script on the generated core file is required if this variable is enabled

   JAVA_THREADS

   Determines whether kill -3 will be run on the Application Server process (to obtain Java thread dump)

   TRUSS

   Determines whether the Application Server process will be trussed for TRUSS_DURATION; defaults to 30 seconds

   HTTP_10_REQ

   Determines whether an HTTP 1.0 request will be made on the Application Server's HTTP interface (DAS_OR_INSTANCE_HTTP_PORT)

   HTTP_11_REQ

   Determines whether an HTTP 1.1 request will be made on the Application Server's HTTP interface (DAS_OR_INSTANCE_HTTP_PORT)

   HTTP_URI

   The URI used when running the HTTP requests (see above)

2.3.2 Running the pkg_app Script

This script packages an executable and all of its shared libraries into one compressed tar file, and named corresponding to the PID of the application and optionally the name of the core file to be opened. The files are stripped of their directory paths and are stored under a relative directory named app/ with their name only, allowing them to be unpacked in one directory.

To Run the pkg_app Script

On Solaris 9 OS or later, if the core file is specified, the list of files is derived from the core file rather than from the process image. You still must provide the PID of the running application to assist in path resolution.

Two scripts are created to facilitate opening the core file when the tar file is unpacked:

• opencore – The script to be executed once unpacked; it sets the name of the core file and the linker path to use the app/ subdirectory and then invokes dbx with the dbxrc file as the argument.

• dbxrc – Contains the dbx initialization commands to open the core file.

The pkg_app script asks for your Sun Case Number to name the tar.gz file.

1. Copy the script to a temporary directory on the system where Application Server is installed.

2. Become superuser.

3. Execute the pkg_app script in one of the following three ways:

   • ./pkg_app application-pid corefile

   • ./pkg_app application-pid(The pkg_app scripts prompts for the corefile name.)

   • ./pkg_app core file