pdgeter (Acquire error information)

Function

The pdgeter command outputs error information to a specified directory or DAT drive when an error occurs in the HiRDB system.

Executor

HiRDB administrator

Format

pdgeter [{-o output-destination-directory-name
         |output-destination-device-name}]
       [-w work-directory-name] [-x host-name[,host-name]...]
       [-am]
       [-t]

Options

Specifies the name of the directory or device to which error information is to be output. If this option is omitted, output is to the $PDDIR/erinf/outinf directory.

output-destination-directory-name[Figure]<path name>
For output of error information to a directory, specifies the absolute path name of that directory. The name of a directory at the host where the pdgeter command is executed must be specified.
output-destination-device-name[Figure]<path name>
For output of error information to a DAT drive, specifies the DAT drive's device name. The device name of a DAT drive installed at the host where the pdgeter command is executed must be specified.

When directing the output of troubleshooting information to a tape device, specify the name of a work directory for temporary storage of the information being output. Specify the name as the directory name, in an absolute path, of the server machine that will execute the pdgeter command. HiRDB creates a temporary work file in the specified directory. This temporary work file should be created in the following situations:

The default for this option is $PDDIR/erinf/work.

Directories beginning with /dev cannot be specified in this option.

Specifies names of hosts from which error information is to be acquired. If this option is omitted, the name of the host where the pdgeter command is executed is assumed.

Specifies the type of error information that is to be acquired:

-a
All error information. When this option is omitted, only the minimum error information is acquired; Table 2-1 shows the error information acquired depending on the specification of the -a option.
Even when this option is specified, master directory, data directory, and data dictionary error information from all HiRDB systems cannot be acquired. Master directory, data directory, and data dictionary error information is acquired only for the HiRDB system at the host where the pdgeter command is executed and for a host specified in the -x option that contains the master directory, etc. (single server or dictionary server).
-m
Specifies that only OS information from the system information is to be acquired, without acquiring shared memory dump information.

Table 2-1 Error information acquired depending on -a option specification

Information acquired-a optionRemarks
SpecifiedOmitted
All files under $PDDIR/spool directoryuuNone
All files under $PDDIR/conf directoryuu
All files under $PDDIR/.dbenv directoryuu
RPC trace fileuu
All files under $PDDIR/tmp directoryuN
pdinit control statementOOBefore executing the pdgeter command, first copy the following file name under the $PDDIR/conf directory of the host where command is executed:
pdinit control statement: $PDDIR/conf/INITCONT
The following indicates the host of the copy destination:
-a option specified
Copy to the host executing where the command is executed
-a option omitted
Copy to one of the hosts for which error information is to be acquired
pdmod control statementOOBefore executing the pdgeter command, first copy to the $PDDIR/conf directory of one of the hosts for which error information is to be acquired.
Master directoryON
  • If $PDDIR/conf/INITCONT exists at the host where the command is executed, error information is acquired.
  • An HiRDB file expanded by pdmod is not subject to acquisition.
  • When there are multiple hosts for which error information is to be acquired and the other hosts are host of a HiRDB system that differs from the host where the command is executed, the information of the other hosts cannot be acquired. In such a case, only information on the HiRDB system at the host where the command is executed can be acquired.
  • Information is acquired only when the single server or dictionary server is specified in the -x option.
  • To determine the size of a temporary disk space required for collecting information, use the pdfls command (record length of the HiRDB file to be acquired [Figure] number of records).
Data directoryON
Data dictionaryON
OS libraryuuInformation depends on the OS:
HI-UX/WE2 version:
  • /usr/lib/libdld.sl
  • /lib/libM.sl
  • /lib/libc.sl
HP-UX version:
  • /usr/lib/libdld.sl
  • /lib/libm.sl
  • /lib/libc.sl
HP-UX(64) version:
  • /usr/lib/pa20_64/libdld.sl
  • /usr/lib/pa20_64/libm.sl
  • /usr/lib/pa20_64/libc.sl
HP-UX(IPF) version:
  • /usr/lib/hpux64/libdl.so
  • /usr/lib/hpux64/libm.so
  • /usr/lib/hpux64/libc.so
AIX version:
  • /usr/lib/libdl.a
  • /lib/libm.a
  • /lib/libc.a
Solaris version:
  • /usr/lib/libdl.so
  • /lib/libm.so
  • /lib/libc.so
Linux version:
  • /usr/lib/libdl.so
  • /lib/libm.so
  • /lib/libc.so
Sort libraryNNNone
Shared memory contentsOO
  • Error information is acquired only while HiRDB is active.
  • Error information is not acquired when the -m option is specified.
  • The file name is shmdump, and the information is output under the $PDDIR/spool/pdshmdump directory.
  • For details about how to estimate the memory size, see the HiRDB Version 8 Installation and Design Guide.
HiRDB/Single Server
Formula for shared memory used by unit controller (20.1.2(1)) + formula for shared memory used by single server (20.1.2(2)).
HiRDB/Parallel Server
Formula for shared memory used by unit controller (20.2.2(1)) + formula for shared memory used by each server (20.2.2(2)).These sizes can be verified by executing the pdls -d mem command while HiRDB is active.
System informationOO
  • The file name is set to pdgeter.sysinf.hhmmss (where hhmmss is the hour, minute, and second).
  • If the -m option is specified, only OS information is output.
  • Because a series of HiRDB commands executed in a shell will terminate abnormally if HiRDB is inactive, the OS information and the error messages of the series of HiRDB commands are output to a file.
LogNNNone
System log fileNN
User RDAREANN

u: Information is acquired.

O: Information acquisition depends on the details in the Remarks column.

N: Information is not acquired.

Specify this option when directing the output of troubleshooting information to a non-DAT tape device. Note that AIX 5L does not support this option.

When specifying this option, be sure to specify the name of a work directory using the -w option.

The pdgeter command uses the append option (-r option) of the tar command to record troubleshooting information onto a tape device. However, some tape devices do not support the append option. Therefore, error information cannot be output to this tape device.

The -t option temporarily stores the troubleshooting information to be recorded on a work directory and then writes the information to the tape device, even without an append option. Therefore, the -t option allows the system to record troubleshooting information on tape devices other than DAT drives.

Rules

  1. The pdgeter command can be executed at any time, whether or not HiRDB is active.
  2. The pdgeter command can be executed at any server machine. However, it should be set so that the remote shell can be executed among the hosts for which the error information is to be acquired. This does not apply in acquiring error information of only the host where the pdgeter command is executed. When the -a option is specified, the command should be executed at one of the hosts for which error information is to be acquired.
  3. Shared memory dump information cannot be acquired if HiRDB is inactive.
  4. The collected error information can be compressed by the compress command in the shell script. Error information can be output without compression in systems that cannot use the compress function.

Notes

  1. If the output destination directory or work directory is under $PDDIR, HiRDB may terminate abnormally due to a space shortage. Thus, it is important to prepare an adequate amount of disk space.
  2. A check should be made that the specified output destination directory and work directory exist in the system. If such a specification is omitted, the file will be created in the default directory. If the file already exists in $PDDIR/erinf/outinf or $PDDIR/erinf/work, an error message will be output and processing will be discontinued. If a nonexistent directory or a directory without write privilege is specified, an error message will be output and processing will be discontinued.
  3. If a nonexistent device is specified, an error message will be output and processing will be discontinued.
  4. If the following directory or file exists under the output destination directory or work directory, an error message will be output and processing will be discontinued.
    PDDIR, lib, usr, HiRDB
  5. When a network error occurs, information at the local host can be acquired but information from other hosts cannot be acquired. However, if multiple host names are specified in the -x option and an output destination device name is specified in the -o option, it may not be possible to acquire information for the local host; if only the local host is specified in the -x option when the pdgeter command is executed, information for the local host can be acquired.
  6. Although the name of the file output to the directory is unique for each host, note that error information will be overwritten if the results collected on the host where the command is executed are expanded at that host. Also, if the same DAT drive is used several times, error information output to that device may overwrite previous error information.
  7. If comments in the pdinit control statement file violate the following rules, the information in the master directory cannot be acquired because the pdgeter command will not operate normally:
    • If there are multiple comments (enclosed by /* and */) on the same line, there must be at least one space between comments.
    • There must be at least one space between a comment and the control statement.
  8. The following applies to acquisition of error information when the system switching facility is being used:
    • IP address inherited
      Information for the executing system host can be acquired even if the host where the command is executed is not the executing system host. Because information for a standby system cannot be acquired unless the host where the command is executed is a standby system host, it is necessary to remotely log into the standby system host and execute the pdgeter command.
    • IP address not inherited
      Because the name of the executing system host and the standby system host are different, information can be acquired if the names of these hosts are specified in the -x option. If the -a option is specified and master directory information is to be acquired, the host names of the executing system and the standby system host should both be specified in the -x option.
