NOTE:
You must have Admin or Power User privileges in Server Administrator to run diagnostics tests through the Diagnostic Service.
The Server Administrator Diagnostic Service is a suite of diagnostic
programs, or test modules, that run locally on your system or remotely on a system
connected to a network. You select diagnostics tests to run
from a hierarchical menu representing the hardware that Server Administrator discovers on your
system. You can select
tests for various parts of a system and run them simultaneously or sequentially
in a single session. You can view results for each individually selected test or
hardware component.
The Diagnostic Service is engineered to diagnose problems on
individual systems. It does not address problems that arise on the network
level, unless the problem resides with a NIC on a
single system.
NOTE:
The Diagnostic Service runs concurrently with all other
applications running on the system under test. Running these diagnostics
causes significant additional system load that will impact the performance of
your system and all running applications. If you are running critical
applications that require rapid response or consume significant system
resources, take the appropriate precautions before running these
diagnostics. Close all nonessential applications and only run diagnostics
during nonpeak hours of system use.
NOTE: The Diagnostic Service is not
supported on Novell® NetWare® operating systems.
See the Server Administrator Command Line Interface User's
Guide for information about running the Diagnostic Service from the command
line.
When using the Diagnostic Service, you can click Help on the global
navigation bar for more detailed information about the specific window you are
viewing. Diagnostic Service help is available for all diagnostics tests
that can be run for the device groups that Server Administrator discovers on your system.
The Diagnostic Service offers testing modules for the following system
components (the names of the actual tests may differ from these component
names):
In addition to enabling you to run the tests listed in "Diagnostics
Test Modules," the Diagnostic Service offers the following features:
Diagnostic Result History
This feature enables you to view the result history log file. This log
file contains a record of the results of previously run diagnostics tests.
To access this feature, click Diagnostics, and then click Result
History.
Hardware Configuration Changes
This feature enables you to view changes that have occurred to the testable
devices on your system since the system was rebooted or since the Web server
was restarted. It reports the following two types of changes:
Changes in the operational status of a device, such as a hard drive
that has become inaccessible
NOTE:
The hardware scanning function that generates
this report occurs only during system boot or Web server restart and scans only those
devices that can be tested through the Diagnostic Service.
To access this feature, click Diagnostics, and then click Configuration
Changes.
Hardware Configuration Change History
This feature enables you to view a log file that contains a history
of hardware configuration changes.
NOTE:
The hardware scanning function that generates
this report occurs only during system boot or Web server restart and scans only those
devices that can be tested through the Diagnostic Service.
To access this feature, click Diagnostics, and then click Configuration
History.
Diagnostic Scheduler
This feature enables you to select diagnostics tests to run at specific
times. The general task flow for scheduling diagnostics tests is shown near the
top of the window as follows: Select Date and Time > Select Tests>
Submit Selection. Clicking each of the three tasks takes you to the controls
that enable you to accomplish that task.
To access this feature, click Diagnostics, and then click Schedule.
For more information on configuring this feature, see "Scheduling
Diagnostics."
The Diagnostic Service enables you to set preferential
options for running diagnostics tests. To set the preferential options in the
Diagnostic
Service, perform the
following steps:
In the Server Administrator home page, click the Diagnostics
tab, and then click Settings.
In the Application Settings window, set the options as desired.
The following are the controls on the Applications
Settings window and descriptions of how to use them:
Select the Show Application Warning Message check box to enable the Diagnostic
Warning page to be displayed at the beginning of a Diagnostic Service
session.
Select the Show Test Warning Messages check box to enable warning messages
to be displayed before running certain resource-intensive tests,
such as CPU or memory tests.
The Logfile lists the log files currently available on your
system.
The Maximum File Size specifies the largest file size in MB
for a log file. If the file grows beyond this limit, the Diagnostic Service purges
old log file entries, starting with the earliest entry, until the file
conforms to the specified limit.
When you finish setting options in the Application
Settings window, click Apply Changes.
Click View on the Diagnostics tab menu.
If you see the Diagnostic Warning window, continue with this step;
otherwise, proceed to step 5.
Read the warning message.
If you do not want this message to display in subsequent sessions,
select Disable this message in the future.
Click Continue.
In the Diagnostic Selection window, click Advanced.
In the Advanced Settings window, set the options.
The following are the controls on the Advanced Settings
window and descriptions of how to use them:
Click Halt On Error to stop the tests if a test detects an error.
Click Run Simultaneously to enable tests to run at the
same time rather than sequentially.
Quick Test is set by default. The Quick Test mode uses a
faster algorithm to conduct the test, if one is available for the
specified test. If errors are not reported after running in Quick Test
mode and you believe the hardware tested still has problems, it is
recommended that you deselect Quick Test and run the same test.
