4 Troubleshooting

This chapter explains the important processes on each of the server components in Convergent Charging Controller, and describes a number of example troubleshooting methods that can help aid the troubleshooting process before you raise a support ticket.

Common Troubleshooting Procedures

Refer to System Administrator's Guide for troubleshooting procedures common to all Convergent Charging Controller components.

Turning on debug

The vssp process supports debug. To turn on debug for vssp, set the debug option in the vssp.config file and reload the configuration.

For information about turning on debug, see debug .

Important: Turning on debug increases the load on the vssp process. It should only be used on a production platform when absolutely necessary.

Turning on M3UA vssp debug

The vssp process supports debug for its M3UA. To turn on M3UA debug for vssp, set the mtp debug option in the vssp.config file and reload the configuration.

For information about turning on debug, see mtp debug .

Important: Turning on debug increases the load on the vssp process. It should only be used on a production platform when absolutely necessary.

Checking current processes

You can check which processes are running using the standard UNIX command: ps. To find processes being run by Oracle software, you can grep for the string 'oper', which will display all processes being run by the application operator accounts (for example, acs_oper, ccs_oper and smf_oper).

Note: Some processes which are required for proper functioning may be run by other users, including root or the user which runs the webserver.

Example command: 
ps -ef | grep
oper

For more information about the ps command, see the system documentation for the ps command.

You can also check how much of the processor a process is using by running the standard UNIX tool: top. If you have some baseline measurements, you will be able to compare it with the current load.

Example command: top

Tip: Some processes should only have one instance. If there are two or more instances, this may indicate a problem. For example, there will usually only be one timerIF running on each SLC.

For more information about which processes should be running on each node, check the Process List for each node in Installation Guide.

Checking installed packages

To check the details of an installed package, use the pkginfo command.

Example command: 
pkginfo -l smsSms

Example output: This is an example of the output of the example command above. 

PKGINST:  smsSms 
NAME:  Oracle smsSms 
CATEGORY:  application 
ARCH:  sun4u 
VERSION:  3.1.0 
VENDOR:  Oracle  
PSTAMP:  smsNode20041020104925 
INSTDATE:  Oct 20 2004 13:15 
EMAIL:  support@oracle.com 
STATUS:  completely installed 
FILES:      348 installed pathnames 
39 directories 
89 executables 
152448 blocks used (approx)

For more information about the pkginfo utility, see the system documentation.

Checking network connectivity

Network connectivity will affect any process which requires communication between two different network addresses.

Network connectivity should support ssh sessions between the two machines experiencing the problem.

If you can open an ssh session between the two machines, check the following before contacting Level 1 support with details:

  • If the address of either of the machines specified in the Node Management screens is a hostname, check that the hostnames used in the ssh sessions are the hostnames specified in the Node Management screen.

If you cannot ssh, check the following before contacting Level 1 support with details:

  • Check that the hostname is resolving correctly in the DNS.
  • Check that the physical network connection is working correctly.
  • Check that the inetd and sshd are running.
  • Check that sshd is listening on the expected port.
  • Check that the smf_oper and acs_oper accounts are not locked, and that the username and password combinations being used are correct.

Checking configuration files

One of the significant areas where faults can occur and be remedied is in the configuration of processes. Configuration files can be edited by any standard text editor. A backup of the existing configuration file should always be taken before editing a configuration file.

For more information about the configuration files used in this application, see Configuration User's Guide.

For more information about the configuration file for a specific program or tool, see the section named after the binary in question.

Possible Problems

This topic lists common problems and actions you can take to investigate or solve them. This list enables you to check for alarms based on the overall behavior you are experiencing.

Circuit mismatches

If any of the following are true, it may indicate that the circuit loop configuration is mismatched:

  1. One party can hear the other, but not the other way round.
  2. Different calls connected together.
  3. Total silence at both ends.

Check the vssp.config file for possible mismatches. For more information about configuring circuit loops, see Configuring circuit loops .