DB2 Version 10.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows

Platform-specific error log information

There are many other files and utilities available outside of DB2® to help analyze problems. Often they are just as important to determining root cause as the information made available in the DB2 files.

The other files and utilities provide access to information contained in logs and traces that is concerned with the following areas:

Based on your operating environment, there might be more places outside of what has been described here, so be aware of all of the potential areas you might have to investigate when debugging problems in your system.

Operating systems

Every operating system has its own set of diagnostic files to keep track of activity and failures. The most common (and usually most useful) is an error report or event log. Here is a list of how this information can be collected:
  • AIX®: the error report logs are accessed using the /usr/bin/errpt -a command; the system logs are enabled using the /etc/syslog.conf file
  • Solaris: /var/adm/messages* files or the /usr/bin/dmesg command
  • Linux: the /var/log/messages* files or the /bin/dmesg command
  • HP-UX: the /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log file or the /usr/bin/dmesg command
  • Windows : the system, security, and application event log files and the windir\drwtsn32.log file (where windir is the Windows install directory)

There are always more tracing and debug utilities for each operating system. See your operating system documentation and support material to determine what further information is available.

Applications and third-party vendors

Each application should have its own logging and diagnostic files. These files will complement the DB2 set of information to provide you with a more accurate picture of potential problem areas.

Hardware

Hardware devices usually log information into operating system error logs. However, sometimes additional information is required. In those cases, you must identify what hardware diagnostic files and utilities might be available for piece of hardware in your environment. An example of such a case is when a bad page, or a corruption of some type is reported by DB2. Usually this is reported due to a disk problem, in which case the hardware diagnostics must be investigated. See your hardware documentation and support material to determine what further information is available.

Some information, such as information from hardware logs, is time-sensitive. When an error occurs you should make every effort to gather as much information as you can from the relevant sources as soon as is possible.

In summary, to completely understand and evaluate a problem, you might have to collect all information available from DB2, your applications, the operating system and underlying hardware. The db2support tool automates the collection of most DB2 and operating system information that you will require, but you should still be aware of any information outside of this that might help the investigation.