Gathering information with the Collector tool

 

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Running the collector tool
  3. Collector summary

 

Overview

The collector tool gathers information about your WebSphere Application Server installation and packages it in a JAR file that you can send to IBM Customer Support to assist in determining and analyzing your problem. Information in the JAR file includes logs, property files, configuration files, operating system and Java data, and the presence and level of each software prerequisite.

The collector program runs to completion as it creates the JAR file, despite any errors that it might find. Errors might include missing files or commands. The collector tool collects as much data in the JAR file as possible.

You can run the collector summary option to create a lightweight version of the information in a text file and on the console. The lightweight information is useful for getting started in communicating your problem to IBM Support.

 

Running the collector tool

To run the collector tool...

  1. Log on to the system as root

  2. Verify that Java 1.2.2 or higher is available in the path.

    The collector program requires Java code to run. It also collects data about the IBM Developer Kit, Java Technology Edition in which it runs. If there are multiple Developer Kits on the system, verify that the one that the WAS product uses is the one in the path for the collector program. If the Developer Kit being used by the WAS is not available, putting another Developer Kit in the path for the collector program lets you collect all data except information about the Developer Kit.

  3. Verify that all necessary information is in the path being used by the collector program and that you are not running the program from within the WAS product installation root directory.

    1. If this system is a Linux or UNIX-based platform, verify that the path contains...

      • /bin
      • /sbin
      • /usr/bin
      • /usr/sbin

  4. Create a work directory where you can start the collector program.

  5. Make the work directory the current directory.The collector program writes its output JAR file to the current directory. The program also creates and deletes a number of temporary files in the current directory. Creating a work directory to run the collector program avoids naming collisions and makes cleanup easier. You cannot run the collector tool in a directory under the WAS installation directory.

  6. Run the collector program by entering the command...

    collector.sh

    ...from the command line.

    Using the collector command with no additional parameters gathers one copy of the node data and data from each server in the node, and stores them in a single JAR output file. To gather data from a specific server in the node, run...

    collector.sh servername

    Set the path correctly to use the non-qualified version of the command. For Linux and UNIX-based platforms, $WAS_HOME/bin must be in the path to locate the collector.sh command.

The collector.sh program creates a log file, Collector.log, and an output JAR file in the current directory.

The name of the JAR file is based on the hostname and package of the Application Server product, in the format:

hostname-ND-WASenv.jar

...or...

hostname-Base-WASenv.jar

The Collector.log log file is one of the files collected in the hostname-ND-WASenv.jar or hostname-Base-WASenv.jar file.

Send the hostname-ND-WASenv.jar or hostname-Base-WASenv.jar file to IBM Support for analysis.

 

Collector summary

Run the collector tool with the -Summary option to produce a lightweight text file and console version of some of the information in the Java archive (JAR) file that the tool produces without the -Summary parameter. Use the collector summary option to retrieve basic configuration and prerequisite software level information when starting a conversation with IBM Support.

The collector summary option produces version information for the WAS product and the operating system as well as other information. It stores the information in the Collector_Summary.txt file and writes it to the console. Use the information to answer initial questions from IBM Support or you can send the Collector_Summary.txt file directly to IBM Support. 

$WAS_HOME/bin/collector.sh -Summary

 

See Also


Analyzing collector tool output
Gathering information with the Collector tool
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