Obtaining help from IBM
If you are not able to resolve a WAS problem by following the steps described in the Troubleshooting guide, 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. For details on the Passport Advantage program, visit http://www.lotus.com/services/passport.nsf/WebDocs/Passport_Advantage_Home.
The number for Passport Advantage members to call for WebSphere Application Server support is 1-800-237-5511. Please have the following information available when you call:
- Your Contract or Passport Advantage number.
- Your WAS version and revision level, plus any installed fixes.
- Your operating system name and version.
- Your database type and version.
- Basic topology data: how many machines are running how many application servers, and so on.
- Any error or warning messages related to your problem.
IBM Support has documents that can save you time gathering information needed to resolve this problem. Before opening a PMR, see the IBM Support page.
The Collector Tool
WebSphere Application Server comes with a built-in utility that collects logs and configuration information into one file, the Collector Tool. IBM Technical Support may 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.
For details on how to do this, see Enabling trace.
Consulting
For complex issues such as high availability and integration with legacy systems, education, and help in getting started quickly with the WebSphere product family, consider using IBM consulting services. To learn about these services, browse the Web site http://www-1.ibm.com/services/fullservice.html.