  9. If multiple instances of the pdgeter command are executed simultaneously at the same host, the commands will not operate normally and valid error information will not be acquired.
  10. When the -a option is specified, the specification value of the pdstart and pdunit operand and in the system common definition ($PDDIR/conf/pdsys) of the host where the pdgeter command is executed is analyzed. If a single pdstart or pdunit operand was specified on multiple lines, the pdgeter command will not operate normally.
  11. The -w option requires the temporary available free disk space indicated by the following formula:
    a [Figure] b [Figure] 2
    a
    number of server machines on which troubleshooting information is to be collected
    b
    total file capacity for storing troubleshooting information
    For a description of files for storing troubleshooting information, refer to Table 2-1.
  12. The results of the pdgeter command can be checked on the basis of the return value and by whether or not there are any error messages. The following are the pdgeter command's return codes:
    0: Normal termination
    4: Warning termination (some information acquisition processing was skipped)
    8: Abnormal termination
    12: Termination by an interrupt
  13. When the pdgeter command is executed on the active HiRDB and the output destination directory or work directory is a directory under $PDDIR, HiRDB may stop due to a space shortage. An adequate amount of disk space must be provided. It is also possible that there will not be adequate space on the disk if error information is left in the output destination directory; for this reason, error information that is no longer needed should be deleted. The following table shows how to estimate the amounts of disk space and device space needed at the host where the pdgeter command is executed:
    Hosts specified in -x optionOutput destination specified in -o option
    DirectoryDevice
    One
    Disk space
    Total for all acquired information files at the target host.
    Device space
    [Figure]
    Disk space
    Total for all acquired information files at the target host.1 2 3
    Device space
    Total for all acquired information files at the target host.
    Multiple
    Disk space
    Total for all acquired information files at the target hosts.
    Device space
    [Figure]
    Disk space
    Total for all acquired information files at each of the target hosts.2 4
    Device space
    Total for all acquired information files at the target hosts.
[Figure]: Not applicable.
Note
See Table 2-1 for the acquired information files at the target host.
If the -a option is specified, information about the master directory, data directory, and data dictionary is collected for each HiRDB file and its backup copy is then made. Therefore, if you specify the -a option, add the following value as the size of temporary backup file to the disk size:
Record-length [Figure] number-of-records
You can obtain the record length and number of records by executing the pdfls command.
1 Not applicable if the target host is the host where the pdgeter command is executed.
2 Disk space required when a work directory is used.
3 Not applicable if the -t option is omitted.
4 If the -t option is omitted, the disk space is the sum of all acquired information files per applicable host.

Output format

Information is output in the following format to the directory or device specified in the -o option.

The file name is shown as follows, depending on the -o and -w specifications:

Host specified in -x optionOutput destination specified in -o option
DirectoryDevice
Only host where pdgeter command is executed is specifiedhost-name.time.ZIndividual error information1
Host other than host where pdgeter command is executed is also specifiedhost-name.time.Zhost-name.time.Z
Note
The format for the time is hhmmss.
1 If the -t option is specified, the default will be host-name.time.Z.

Regardless of the -o and -w specifications, the execution results of operating system commands issued in a pdgeter command are output to a file named pdgeter.comlog.time.

If host-name.time.Z is expanded, the file name will be host-name.time. The host-name.time file comprises three or four files. Figure 2-3 shows the contents of the host-name.time file.

Figure 2-3 Contents of host-name time file

[Figure]

Usage examples

Example 1
Error information at the host where the command is executed (host1) is to be acquired; the output destination directory name is /err1.
Overview
[Figure]
Example of command execution
pdgeter -o/errl -x hostl
Example 2
The error information of multiple hosts (host2 and host3) is output to the host where the command is executed (host1); the output destination device name is /dev/dat01 and the work directory name is /work.
Overview
[Figure]
Example of command execution
pdgeter -o/dev/dat01 -w/work -x host2,host3