Click Number of Passes to specify the number of times that you want tests to run.
NOTE:
You can override this setting using the Minimum Time Duration and Maximum
Time Duration settings.
Click Minimum Time Duration to specify the minimum amount
of time in minutes that you want to allow tests to run. This time is the minimum
amount of time allowed for all selected tests, not the minimum time allowed
for each test.
NOTE:
The Minimum Time Duration setting overrides the Number of Passes setting.
Click Maximum Time Duration to specify the maximum amount
of time in minutes that you want to allow tests to run. Tests running over
this amount of time are aborted. This time is the maximum amount of time allowed
for all selected tests, not the maximum time allowed for each test.
NOTE:
The Minimum Time Duration setting overrides the Number of Passes
setting.
Click Go Back to Selection Page to return to the Diagnostic Selection
window.
Click Apply Changes to commit the changes you have made to the Advanced
Settings.
When finished setting options in the Advanced
Settings window, click Apply Changes. If you have made no changes or want to return to the Diagnostic Selection window without
saving changes, click Go Back To Selection Page.
In the Server Administrator main window, click the Diagnostics
tab, and then click View (if this takes you to the Diagnostic Results
window instead of the Diagnostic Selection window, click Go Back
To Selection Page).
In the Diagnostic Selection window, select the
tests you want to run.
The following are the controls on the Diagnostic
Selection window and descriptions of how to use them:
Click Run Tests to run the diagnostics tests listed under Diagnostics
Selected To Run in the order they are listed.
Click Advanced to open the Advanced Settings window. See "Configuring the
Diagnostic
Service" for information on configuring advanced
settings.
Select the View By Device radio button to sort the list of tests by the device
tested and
then by the test name. To view the tests that pertain to a particular
device, click the
(plus) icon to the left of the device name.
To get information about the particular device tested by a particular
test, move the mouse pointer over the
(information) icon.
Select the View By Test radio button to sort the list of tests by the test name. To view the individual subtests that
comprise a particular diagnostics test, click the
(plus) icon to the left of the test name. To get information about the device tested by a
particular test, move the mouse pointer over the
(information) icon.
Select a check box to add the
corresponding test(s) to the test queue listed under Diagnostics Selected
To Run. Selection check boxes are displayed to the left of a device name or
test name. Move the mouse cursor over a selection check box to get
information about the device.
The Diagnostics To Run window lists the currently selected diagnostics tests.
Click the X icon to remove a test from the list.
After you have selected the tests you want to run, click Run
Tests.
The Diagnostic Progress window opens and the selected tests begin to
run. A progress bar indicates the percentage complete for each pass of every
test. Click Abort to stop the current test and flush (empty) the test
queue.
When the tests finish, click View Results.
In the Diagnostic Results window, click the
(plus) icon to the left of a test heading to view detailed results of the
test(s).
Clicking each of the three tasks takes you to the controls
that enable you to perform that task. The following is a list of these tasks in
order, the controls you use for each task, and descriptions of how to use
them:
Type a time in the
Start Time field to specify the time of day you want to run the
selected diagnostics. Enter a number between 0 and 11 in the first field
and a number between 00 and 59 in the second field. It is recommended that
you always enter two digits in the second (minutes) field; prefix
single-digit minutes with "0," such as "03" or
"05."
Click
AM to specify the time in the Start Time
field as a morning time.
Click
PM to specify the time in the Start Time
field as an afternoon time.
Type a date in mm/dd/yyyy format in the
Start Date field to specify the date when you want to start
running the currently selected tests, or use the
(calendar) button.
Click the (calendar)
button to select the Start Date from a
calendar graphic.
Click
Run Daily to run the selected diagnostics tests
every day on and after the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click
Run Weekly to run the selected diagnostics tests on the Start Date at the Start Time, and
then at weekly intervals from the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click
Run Monthly to run the selected diagnostics tests on the Start Date at the Start Time, and
then at monthly intervals from the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click
Run Once to run the selected diagnostics tests once on the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click Add All to select all tests listed under Select
Tests and add them to the diagnostics queue displayed under Diagnostics
Scheduled To Run.
Click Remove All to deselect all tests listed under Select
Tests and remove them from the diagnostics queue displayed under Diagnostics
Scheduled To Run.
Click Select Tests to list the diagnostics tests available for your system. Click the check box to the left of a
diagnostics test to
select it; click the check box again to deselect the test. When you select
a test, it is added to the diagnostics queue displayed under Diagnostics
Scheduled To Run. Deselecting a test removes it from the queue.
(plus) icon to the left of the device name.
(information) icon.
(calendar) button.