Troubleshooting Electronic Service Agent

When an error occurs, the system attempts to automatically report a problem or to send service information to IBM.

Electronic Service Agent™ is dependent on many functions of the IBM® i operating system to be working properly, including:

Universal Connection
Electronic Customer Support
The problem log
IBM Java™ Toolbox
5770-SS1 option 3

Normal system problem determination is recommended for any error that is detected.

Activation

To determine if Electronic Service Agent is activated, from a command line, type GO SERVICE. Once the Electronic Service Agent main menu is displayed, the Service Agent is activated.

General

To verify that no errors occurred in Electronic Service Agent activities, check the Audit log. To see the Audit log, use the Electronic Service Agent menu, option 14 (Display audit log).

Problem Reporting and Auto PTF

To verify that Electronic Service is enabled, from a command line, type GO SERVICE, and select Change Service Agent attributes, option 1. To enable automatic problem reporting, the Enable parameter must be set to *YES.

For problems with Auto report, Product activity log analysis, or Auto PTF, verify that Electronic Service Agent jobs are running: QS9HDWMON, QS9PALMON*, QS9PRBMON, QS9PRBSND, and QS9SFWMON. To verify that the specified jobs are running, type Go SERVICE and select option 10 (Work with jobs) from the Electronic Service Agent Menu.

Notes:

QS9PALMON is active only when the Product activity log analysis is enabled.
The expected delivery time of mailed PTFs is 5 - 9 business days.

If the jobs are active, and errors still persist, try restarting the Electronic Service Agent jobs as follows:

Stop the jobs using GO SERVICE menu option 8 (End jobs).
Verify that jobs are not displayed using GO SERVICE menu option 10 (Work with jobs).
Start the jobs using GO SERVICE menu option 9 (Start jobs).
Verify that jobs are active using GO SERVICE menu option 10 (Work with jobs).

To collect additional error details from Electronic Service Agent jobs, type GO SERVICE and selection option 11 (Change Service Agent job logging). Specify *YES for Create job logs. To display the jobs logs, use option 13 (Work with Service Agent spooled files).

Service Information Collection and Transmission

The task of sending service information uses Universal Connection. This task take time to run. A summary of the collection and transmission steps is outlined as follows.

After the collection is completed, a job is submitted to use Universal Connection to perform the following tasks:
- Start the connection profile.
- Vary on its associated line, controller, and device descriptions, if applicable.
- Connect to IBM.
- Send the service information.
Factors that affect the length of the time needed to collect and send information are the size of the system, processing load, and the speed of the connection.

To verify that service information was sent to IBM, use the Electronic Service Agent menu option 5 (Display service information collection). If service information is in the process of being collected or transmitted, the Last Run and Last Send information might not show this activity. These activities are shown when the tasks have completed.

When inventory runs, the Electronic Service Agent submits a job named QSJSENDER in the QSYSWRK subsystem.