The Server Administrator Diagnostic Service is a suite of diagnostic programs, or test modules, that run locally on your system and can be accessed either locally or remotely over the 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. In addition, you can view results for each individually selected test or hardware component.
NOTE: You must have Admin or Power User privileges in Server Administrator to run diagnostics tests using the Diagnostic Service.
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.
NOTE: At startup, the Diagnostics tab is not available in Server Administrator and the Diagnostic Service is not listed on any of the Health pages. The Diagnostic Service waits for the Server Administrator service to start completely before enumerating (scanning the system for available devices to diagnose). If you press <F5> to refresh, the Diagnostic tab shows up when enumeration is complete. This process can take several minutes on some systems.
Devices Supported by the Diagnostic Service
The Diagnostic Service provides diagnostics for the following Dell-supplied hardware devices:
Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC)
RAID controller
SCSI controller
USB controller
Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
DVD/CD-R/CD-RW drive
Diskette drive
Hard drive
Memory
Modem
NIC
Parallel port
PCI bus
Serial port
Tape drive
Tape Autoloaders
NOTE: For a complete list of hardware devices that Server Administrator diagnostics specifically supports, see the Server Administrator Compatibility Guide.
Table 10-1 lists the different results and events reported by the diagnostic tests.
Table 10-1. Results and Events
Result
Explanation
Passed
The test completed successfully. This results in an Information event.
Failed
The test failed due to a critical error. This results in an Error event and an error message is displayed.
Unusual Status
The test result cannot be determined because of an internal error or the unavailability of resources. This results in a Warning event and a warning message is displayed.
This feature enables you to review the selected diagnostic tests.
To access this feature, click the Diagnostics tab and then click Review.
Diagnostic Test Status
This feature enables you to view the status of the diagnostic tests that are running.
To access this feature, click the Diagnostics tab and then click Status.
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. You can specify the maximum size of this log file in the DiagnosticApplication Settings window.
To access this feature, click the Diagnostics tab and then click Results.
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, the secure port server was restarted, or reenumeration was performed. It reports the changes in the system configuration, such as the addition or removal of the hard drive.
To access this feature, click the Diagnostics tab and then click Hardware Changes.
Hardware Configuration Change History
This feature enables you to view a log file that contains a history of hardware configuration changes.
To access this feature, click the Diagnostics tab, click Hardware Changes, and then click Hardware Change History.
Upgrading the Diagnostic Service
The Diagnostic Service upgrades automatically during a Dell OpenManage™ Server Administrator upgrade.
NOTE: You can upgrade the Diagnostic Service from Server Administrator 2.0 to Server Administrator 2.x. However, you cannot upgrade the Diagnostic Service from Server Administrator 1.x to Server Administrator 2.x.
See the Dell OpenManage Installation and Security User's Guide for information on the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator upgrade procedure.
During upgrade, the following features are retained:
Diagnostic Application Settings
Scheduled Diagnostic Tasks
NOTE: When the Diagnostic Service upgrade completes, the tasks scheduled to run on removed devices are deleted.
Configuring the Diagnostic Service
The Diagnostic Service enables you to set options for running diagnostic tests. You can set options for both Applications Settings and Test Execution Settings.
Configuring the Applications Settings
To configure the Application Settings, perform the following steps:
In the Server Administrator home page, click Preferences on the global navigation bar and
then click the Diagnostics tab.
In the Diagnostic Application Settingswindow, set the options as desired.
The following controls are available on the DiagnosticApplications Settings window:
Select the Show Test Warning Messages check box to enable the display of warning messages before running certain resource-intensive tests, such as memory tests.
Select the Show Diagnostic Warning Screen check box to enable the display of the
Diagnostic Warning Screen.
The RMI Registry Port specifies the server socket port where the RMI registry is listening for a connection.
The Maximum Diagnostic Result History File Size specifies the largest file size in MB for the result history file. If the file grows beyond this limit, the Diagnostic Service purges old file entries, starting with the earliest entry, until the file conforms to the specified limit.
The Maximum Hardware Configuration Change History File Size specifies the largest file size in MB for the hardware configuration change history file. If the file grows beyond this limit, the Diagnostic Service purges old file entries, starting with the earliest entry, until the file conforms to the specified limit.
The Maximum Completed Tests Displayed specifies the maximum number of completed tests to be displayed on the
Status window.
The Timeout for Completed Results in Memory specifies the maximum time period in minutes for keeping the test results in the application cache.
When you finish setting options in the DiagnosticApplication Settings window, click
Apply Changes.
Configuring the Test Execution Settings
To configure the Test Execution Settings, perform the following steps:
In the Server Administrator home page, click the Diagnostics tab and then click Settings.
In the Diagnostic Test Execution Settingswindow, set the options as desired.
The following controls are available on the Diagnostic Test Execution Settingswindow:
Select the Halt Execution of Test on First Error check box to stop the test immediately when an error is encountered.
Select the Quick Test check box to use 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 that the hardware tested still has problems, it is recommended that you deselect Quick Test and run the same test.
Select the Halt Multiple Pass Test Execution on Error check box to stop subsequent passes of a test if an error is encountered.
Select one of the following options to specify either the number of passes or the run time for selected tests:
Enable Number of Passes to specify the number of times that you want tests to run. Then type the number in the Number of Passes field.
Enable Run Time to specify the amount of time in minutes that you want the tests to run. Then type the time in the Run Time field.
NOTE: The test will not stop within the specified Run Time until it completes the current pass. The test will start the next pass only if there is an optimum amount of Run Time remaining for the test to run.
When finished setting options in the Diagnostic Test Execution Settings window, click
Apply Changes.
Re-enumerating Devices
The system enumerates the testable devices on your system whenever the system is rebooted or the secure port server is restarted. In addition, you can perform an enumeration by using the reenumeration feature.
