Troubleshooting and support

1. Identifying problems
2. Troubleshooting and support resources
3. Collecting data using the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector
4. Running the Data Collector from the web interface
5. Running the Data Collector from the command line

Troubleshooting and support

Find information on how to troubleshoot Operational Decision Manager and get support from IBM.

Identifying problems

Troubleshooting is the process of finding and eliminating the cause of a problem. The first steps for identifying a problem include recording the symptoms, re-creating the problem, and eliminating potential causes.

Recording the symptoms

When you get an error message in the product, verify you record this message. You might also receive multiple error messages that look similar, but have subtle differences. By recording the details of each one you can learn more about where your problem exists.

You can get error messages in the following sources:

• Problems view in the Eclipse workbench
• Console view in the Eclipse workbench
• Error Log view in the Eclipse workbench
• Error dialogs
• Log files in your workspace: <workspace>/.metadata/.log

Re-creating the problem

To reproduce the problem, try to identify the steps that your performed. If you have a consistently repeatable test case, you can have an easier time determining what solutions are necessary.

You can ask yourself the following questions:

• How did you first notice the problem?
• What was the first symptom of this problem?
• Were there other symptoms occurring around that time?
• Did you do anything different that made you notice the problem?
• Is this process a new procedure, or has it worked successfully before?
• If this process worked before, what has changed?

  The change can refer to any type of change made to the system, ranging from adding new hardware or software, to configuration changes you might have made to existing software.

• Does the same problem occur elsewhere?

  The problem could be on one machine only or on multiple machines.

Eliminating possible causes

You can narrow the scope of your problem by eliminating components that are not causing the problem. Consult the information that comes with the product and other available resources to help you with your elimination process.

Troubleshooting and support resources

Various resources are available to help you get support or troubleshoot the problems that you might have with the product.

Troubleshooting information includes technotes, known limitations and problem resolution. You can also find useful information on the forums, blogs, and communities dedicated to Operational Decision Manager, as well as in the product documentation and training.

If this information is not sufficient and if it does not help solving your problem, you can contact IBM Support, and open service requests or PMRs if necessary.

The following resources provide additional troubleshooting or support information:

• Support home
• Troubleshooting
• Service request and PMRs
• Forums and communities
• Documentation and training

Collecting data using the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector

The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is an automated way to provide information to the support team for initial diagnosis of your problem.

You can run the Data Collector to gather the necessary data for identifying a problem in the product or in a component of the product.

The diagnostic data that you collect, and the sources from which you collect that data, depend on the type of problem. A base set of information is required for diagnosing and resolving a product-level or component-level problem.

Run the Data Collector using the web user interface or the command line, and then send the collected data to IBM Support.

• Running the Data Collector from the web interface
  The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is an automated way to provide information to the support team for initial diagnosis of your problem.
• Running the Data Collector from the command line
  You can run the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector using the command-line console mode.

Running the Data Collector from the web interface

The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is an automated way to provide information to the support team for initial diagnosis of your problem.

Before you begin

Make sure that you have Java version 1.6 or later installed to run the tool in the web interface.

You use the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector to gather the necessary data for identifying a problem in the product or in a component of the product.

The diagnostic data that you collect, and the sources from which you collect that data, depend on the type of problem. A base set of information is required for diagnosing and resolving a product-level or component-level problem. For specific symptoms, you might need to collect additional problem-specific data.

You can run the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector using the web user interface or the command line.

Procedure

To run the Data Collector from the web interface:

1. Click Start > All Programs > IBM > package_group > Help & Support > ISA Data Collector.

   package_group refers to the package group specified in IBM Installation Manager during installation. The default package group is Operational Decision Manager .

   You can also navigate to <InstallDir>/shared/isadc/, and double-click index.html to open it in a browser. If you are prompted for permission to run the Java Applet, agree to execute the application, or grant the appropriate permission to allow the Java Applet to run.

2. Expand Operational Decision Manager and the component for which you want to collect data, select the collection type, and then click Start.
3. If prompted to select a installation directory or workspace, click Browse to select it, click Accept, and then click OK to continue.
4. Optional: To transfer the collected data or upload it to a server, click one of the following options and fill in the required parameters:
   • Transfer to IBM (via FTP or HTTPS)
   • Transfer to another server via FTP

5. If you do not want to transfer the data now, click Dot Not Transfer.

Results

The tool generates an archive that contains the collected data, in <USER_HOME>/.isadc/. You can also find the logs of the execution of the Data Collector.

Running the Data Collector from the command line

You can run the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector using the command-line console mode.

Before you begin

Make sure that you have Java version 1.5 or later installed.

In command-line console mode, there are no selection lists or entry fields for user input. The available choices are presented as numbered lists and you enter the number of your selection.

You can also record a response file to automate headless or unattended collections.

Procedure

1. If it is not already done, set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the path of your JDK 1.5 (or later) installation, or add it to your PATH variable.
2. Navigate to <InstallDir>/shared/isadc/, and run the following script:
   • Windows: isadc.bat
   • UNIX: isadc.sh

3. Follow the instructions displayed in the command-line console.