NS3000/iX Operations and Maintenance Reference Manual (36922-90039)

Chapter 5 71
Common Network Problems
Investigate the Software
Investigate the Software
Follow the strategy described below to identify and solve any problems
that might involve software.
• There may be version incompatibilities between different software
subsystems. This is essential to check for if new software has
recently been installed on your node. Use the software verification
utility NMMAINT to display the version identification numbers of the
software modules. Compare the first five characters of these version
IDs with those listed as compatible with each other in the System
Status Bulletin, Software Release Bulletin, N00N files or other HP
source. If a discrepancy is found, locate a known set of compatible
software and install it.
• Issue the LINKCONTROL STATUS command. Inspect the output and
attempt to identify the problem. Refer to Appendix A,
“LINKCONTROL Command,” for a detailed analysis of the fields
displayed. Retain a copy of the output from this command for your
Hewlett-Packard representative.
• Check the configuration file. Use NMMGR to print the data screens.
Inspect the output and attempt to identify the problem. Follow the
suggestions provided in the section “Corrupt Configuration Files”
later in this section. Retain a copy of the output for your
Hewlett-Packard representative.
• In general, the log files are the best source of information. They
should be checked for any problem encountered. Use the command
SWITCHNMLOG to isolate the specific log file immediately after the
problem occurs. Use the time range option of NMDUMP whenever
possible to further narrow the focus on when the problem occurred.
Inspect the formatted output and attempt to identify the problem.
Retain a copy of the output from the log file for your HP
representative.
• If the cause of the problem cannot be isolated with any other means,
or if the recommended action has not resolved a problem, then use
the line tests described in this manual. The intent is to verify each
component of the hardware and software individually in hopes of
isolating the faulty component. Inspect the output and attempt to
identify the problem. Retain a copy of the output from these tests for
your HP representative.
• If the problem is easily repeated and NMS tracing was inactive
when the problem took place, turn on tracing using the NETCONTROL
TRACE command. When the problem has been reproduced, turn off
tracing and give this trace file to your HP representative for
additional analysis.