To reenumerate devices, perform the following steps:
In the Server Administrator main window, click the Diagnostics tab.
In the Diagnostic Selection window, click Re-enumerate.
NOTE: This process can take several minutes on some systems.
Click Enumeration Status to view the progress of the enumeration process.
The Diagnostic Re-Enumeration Progress window opens. A progress bar indicates the percentage complete of the enumeration process.
Running Diagnostics
To run diagnostic tests, perform the following steps:
In the Server Administrator main window, click the Diagnostics tab.
In the Diagnostic Selection window, select the tests you want to run.
The following controls are available on the Diagnostic Selectionwindow:
In the Available Devices list, select a device to view the applicable tests for that device.
To get information about a device and the tests that can be run on it, click the Information (
) icon.
Select Show All Applicable Tests to view all the tests that are applicable to the system.
Select Show Tests for Selected Device Only to view only those tests that are applicable to the device selected in the Available Devices list.
Select the desired tests in the Available Tests list.
Click Review Selection.
The Diagnostic Selection Review window lists the currently selected diagnostics tests.
Click the
icon to remove a test from the list.
Click Change to change the test settings.
The Diagnostic Test Execution Settings window lists the current settings. Make the required changes and click Apply Changes.
If you do not make any changes, click Go Back to Review Selection Page.
Click View to view the test details.
In the Diagnostic Review Selection Details window, click Back to Review Screen.
Click Select More Tests to navigate to the
Diagnostic Selection window and select more tests.
After you have selected the tests you want to run, click Execute Tests.
The tests are queued for execution in the order in which they were selected.
NOTE: If you want to schedule the tests to run at a later time, see "Scheduling Diagnostics."
Click Status to monitor the status of the test execution.
The Diagnostic Status window opens. The icons in the Status column indicate the status of each test.
The In Progress icon (
) indicates that the test is being executed. If you have executed this test from the command line, you will see the CLI icon (
) next to the In Progress icon. If it is a scheduled test, you will see the Scheduler icon (
)next to the In Progress icon.
The Aborted icon (
) indicates that the test has been aborted.
The Suspended icon (
)indicates that test has been suspended. Click Resume to resume the execution of this test.
The OK icon (
) indicates that test has been executed successfully.
The Noncritical icon (
)indicates that noncritical errors were encountered during the execution of the test.
The Critical icon (
) indicates that the test has failed.
Click Abort to stop the current test. Click Abort All to stop all the queued tests.
Click Suspend to suspend the execution of the test. Click Resume when you want the test execution to be resumed.
Click Clear Completed to remove the completed tests from the window. However, clicking this button will not clear the following tests:
Tests that are currently running
Tests that have been submitted from the CLI, irrespective of whether they are completed or not
Click View to view the test execution progress.
The Diagnostic Progress window opens. A progress bar indicates the percentage complete for each pass of every test.
Click Back to Status Page to return to the Diagnostic Selection window.
Click View Results to view the details of the test results. The Diagnostic Result History - Result Details window opens.
Scheduling Diagnostics
Instead of executing the diagnostic tests immediately, you can also schedule tests to run automatically at a specified time and date.
NOTE: The date and time you enter when scheduling diagnostics are validated against the date and time on the system running Server Administrator.
NOTE: Any previously scheduled tasks, hardware changes history, or result history from Server Administrator 1.8 or earlier will not be preserved when Diagnostic Service is upgraded from an earlier release to the current release.
To schedule diagnostics to run at a specific date and time or to remove previously scheduled tests, perform the following steps:
Select the tests you want to schedule. See "Running Diagnostics" for information on selecting
tests.
In the Diagnostic Selection Review window, click Schedule.
Type the name of the task in the Task Name field.
Type the description of the task in the Task Description field.
Select a time in the Select Time field to specify the time of day you want to run the
selected diagnostics.
Click the
(calendar) button to select the Start Date from a calendar graphic.
Select the Frequency of the test.
Click Onceto run the selected diagnostics tests once on the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click Dailyto run the selected diagnostics tests every day on and after the Start Date at the Start Time.
Click Weeklyto 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 Monthlyto 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 View Scheduled Tasks to display the list of scheduled diagnostic tasks.
Click Schedule to schedule the tests.
Repeat step 2 and step 3 until you have scheduled all applicable tests.
NOTE: Do not schedule diagnostics to run in parallel on multiple tape devices. Also, do not run diagnostic tests in parallel with SCSI communication tests.
Reviewing Scheduled Tests
You can review the diagnostic tests you have scheduled and make changes to them. You can also add, delete, or reschedule tests. To review the scheduled tests, perform the following steps:
In the Server Administrator main window, click the Diagnostics tab, then click
Scheduled Tasks.
The Diagnostic Scheduled Tasks window opens. This displays the test schedule details such as, the Last Run Time and the Next Run Time.
Click Cancel All to cancel the execution of all the scheduled tasks.
Click Refresh to refresh the window to get the latest information on the scheduled tests.
Click the
icon next to each test to delete that particular record from the list.
Click View to display detailed information about the device, test, and test settings or to
reschedule the test.
In the Diagnostic Scheduling window, make the required changes and click Reschedule.
) icon.
icon to remove a test from the list.
) indicates that the test is being executed. If you have executed this test from the command line, you will see the CLI icon (
) next to the In Progress icon. If it is a scheduled test, you will see the Scheduler icon (
)next to the In Progress icon.
) indicates that the test has been aborted.
)indicates that test has been suspended. Click Resume to resume the execution of this test.
) indicates that test has been executed successfully.
)indicates that noncritical errors were encountered during the execution of the test.
) indicates that the test has failed.
(calendar) button to select the Start Date from a calendar graphic.
icon next to each test to delete that particular record from the list.