FTAM/9000 User's Guide

90 Chapter 6
Resolving FTAM Problems
Network and Resource Errors
2. Turn on verbose mode (ftam> setv), reproduce the error, and write
down the “log instance” number that appears in the error message.
This number will be important as you begin further troubleshooting.
See the section following for a general overview of troubleshooting.
3. Turn to the OSI Troubleshooting Guide. That document contains
detailed information about troubleshooting the network.
Troubleshooting is easiest when performed by an experienced person.
About FTAM Troubleshooting
The information in this section is general. The OSI Troubleshooting
Guide (part number: 32070-90020) provides more detailed information.
Troubleshooting a network error can be difficult and time-consuming, so
Hewlett-Packard's OSI products (including HP FTAM/9000) provide
substantial troubleshooting aids. When a network error occurs (say a
cable gets accidently disconnected), some lower layer of the software
detects the problem. It assigns the error a unique identifying number,
called a “log instance ”.
The error, and its log instance, are noted (or “logged”) in a special file.
Then the error is passed to the next layer in the network. As the error
propagates up through the network layers, each layer logs the problem,
and passes the error along. Eventually, the error appears at the interface
as an error message with an associated log instance.
The log instance returned by the FTAM interface you are using directly
corresponds to an FTAM error recorded in the product log files. By using
this log instance to reference the log files, you can track the problem back
through successive lower layers of the network, eventually to the source
of the problem. The steps to accomplish this are covered in the OSI
Troubleshooting Guide.
API Tracing. API tracing allows FTAM programmers and users to get
detailed information about the interaction of an FTAM program with the
HP FTAM API (Application Programmatic Interface) without having to
access any source code. API tracing is of primary interest to FTAM
programs and is explained in detail in the “Handling Errors” chapter of
the HP FTAM/9000 Programmer's Guide. API tracing can be enabled or
disabled during an interactive FTAM session as follows:
• Setting the API to 0 disables API tracing.
• Setting the API to 1 causes procedure entry and exit to be traced.