System information

Troubleshooting Strategy
1-11
Firmware Console Commands
Console commands are used to set and examine environment variables and device
parameters, as well as to invoke ROM-based diagnostics and exercisers. For
example, the show memory, show configuration, and show device commands
are used to examine the configuration; the set bootdef_dev, set auto_action, and
set boot_osflags commands are used to set environment variables; and the cdp
command is used to configure DSSI parameters.
RECOMMENDED USE: Use console commands to set and examine environment
variables and device parameters and to run RBDs. Refer to Chapter 6 for
information on configuration-related firmware commands and Chapter 3 for
information on running RBDs.
Operating System Exercisers (DEC VET)
The DIGITAL Verifier and Exerciser Tool (DEC VET) is supported by the
DIGITAL UNIX, OpenVMS, and Windows NT operating systems. DEC VET
performs exerciser-oriented maintenance testing of both hardware and operating
systems.
RECOMMENDED USE: Use DEC VET as part of acceptance testing to ensure
that the CPU, memory, disk, tape, file system, and network are interacting
properly. Also use DEC VET to stress test the user's environment and
configuration by simulating system operation under heavy loads to diagnose
intermittent system failures.
Crash Dumps
For fatal errors, such as fatal bugchecks, the DIGITAL UNIX and OpenVMS
operating systems will save the contents of memory to a crash dump file.
RECOMMENDED USE: Crash dump files can be used to determine why the
system crashed. To save a crash dump file for analysis, you need to know the
proper system settings. Refer to the OpenVMS Alpha System Dump Analyzer
Utility Manual or the Guide to Kernel Debugging for DIGITAL UNIX.