Collect troubleshooting data for problems with WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (WESB)

Resolving The Problem

• Learn more about MustGather
• Collect MustGather data
• Submit MustGather data to IBM Support
• Collect MustGather data for related products
• Related information

Learning more about MustGather

The term "MustGather" represents the diagnostic data (system information, symptoms, log files, traces, and so on) that is required to resolve a problem. By collecting MustGather data early, even before you open a PMR, you help IBM Support quickly determine the following:

• Whether symptoms match known problems (rediscovery)
• If you have a non-defect problem that can be identified and resolved
• If there is a defect that identifies a workaround to reduce severity
• If locating the root cause can speed development of a code fix

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Collect MustGather data

You can use tooling to automatically collect the MustGather information or manually collect it.

• The IBM Support Assistant provides a data collector feature that can automatically collect and package diagnostic (MustGather) data for your problem with WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus.
  
• After the data is collected, the IBM Support Assistant also gives you the ability to submit the MustGather data to IBM Technical Support using the integrated interface to the Service Request (SR) tool.

• WebSphere ESB version details
  The simplest way to determine the product version and all interim fixes that have been applied to an installation is to run the following commands. The executables are located within the /bin directory of the product installation. Change to this directory before running these commands, which ensures that you pick up the version information from the appropriate WebSphere ESB installation on your system:
• On UNIX-based operating systems:
  
  ./versionInfo.sh -maintenancePackages
  
  
• On Windows operating systems:
  
  .\versionInfo -maintenancePackages
  
  
• Operating system and hardware architecture
  A brief description of the operating system and architecture type is useful to determine which version of the Java™ SDK you are using. For example: Solaris 10 (SPARC), or Linux RHEL AS 4 (zSeries).
  
  
• Deployment topology
  Indicate if you are using the product deployed in a cluster. If so, indicate if all the machines in the cluster are using the same operating system type and version.
  
  
• Log and trace files
  Log and trace files are often the most important user-supplied information to assist with the diagnosis of problems. All log and trace files are stored on your machine within the /profiles directory structure. If the runtime server is installed into the root directory WESB_INSTALL, the log files are located within the following directory:
  
  
  WESB_INSTALL/profiles/profile_name/logs/server_name
  
  Note: If you are using the built-in test server for WebSphere Integration Developer, where the tooling is installed to the directory WID_INSTALL, then the log files are located in the following directory:
  
  
  WID_INSTALL/pf/profile_name/logs/server_name
  
  The support teams might ask for more log files during the problem diagnosis. However, by default, include the contents of this directory. It is recommended that you compress the logs directory using compression tools such as zip, or tar and gzip.
  
  
  In addition to this directory, the /ffdc is often useful. This file is located at the same level as the server_name directory. For example:
  
  WESB_INSTALL/profiles/default/logs/ffdc
  Trace files are not generated by default. When trace is switched on, output is sent to the logs/server_name/trace.log file. In the case where the maximum rollover log file size is reached, this file will be renamed to a file with a name of the following form:
  logs/server_name/trace_<TIMESTAMP>.log
  
  
• Switching trace on for WebSphere ESB
  The simplest way to turn trace on is by using the administrative console. To turn it on, start a administrative console session and log in. You might need to alter the filter at the bottom of the main panel to see the Troubleshooting in the left column.



1. Select Troubleshooting > Logs and Trace.
   
   
2. Select your server from the list.
   
   
3. Change the Log Detail Levels. You are presented with a free-form text box, which contains, by default, the string *=info. To trace WebSphere ESB-specific problems that are specific to the Mediation Flow Component and its primitives, this trace string should be replaced with the following string:
   
   
   *=info:com.ibm.ws.sibx.*=all:com.ibm.wsspi.sibx.*=all:com.ibm.websphere.sibx.*=all:com.ibm.ws.sib.processor.utils.UserTrace=all:com.ibm.wbiserver.transform.*=all:com.ibm.sr.client.*=all
   
   
   Note: There are no spaces or new line characters in this string. It should exist as one line of text when you enter it in the administrative console.
   
   
4. Click OK and save these changes.
   
   
5. Restart the server to initiate the production of trace.
   
   
6. At this point, re-run your message flow that experiences the problem and send the trace log files to the support group.
   
   
Note: If your message flow performs a lot of work before the problem being traced is seen, the trace files might be overwritten. The default trace log size is 20MB and one historical file is kept. If you believe this might be insufficient to capture the problem, you can change these defaults in the Diagnostic Trace section of the administrative console.


• Project Interchange File
  The associated Project Interchange File can be exported from WebSphere Integration Developer and is very useful to the support groups. The file not only describes the application configuration, but it also permits the opportunity for the support teams to recreate the problem.
  
  To create a Project Interchange file, from within WebSphere Integration Developer, complete the following steps:


1. Select File > Export.
   
   
2. Select Project Interchange and select the modules which are relevant to your project.
   
   
3. Choose a file name for the Project Interchange file, and fill it in, in the field at the bottom.
   
   
4. Send this exported file to the support group.


Problem Description
Provide a detailed description of the problem, including the steps that are needed to recreate the problem. If an input message with specific values is required, provide a sample message. Indicate the method by which you are invoking the message flow.

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Submit MustGather data to IBM Support

• IBM Support Assistant (ISA)
• Service Request (SR)
• FTP to the Enhanced Customer Data Repository (ECuRep)

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Collect MustGather data for related products

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Related information

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