IBM i5/OS problem analysis

Use this procedure to perform i5/OS® problem analysis.

If you experience a problem with your i5/OS system or logical partition, gather more information about the problem to either solve it, or to help your next level of support or your hardware service provider to solve it more quickly and accurately.

This procedure refers to the i5/OS control language (CL) commands, which provide a flexible means of entering commands on the i5/OS logical partition or system. You can use CL commands to control most of the i5/OS functions by entering them from either the character-based interface or iSeries® Navigator. While the CL commands might be unfamiliar at first, they follow a consistent syntax, and i5/OS includes many features to help you use them successfully. The CL topic includes a complete CL reference and a CL finder to look up specific CL commands.

Keep the following in mind while troubleshooting i5/OS problems:
  • Has an external power outage or momentary power loss occurred?
  • Has the hardware configuration changed?
  • Has system software been added?
  • Have any new programs or program updates (including PTFs) been installed recently?
To make sure that your IBM® software has been correctly installed, use the Check Product Option (CHKPRDOPT) command.
  • Have any system values changed?
  • Has any system tuning been done?

After reviewing these considerations, follow these steps:

  1. If you have an HMC, ensure you performed the steps in Beginning problem analysis. Then return here if you are directed to do so.
    Note: For details on accessing a 5250 console session on the HMC, see Managing the HMC 5250 console.
  2. Can you start your system?
  3. Are you troubleshooting a problem related to the iSeries integrated xSeries® or blade server within an iSCSI environment?
  4. Is the system control panel displaying function 11 (use the increment or decrement buttons to cycle through the functions to determine if function 11 exists. Press Enter to alternate between function and data).
    • Yes: Go to step 23.
    • No: Continue with the next step.
  5. Is the system attention light on?
    • Yes: Go to step 23.
    • No: Continue with the next step.
  6. Choose from the following options:
  7. Does the console show a Main Storage Dump Manager display?
  8. Does the console that was in use when the problem occurred (or any console) appear to be operational?
    Note: The console is operational if a sign-on display or a command line is present. If another console is operational, use it to resolve the problem.
  9. Is a message related to this problem shown on the console?
    • Yes: Continue with the next step.
    • No: Go to step 15.
  10. Is this a system operator message?
    Note: It is a system operator message if the display indicates that the message is in the QSYSOPR message queue. Critical messages can be found in the QSYSMSG message queue. For more information, refer to Create message queue QSYSMSG for severe messages.
    • Yes: Continue with the next step.
    • No: Go to step 12.
  11. Is the system operator message highlighted, or does it have an asterisk (*) by it?
    • Yes: Go to step 22.
    • No: Go to step 17.
  12. Move the cursor to the message line and press F1 (Help). Does the Additional Message Information display appear?
    • Yes: Continue with the next step.
    • No: Go to step 15.
  13. Record the additional message information on the appropriate problem reporting form. For details, see Using the problem reporting forms.
  14. Then follow the recovery instructions on the Additional Message Information display. Did this solve the problem?
    • Yes: This ends the procedure.
    • No: Continue with the next step.
  15. To display system operator messages, type dspmsg qsysopr on any command line and press Enter. Did you find a message that is highlighted or has an asterisk (*) by it?
    • No: Continue with the next step.
      Note: The message monitor in iSeries Navigator can also inform you when a problem has developed. For details, see Scenario: Message monitor.
    • Yes: Go to step 22.
  16. Did you find a message with a date or time that is at or near the time the problem occurred?
    Note: Move the cursor to the message line and press F1 (Help) to determine the time a message occurred. If the problem is shown to affect only one console, you might be able to use information from the JOB menu to diagnose and solve the problem. To find this menu, type GO JOB and press Enter on any command line.
    • Yes: Continue with the next step.
    • No: Go to step 19.
  17. Perform the following steps:
    1. Move the cursor to the message line and press F1 (Help) to display additional information about the message.
    2. Record the additional message information on the appropriate problem reporting form. For details, see Using the problem reporting forms.
    3. Follow any recovery instructions that are shown.
    Did this solve the problem?
    • Yes: This ends the procedure.
    • No: Continue with the next step.
  18. Did the message information indicate to look for additional messages in the system operator message queue (QSYSOPR)?
    • No: Continue with the next step.
    • Yes: Press F12 (Cancel) to return to the list of messages and look for other related messages. Then return to step 15.
  19. Do you know which input/output device is causing the problem?
    • No: Continue with the next step.
    • Yes: Continue with step 21.
  20. If you do not know which input/output device is causing the problem, describe the problems that you have observed by performing the following steps:
    1. Type GO USERHELP on any command line and press Enter.
    2. Select option 10 (Save information to help resolve a problem).
    3. Type a brief description of the problem and press Enter. If you specify the default Y in the Enter notes about problem field, you can enter more text to describe your problem.
      Note: To describe your problem in greater detail, see Use the Analyze Problem (ANZPRB) command. This command also can run a test to further isolate the problem.
    4. Report the problem to your hardware service provider. For details, see Contacting IBM service and support.
  21. Perform the following steps:
    1. Type ANZPRB on the command line and press Enter. For details, see Use the Analyze Problem (ANZPRB) command.
    2. Report the problem. For details, see Contacting IBM service and support.This ends the procedure.
  22. Perform the following steps:
    1. Move the cursor to the message line and press F1 (Help) to display additional information about the message.
    2. Press F14, or use the Work with Problem (WRKPRB) command. For details, see Use the Work with Problems (WRKPRB) command.
    3. If this does not solve the problem, see the Symptom and recovery actions.
  23. Choose from the following options: