Troubleshooting help from IBM
If we are not able to resolve a WAS problem by following the steps described in the troubleshooting topics, by looking up error messages in the message reference, or looking for related documentation on the online help, contact IBM Technical Support.
Purchase of WAS entitles you to one year of telephone support under the Passport Advantage program.
If we cannot resolve the problem by any of the preceding methods:
- Go to the WebSphere Application Server support page.
- Expand the Contact Support section.
- Click "Exchanging information with IBM Tech Support", and follow the information collection instructions provided.
- Click "Directory of worldwide contacts" to find the appropriate contact information for the geography.
Before opening a PMR, see the IBM Support page.
IBM Support Assistant
Use the IBM Support Assistant to organize the problem solving investigations and get the latest troubleshooting tools to analyze everything from logs to memory dumps. The IBM Support Assistant provides access to many of the same tools that our IBM Technical Support teams use when solving problems.
IBM Support Assistant Data Collector
The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is a utility for running automated, symptom-specific data collection scripts. These scripts gather logs, trace, configuration, system-specific information, and other symptom-specific data that is useful to diagnose various potential problems. We can attach the resultant collections to an IBM Service Request so that we can get help from IBM Support. The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector is included with WebSphere Application Server, and can be run from...
$app_server_root/bin
IBM Support might ask you to run this tool and submit the output.
Tracing
WebSphere Application Server support engineers might ask you to enable tracing on a particular component of the product to diagnose a difficult problem.
WebSphere Application Server requires a network connection between all WebSphere Application Server components. If a network connection between components includes traversing a firewall, the firewall should be transparent to WebSphere Application Server and not affect operations. The IBM Support Center does accept usage and defect related service requests when a firewall is in place between WebSphere Application Server components. However. during the problem determination process, IBM might request that the issue be recreated without a firewall in the network connection to determine if the issue is related to a specific firewall configuration.
Consulting
For complex issues such as integration with legacy systems, education, and help in getting started quickly with the WebSphere product family, consider using IBM consulting services.
Subtopics
- Diagnose and fix problems: Resources for learning
- Use IBM Support Assistant
- Use the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector