Troubleshooting process overview

Troubleshooting is the process of finding and eliminating the cause of a problem. Whenever you have a problem with your IBM software, the troubleshooting process begins as soon as you ask yourself what happened?

A basic troubleshooting strategy at a high level involves these steps:

  1. Recording the symptoms of the problem

  2. Recreating the problem

  3. Eliminating possible causes


Recording the symptoms of the problem

Depending on the type of problem you have, whether it is with your application, your server, or your tools, you might receive a message that indicates that something is wrong. Always record the error message that you see. As simple as this sounds, error messages often contain codes that make more sense as you investigate your problem further. You might also receive multiple error messages that look similar, but have subtle differences. By recording the details of each message, you can learn more about the problem.

The sources of error messages are:


Recreating the problem

Think back to what steps led you to this problem. Try those steps again to see if you can easily recreate this problem. If you have a consistently repeatable test case, you can have an easier time determining what solutions are necessary.

Consider the following questions:


Eliminating possible causes

Narrow the scope of your problem by eliminating components that are not causing the problem. By using a process of elimination, you can simplify your problem and avoid wasting time in other areas. Consult the release information that comes with the product and other available resources to help you with your elimination process.

Start with these questions:


Related concepts

IBM Support Assistant

Related tasks

Accessing release information

Searching knowledge bases

Get fixes

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