IBM Support

Troubleshoot issues in an IBM Spectrum Protect environment by using the servermon component

Product Documentation


Abstract

IBM Spectrum Protect Version 8.1.6 includes the new servermon component, which can be enabled for continuous data collection. Experienced system administrators can use the collected data to help identify, prevent, and resolve issues in a system environment.

Content

The following restrictions apply to the servermon component in IBM Spectrum Protect V8.1.6:

  • The servermon component is provided as a technical preview. In this release, you can test the component and use it for troubleshooting.
  • The servermon component is available only on the Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
  • You must stop the servermon process before you shut down the IBM Spectrum Protect server. In this way, you can help to prevent possible memory leaks that are associated with the servermon process.
  • If you run the servermon process, server instrumentation, or both, you might see a degradation in system performance. The performance degradation is observed in some system environments while instrumentation data is being collected. If you experience this issue, and you are running the servermon component with instrumentation, but are not collecting performance data, disable instrumentation. In this way, you can restore system performance.

 

Experienced system administrators can use the data that is collected by the servermon component to continuously monitor the server and identify trends. For example, they can predict bottlenecks in resource utilization, identify measures to improve performance, obtain snapshots of server status, and provide historical context for server operations. If an administrator cannot resolve a detected issue, the administrator can share the collected data with IBM Software Support to facilitate issue resolution. 

Prerequisites

You must install the IBM Spectrum Protect V8.1.6 server. Log on to the server by using the instance owner ID.

Configuring the servermon component

1. Ensure that the DSMI_LOG environment variable is set to the server instance directory. Take the appropriate action for your operating system:

  • On Linux operating systems:
    a. In the server instance directory, locate the sqllib subdirectory, and open the userprofile file.
    b. Verify whether the following line is included in the file:
    DSMI_LOG=server_instance_directory
    c. If the line is not included, or the value is not set to the server instance directory, edit and save the file.
  • On Windows operating systems:
    a. In the server instance directory, locate the tsmdbmgr.env file and verify that the file includes the following line:
    DSMI_LOG=server_instance_directory
    b. If the  tsmdbmgr.env file does not exist, create the file and add the following line:
    DSMI_LOG=server_instance_directory

2. Verify that your system environment includes a directory for the servermon component:

  • On Linux operating systems, verify that the following directory exists: $DSMI_LOG/srvmon
  • On Windows operating systems, verify that the following directory exists: %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon

    If the directory does not exist, create it.
     

3. Copy the command initialization (.ini) file from the servermon directory to the srvmon directory:

  • On Linux operating systems, in the server installation directory, locate the servermon subdirectory, which contains the commands.ini file. Copy the commands.ini file to the following directory:
    $DSMI_LOG/srvmon
    For example, if you are using the default installation directory for the server, and the $DSMI_LOG directory is /home/tsminst1, issue the following command:
    cp /opt/tivoli/tsm/server/bin/servermon/commands.ini /home/tsminst1/srvmon
  • On Windows operating systems, in the server installation directory, locate the servermon subdirectory, which contains the commands.ini file. Copy the  commands.ini file to the following directory:
    %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon
    For example, if you are using the default installation directory for the server, and the %DSMI_LOG% directory is C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server1, issue the following command:
    copy C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server\servermon\commands.ini C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server1\srvmon

4. Copy the servermon initialization (.ini) file from the servermon directory to the srvmon directory:

  • On Linux operating systems, in the server installation directory, locate the servermon subdirectory, which contains the servermon.ini file. Copy the servermon.ini file to the following directory:
    $DSMI_LOG/srvmon
    For example, if you are using the default installation directory for the server, and the $DSMI_LOG directory is /home/tsminst1, issue the following command:
    cp /opt/tivoli/tsm/server/bin/servermon/servermon.ini /home/tsminst1/srvmon
  • On Windows operating systems, locate the server installation directory and the servermon subdirectory, which contains the servermon.ini file. Copy the servermon.ini file to the following directory:
    %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon
    For example, if you are using the default installation directory for the server, and the %DSMI_LOG% directory is C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server1, issue the following command:
    copy C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server\servermon\servermon.ini C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\server1\srvmon

Enabling data collection

  1. Set the option for starting the servermon component:
    a. In the server instance directory, locate the server options file, dsmserv.opt.
    b. Edit the file to add the following line:
    alwaysonservermon yes
    c. Save and close the file.
  2. Restart the server by using the dsmserv utility. For more information, see DSMSERV (Start the server).
  3. Go to the srvmon directory ($DSMI_LOG/srvmon for Linux or %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon for Windows) and review the servermon.ini file.
    Ensure that the instance value is set to the server instance name. If the value is not set to the server instance name, change the value and save the file.
    By default, the instance value is set as shown:
    instance = tsminst1
    For example, if your server instance name is server1, you would change the value as shown:
    instance = server1

4. To start the servermon component, run the executable file in the servermon subdirectory of the server installation directory:

  • On Linux operating systems, the executable file is named servermon.
  • On Windows operating systems, the executable file is named servermon.exe. Run this file at the command prompt.

    The servermon component runs until you stop it.

Reviewing the collected data

  1. Go to the srvmon directory ($DSMI_LOG/srvmon for Linux or %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon for Windows). Locate the following subdirectory:
    date-time-server_name
    where the variables specify the date and time of data collection, and the name of the server where the servermon component is run.
     
  2. In the subdirectory, review one or more of the following files:
  • srvmon_*done.txt
    This file lists the names of files that were generated by the server and that are being added to the staging directory. These files contain data from the current cycle of data collection. To obtain the latest collected data, review the files.
  • archiveFileXXXXX.zip
    where XXXXX specifies a day when data was collected. This file includes data from a single day of collection, and is available at the end of each 24-hour cycle of data collection. The information in the file is archived into the IBM Db2 database, and the file itself is deleted as soon as the information is successfully archived. To extract a data archive from the server database and save the archive in the srvmon directory as a time-stamped, compressed file that can be extracted for analysis, issue the following command:
    servermon –extract –id id
    where id specifies the ID of the data archive.
  • servermon.log
    This file includes data from the servermon program regarding the state of processing. You can review this file to troubleshoot errors in the servermon component.


What to do next

Optionally, to complete other tasks, take one of the following actions:

  • To run the servermon component with enhanced logging, issue the following command:
    servermon –debug
    You can find the output in the srvmon directory.
     
  • To list the data archives that are stored in the server database by the servermon component, issue the following command:
    servermon –list
    You can find the output in the srvmon directory.
     
  • To remove a data archive that is stored in the server database, issue the following command:
    servermon –remove –id id
    where id specifies the ID of the data archive.
     
  • To remove data archives from the server database, issue the following command:
    servermon –prune


Stopping the servermon process

You must stop the servermon process before you shut down the IBM Spectrum Protect server. In this way, you can help to prevent possible memory leakage from occurring during the servermon process.

To stop the servermon process, go to the window where the servermon executable file was started. Take the appropriate action for your operating system:

  • On a Linux operating system, press Ctrl+C or the keys that are used for your operating system to close the command prompt.
  • On a Windows operating system, press Ctrl+C.


Troubleshooting

If the servermon component fails to run, complete the following steps:

  1. Go to the srvmon directory ($DSMI_LOG/srvmon for Linux or %DSMI_LOG%\srvmon for Windows).
  2. For information about potential errors, review the servermon.log file.
  3. Correct any detected issues and start the servermon component.

 

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Document Information

Modified date:
17 December 2018

UID

ibm10719885