Running the collector tool

Use the collector tool to gather information about your system and one or more profiles. The sort of information that you gather is not something that most people use. In fact, the collector tool packages its output into a JAR file. People normally use the collector tool when directed to do so by IBM Support, when gathering information to send to IBM as part of reporting a problem. IBM includes the collector tool in the product code, along with other tools that help capture the information that provide when reporting a problem. The collector tool is part of a strategy of making problem reporting as easy and complete as possible.

Run the collector tool from the root user or from the administrator user (Windows systems) to access system files that contain information about kernel settings, installed packages, and other vital data.

The collector tool is a Java application that requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to run.

The tool is within the installation root directory for WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment . But you run the tool from a working directory that you create outside of the installation root directory. This procedure describes both of those steps and all of the other steps for using the tool and reporting the results from running the tool.

The tool collects information about the default profile if you do not use the optional parameter to identify another profile.

Log on to the system as root or a member of the administrator group on a Windows platform.
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 WebSphere Application Server product uses is the one in the path for the collector program.
If the Developer Kit being used by the WebSphere Application Server is not available, put another Developer Kit in the path for the collector program so that you can collect everything except data about the Developer Kit that WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment is using.
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 WebSphere Application Server product installation root directory.
1. Verify that the path contains the following system directories:
  - /bin
  - /sbin
  - /usr/bin
  - /usr/sbin
2. Include regedit in the path.
Make a working directory where you can start the collector program.
Make the working 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 installation root directory for WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment .
Run the collector program by entering the fully qualified command from the command line of the working directory.
```
app_server_root/bin/collector.sh
```
```
app_server_root\bin\collector.bat
```
Use the command with no additional parameter to gather one copy of the profile data and data from each server in the node, and to store the data in a single JAR output file.
Use the following command to gather data from a specific profile that might not be the default profile:
```
app_server_root/bin/collector.sh -profileName profile_name
```
```
app_server_root\bin\collector.bat -profileName profile_name
```
Use the following command to gather data from a specific server that might be giving you problems:
```
app_server_root/bin/collector.sh -servername server_name
```
```
app_server_root\bin\collector.bat -servername server_name
```
Combine the two parameters to identify a particular server in a particular profile.
Set the path to locate the proper command file in the app_server_root
/bin directory if you do not want to issue a fully qualified command.

Result WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment

The collector program creates the

Collector.log log file and an output JAR file in the current directory. The name of the JAR file is composed of the host name, cell name, node name, and profile name:

host_name-cell_name-node-profile_name.JAR

The Collector.log log file is one of the files collected in the host_name-cell_name-node-profile_name.JAR file.

What to do next

Send the host_name-cell_name-node-profile_name.JAR file to IBM Support for analysis.

Related concepts

Gathering information with the Collector tool
Analyzing collector tool output

Related reference

Collector summary

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