POWERSTORE BASIC

TROUBLESHOOTING

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

PARTICIPANT GUIDE
 PowerStore Basic Troubleshooting

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Table of Contents

PowerStore Basic Troubleshooting ...................................................................................... 2

PowerStore .......................................................................................................................... 3
Midrange Storage ................................................................................................................ 4

Hardware Troubleshooting ....................................................................................... 5

Component LED Troubleshooting ........................................................................................ 6
PowerStore Alerts .............................................................................................................. 16

PowerStore CLI ........................................................................................................ 27

PSTCLI Overview .............................................................................................................. 28
Install PSTCLI onto Client System ..................................................................................... 29
Run PSTCLI from Client..................................................................................................... 30
PSTCLI Help Options ......................................................................................................... 33
PowerStore CLI Key Points ................................................................................................ 35

Troubleshooting with PowerStore CLI ................................................................... 36

Use PSTCLI to Show Alerts ............................................................................................... 37
Use PSTCLI to Show Events ............................................................................................. 41
Use PSTCLI to Show Hardware ......................................................................................... 43
Use PSTCLI to Show Network ........................................................................................... 45
PSTCLI NAS Commands ................................................................................................... 46
Access PSTCLI from PowerStore Service Container ......................................................... 48
Troubleshooting with PSTCLI Key Points ........................................................................... 50

Serviceability ............................................................................................................ 51
IPMI Overview ................................................................................................................... 52
After the Connection is Established ................................................................................... 55
IPMItool example ............................................................................................................... 56
SSH and PowerStore Management Access over the Service LAN Ports ........................... 57
Serviceability Key Points .................................................................................................... 61

Service Container..................................................................................................... 62

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 Service Container Overview ............................................................................................... 63
Connect to PowerStore Service Container ......................................................................... 64
svc_diag Command ........................................................................................................... 66
svc_journalctl Command .................................................................................................... 71
Gain root Privileges............................................................................................................ 73
Troubleshoot PowerStore Manager GUI Unavailable ......................................................... 74
Collect Logs with Service Container ................................................................................... 76
PowerStore Service Container Key Points ......................................................................... 79

Data Collection using GUI ....................................................................................... 80

Data Collection Overview ................................................................................................... 81
Data Collection Placement ................................................................................................. 82
Collecting Support Materials .............................................................................................. 83
Downloading Support Materials to a Windows Host ........................................................... 86

Data Collection using Service Container ............................................................... 87

Service Commands for Data Collection.............................................................................. 88
Managing Data Collects with Service Commands .............................................................. 89
Data Collection Key Points................................................................................................. 92

Appendix ................................................................................................. 93

Glossary .................................................................................................. 95

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PowerStore

The PowerStore Implementation Engineer exam is intended for customers,

partners, and internal employees who are responsible for the implementation or
administration of PowerStore arrays.

The PowerStore Platform Engineer exam is intended for partners and internal
employees who are responsible for the installation and maintenance of PowerStore
arrays.

Implementation Engineer, Platform Engineer,

PowerStore PowerStore

A. PowerStore Concepts and Features (ODC) A. PowerStore Concepts and Features (ODC)
B. PowerStore Installation Cabling (ODC) B. PowerStore Implementation (ODC)
C. PowerStore Implementation (ODC) C. PowerStore Installation (ODC)
D. PowerStore Administration (ODC) D. PowerStore Installation:Cabling (ODC)
E. PowerStore Basic Troubleshooting (ODC)
OR
F. PowerStore Maintenance (ODC)
A. PowerStore Implementation and Administration G. PowerStore Upgrades (ODC)
(C)
B. PowerStore Migration: Import External Storage
(C)

Information Storage and Management

Information Storage and Management (C, VC, ODC)

(C) - Classroom

(VC) - Virtual Classroom

(ODC) - On Demand Course

For more information, visit: http://dell.com/certification

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Midrange Storage

The Midrange Technology Architect exam is intended for partners and internal
employees who are responsible for positioning or designing a solution using Dell
EMC midrange storage systems. This includes the following products: PowerStore,
Unity XT, and SC Series.

Technology Architect, Midrange

Storage Solutions

Midrange Storage Concepts, Features, and Design (ODC)

Information Storage and Management

Information Storage and Management (C, VC, ODC)

(C) - Classroom

(VC) - Virtual Classroom

(ODC) - On Demand Course

For more information, visit: http://dell.com/certification

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Component LED Troubleshooting

Base Enclosure Front View LEDs

There are LEDs on the front of the base enclosure. The drives are in 2.5-inch
carriers and are hot-swappable. You can enable drive identification from the CLI or
GUI interface to locate a specific drive.

As a quick way to identify a particular appliance in the rack, select BLINK LED from
Hardware > Appliance > Hardware > Disks in PowerStore Manager. Once
activated, the button is relabeled to STOP BLINK LED.

Base enclosure power-on LED:

Blue: Power on (normal). Amber: Fault
Blinking amber: Discovery state

Drive fault LED (amber) Drive ready/activity LED (blue)

Solid: Fault. Blinking: Drive identification Solid: Power up. Blinking: Drive activity

Embedded I/O (Personality) Module LEDs

Power

Embedded module power

LED State Description

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Embedded module Solid amber Embedded module

power has faulted.

Off No fault has occurred;

normal operation.

Ethernet Link

Ethernet port link

LED State Description

Ethernet port link Solid green Link established.

Off No link established.

Ethernet Activity

Ethernet port activity

LED State Description

Ethernet port Blinking amber Port activity

activity

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Off No port activity

SAS Activity

SAS port/activity link

LED State Description

SAS port/activity Solid blue SAS port link is up.

link
Off No link established.

Port link

Port link

LED State Description

Port link Solid green Link up with full speed.

Solid amber Link up with degraded

speed.

Off Link down.

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Node Fault

Node fault

LED State Description

Node fault Solid amber Fault has occurred.

Solid blue Node in Degraded

Mode.

Blinking amber or System is booting.

blue

Blue and amber System not initialized.

alternating (blue A management IP
for 3 seconds) address has not been
assigned.

Blue and amber Node in Service Mode.

alternating at one
second intervals

Off No fault has occurred;

normal operation.

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Node Power

Node power

LED State Description

Node power Solid Green Node is on (main

power).

Blinking Green Node is initializing a

serial over LAN session
(Standby Mode).

Off Node is off.

Unsafe to Remove

Unsafe to remove

LED State Description

Unsafe to Solid white Do not remove the node.

remove Improper removal could
cause data loss. Lights
when the other node is
not working.

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Off Safe to remove the

embedded module when
the embedded module
has been properly
prepared.

Fibre Channel Module LEDs

When adding new I/O modules, always install I/O modules in pairs: One module in
node A, and one module in node B. Both nodes must have the same type of I/O
modules in the same slots.

The port link LEDs are below the FC ports. The power fault LED is on the right,
below the ejector handle.

To learn more, click each area that is highlighted in red.

1 2

1: Port link LEDs

 Blue: Link up.

 Off: Link down.
 Unsupported SFP: Blink interval=1 s.

2: Power fault LED

 Green: I/O module turned on.

 Amber: I/O module power fault.
 Off: I/O module powered off.

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LEDs on Power Supply

The image below shows the Power Supplies from the back.

 The top LED (~) is the AC Power LED.

 The middle LED (О)—DC Power Output LED—is not supported.
 The bottom LED (∆) is the Power Supply/Cooling Module Fault LED.

To know more, click each LED highlighted in red.

1: Power Supply/Cooling Module Fault LED

 Solid amber: Power supply or cooling module fault

 Blinking amber: Undervoltage protection (UVP) fault
 Off: No fault or power off

2: DC Power (output) LED: Not supported

3: AC Power LED (input)

 Solid green: AC power is on.

 Off: AC power is off.

Verify source power.

The node includes a Lithium-ion (Li-ion) internal battery that powers the associated
node during a power event.

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LEDs on Expansion Components

The enclosure power and fault LEDs on expansion enclosures are slightly different
from the LED on the main unit. But the drives are still in 2.5-inch carriers and are
hot-swappable.

To learn more, click each LED highlighted in red.

1 4

2 3

1: Expansion enclosure fault LED

 Amber: Fault
 Blue: No fault

2: Drive status/activity

 Blue: Powering and powered up

 Blue blinking: Drive activity

3: Drive fault

 Amber: Fault
 Off: No fault

4: Expansion enclosure power status LED

 Blue: Powering and powered up

 Off: Powered off

System Identification Tag

 The Dell Service Tag (DST) is a serialized label that allow Dell EMC support to
track hardware in the field.

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 The DST is a black pull-out tag between the drives in slots 16 and 17.
 The left side of the tag contains the system serial number and the Express
Service Code information. The QRL code is on the right:

Click image to enlarge.

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Click image to enlarge.

 Provide the serial number when contacting Dell EMC Support.

 To access the Dell EMC support site, scan the QRL with the Dell Quick
Resource Locator mobile phone app or other QR reader.

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PowerStore Alerts

Cluster Alerts in PowerStore Manager

PowerStore generates four types of alerts:

Critical: Significant impact on the system and must be remedied

immediately. For example, a component is missing or has failed and
recovery may not be possible.

Major: May have an impact on the system and should be remedied as soon
as possible. For example, the last synchronization time for a resource does
not match the time that its protection policy indicates.

Minor: An error has occurred that you should be aware of but does not have
a significant impact on the system. For example, a component is working,
but its performance is not optimum.

Info: An event that does not impact system functions. No action is required.
For example, new software is available for download.

Alerts about the cluster overall are visible on the Dashboard Overview tab or
under Monitoring > Alerts. Click alert headings to show just that type of alert, as
shown here:

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Alert Details

On the Dashboard Overview tab, click an alert title to quickly see its details and
the actions that you can take. Focus on critical alerts first, then major alerts. Minor
and Info alerts do not necessarily require any action. On the alert details slide-out
panel, find information about the alert. From this panel, you can acknowledge that
the issue which triggered the alert has been addressed.

You can copy and paste the error code into the monitoring / events / filters to find
all timestamps where this event has occurred for further troubleshooting—for
example, 0x00a00301 here.

Important: Acknowledging an alert does not make the problem go away, it just
makes the alert go away. Since some alerts do not require action, those alerts may
be automatically cleared by the system.

Alert Information

General information about the alert, including:

1. Error Code
2. Resource Name: The specific resource reporting the problem

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3. Appliance Name: The appliance that owns the resource

4. Whether and how notifications were sent

Related Events

Events related to the alert:

 Includes information about earlier alerts related to this issue, and how the
situation has changed.
 To organize a long list of related events, click column headings to sort, use the
filter, or modify the columns of information visible.

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Suggested Remedies

Suggested repair flow might include:

1. Links to procedures that might resolve the issue.
2. Suggestions for freeing up space might include deleting snapshots, for
example.

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Service and Support

How to get help:

1. More Information links to the Dell support website, for documentation and other
tools.
2. Gather support materials provides a link to gather system logs, configuration
details, and other diagnostic information.
3. Additional Help links to the PowerStore Manager Settings > General Support
page.

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Acknowledge

When the alert has been remedied, click the ACKNOWLEDGE button to drop it off
of the list.

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Monitoring

All alerts are listed on the Monitoring page. There are two ways to get to this
screen. Select Monitoring from the menu bar. Or, from the Dashboard Overview,
click VIEW ALL ALERTS.

Click any heading on this page to sort by it. Click again to reverse the sort
order. Sort by severity, code, description, resource type or name, updated
date, or timestamp.
 In this example, the list has been sorted by severity to show the critical
alerts at the top.

Click the Filter icon to add filters to the columns. Filtering limits the list of
Alerts to show only those that match the filters.
 In this example, Last Updated has been filtered to show alerts that were
updated more recently than 01 February 2020.
 Acknowledged alerts are no longer displayed on the list. To show
acknowledged alerts, filter the Acknowledged column.

Select one or more checkboxes to acknowledge multiple alerts at once.

Click the description of any alert to view its details.

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Component-Specific Alerts

The Dashboard Overview shows alerts for the entire cluster. Alerts can also be
found when they are specific to compute, storage, protection, and hardware. If
these objects have generated alerts, see the severity icon in the Alerts column.

Click through the images to see an example of each screen.

From the Compute menu, see alerts related to Hosts & Host Groups
or Virtual Machines.

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From the Storage menu, see alerts related to Volumes, Volume Groups, Storage
Containers, File Systems, and NAS Servers.

From the Protection menu, see alerts related to Remote Systems.

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From the Hardware menu, see alerts related to Appliances and Ports. Port alerts are
shown at an individual port level.

Practice Sorting the Alerts List

The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.

PowerStore Hardware Troubleshooting Key Points

PowerStore Alerts:
 May or may not indicate a problem requiring user intervention. Focus on Critical
and Major alerts.
 Can be sorted and filtered.
 Includes details helpful in solving the problem:

 Links to repair flows

 Links to support sites
 Error code
 Information about specific hardware affected by the alert
PowerStore LEDs:
 Are in various locations.

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 May be steady or blink in different rates.

 Use different colors for different meanings.

Refer to this guide for more information: PowerStore CLI User Guide.

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PowerStore CLI

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PSTCLI Overview

The PowerStore Manager CLI enables you to run commands on a system through
a prompt from a Microsoft Windows or UNIX/Linux host. PSTCLI is intended for
users who want to manage a PowerStore system, or to use commands in scripts
for automating routine tasks.

Use PSTCLI to manage a system. Tasks include:

 Configuring and monitoring the system
 Managing users
 Provisioning storage
 Protecting data
 Controlling host access to storage

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Install PSTCLI onto Client System

Install and launch the PSTCLI client on a Microsoft Windows or UNIX/Linux

system. PSTCLI sends commands to the system through the secure HTTPS
protocol using the PowerStore REST API.

To install the PSTCLI client:

1. Go to the support website.
2. Download the PSTCLI client for your operating system.
3. Perform the following actions based on your operating system:

 On Windows, double-click the installer and follow the prompts. The default
installation location is:
– 64-bit systems: C:\Program Files\Dell EMC\PowerStore CLI

– 32-bit systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell EMC\PowerStore

Manager CLI

Important: Check the box to have the installation directory added to

the PATH system variable.

 On UNIX/Linux, type: rpm -ihv filename, where filename is the name

of the installer. The default installation location is:
/opt/dellemc/pstcli-version/bin/, where version is the version
of the client installed.

Important: Add the installation directory to the PATH variable in your

shell initialization file.

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Run PSTCLI from Client

Command Syntax

You can run PSTCLI against the PowerStore primary node—the node running the
management stack. If you connect to a nonprimary node, it displays an error
message: The system was unable establish a secure connection
to the storage server. If the connection fails on all nodes, the management
stack may be down or unresponsive. Contact your support provider for assistance.

If you have adjusted your PATH variable as described on the previous page, you
can invoke PSTCLI from Windows Command Prompt or UNIX/Linux shell with the
pstcli command. If you have not adjusted the PATH variable, you must include
the path in the command.

The PSTCLI client contacts the server that issued the certificate—the trusted
certificate authority (CA)—and confirms the validity of the certificate before
proceeding. When the certificate is verified, PowerStore CLI and its backend server
establish the connection and begin to exchange data.

The syntax of an example command line is as follows:

pstcli [options] object_type [object_qualifier] action

[action_qualifiers]

Syntax options:
 -u username
The username on the PowerStore system, such as admin.
 -d hostname or ipaddress
Name or address of the primary node.
 [-p password]
Optional: password for the specified account. If you omit this parameter, the
system prompts for it, as shown in the examples which follow.
 [-session]

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Optional: Opens a persistent session with the cli> prompt. Or you can specify
a command to run and return context back to your workstation.
 [-ssl value] Optional. Where value is one of the following:

 interactive — Prompt to accept the certificates for the current session

(default).
 reject — Automatically reject the certificates.

 accept — Automatically accept the certificates.

 store — Automatically accept and store the certificates.

