What Does The "Support Case" Feature Do?

Body

One of the built-in features to IBM Sterling B2B Integrator is the option to generate a "Support Case" jar file containing your log files, system info, properties files and even supporting data (Business Processes, data files, etc.) along with a Problem Description into a single file.

From the Administration Menu, select Operations -> System -> Support Tools -> Support Case

Enter your PMR Number and a Description then click Next.

If you have supporting data that you would like to submit, such as a BP and data files, you can attach them using the following screen, then click Next.

On the last file you have the option to include your System Information and/or Property Files. The System Information issues several command on your behalf to gather network memory, process and other statistics while the Property Files, naturally, gathers up the actual *.properties files for inclusion into the final support file. The screen then shows you the name of the resulting file and then you click Finish to start the automatic gathering to begin.

When it completes you have the option to download the file so you can upload it to the PMR.

The Resulting Support File

When support receives your jar file, they'll typically begin with the Logs folder.

Logs Folder

In the example below, you can see that there are 8 occurrences each of the Authentication and the Perimeter log files. You'll also notice they're date and time-stamped with the exact same values (the time this jar file was created).

As an analyst the first thing I do is step through the multiple sets of a given log files (such as Authentication.log) and remove the copies that are not from the date of the issue that is being investigated. Otherwise, when I parse these log files for error messages, I could end up troubleshooting a different issue from a different day!

IMPORTANT: When an IBM Support Analyst asks you for the log files from the DATE and TIME of the incident they're asking you to assist them by moving these off to a separate folder. It may seem like a lot to ask but at any given time a support analyst can have dozens and dozens (and sometimes another dozen) of PMRs we're handling for a variety of issues.

Properties Folder (optional)

This folder contains all your *.properties files from your {SI_INSTALL}\properties sub-directory.

SysInfo Folder (optional)

This folder contains the output from a set of commands that were executed to gather various system statistic

Conclusion

The Support Case feature is a very handy tool to use to commence troubleshooting many issues. Just keep in mind, it's best to provide the log files from the DATE and TIME of the issue instead of several days worth as this merely forces the analyst to spend time deleting unnecessary data before they can begin troubleshooting.