Important: From the Windows cmd prompt or UNIX/Linux shell

prompt, start each command with pstcli. When you use the -
session option, PSTCLI stays active and displays the cli>
prompt.
With the -session option and no command, the PSTCLI session
stays open, so you do not have use the pstcli command each
time.
Note: If you type only pstcli, without any options or commands,
the list of options and their descriptions is displayed.

Command Examples

For example:

pstcli command with -session option, but without a subcommand:

pstcli command without -session option, but with a subcommand:

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PSTCLI Help Options

Basic Help

Get help on any topic using the help command. Commands are divided into
categories. Get a list of the commands in a category, or a list of all the commands
with the help all command. Under Monitoring, there is a command that is
named alert.

Command Help

The command help alert shows that there is an alert show command, with
an option of -id . Get more information by using help alert show. Note the
syntax shown for the highlighted show subcommand. If you use specify the -id
option, it goes before show. All other options follow show.

Note the highlighted -limit option. The default limit is 100 records. Showing
alerts is described in the Troubleshooting with CLI topic.

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PowerStore CLI Key Points

PowerStore CLI:
 Uses a restricted version of the Linux BASH shell.
 Is downloaded from the documentation web site.
 Can be used to perform many functions similar to those in the PowerStore
Manager GUI.

Refer to this Guide for more information: PowerStore CLI User

Guide.

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Use PSTCLI to Show Alerts

 Alert categories and meanings are described in the PowerStore Hardware

Troubleshooting - Alerts topic.
 Using the syntax shown on the previous page, you can look for alerts using
PSTCLI.

Alert Help

The command help alert shows that there is an alert show command, with
an option of -id <value>. You get more information by using help alert
show. Note the syntax show for the highlighted show subcommand. If you use
specify the -id option, it goes before show. All other options follow show.

To show all alerts on the system, use the alert show command with no options.
For example, you may have noticed that Windows clients are having problems
authenticating. An alert mentions a problem with the NAS server NAS_WIN10. To
show the details about this specific alert, use your mouse to select and copy the id
field from the display and use ti in the command that is shown on the next tab.

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Show Specific Alert

Using your mouse to select and copy the id from the previous display, show the
full text of the alert. Note that the show subcommand is after the -id option. From
this output, you can determine that the NAS server cannot reach a domain
controller. Under events, there is a suggestion of how to correct the problem.

Show Specific Fields

The default format for show commands is table. The width of the columns is limited
due to the width of your window. Note the minus sign (-) on -sort severity-.
The default sort order is ascending. The minus sign changes it to sort by severity
in descending order.

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NVP Format

 The default output format is table, as shown on the previous tab. You can also
show events or alerts in name-value pair (NVP), comma-separated values
(CSV), or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). NVP format shows the full value
of each field name and its value, since it uses one field per line. To display
specific fields and types of events, use some of the options listed on the first
tab. You can use most of these options for events as well as alerts.
 Here are four events showing specific fields in NVP format, sorted by severity in
descending order:

CSV Format

You can output the same data to CSV format for use with a spreadsheet, such as
Microsoft Excel. PSTCLI does not allow redirection of output the way Windows
command prompt and UNIX or Linux shells do. To output to a CSV file on your
client system:

1. Exit from session mode back to the command prompt or UNIX/Linux shell.
2. Run PSTCLI from the prompt, providing destination, username, password, and
selection fields. Omit the -session option. Redirect the output to a file. Note: If
you do not specify a password, the system waits for you to enter it, but the
prompt is hidden.

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PSTCLI exits after the command executes.

3. View the .csv file in the client system directory.

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Use PSTCLI to Show Events

Events are similar to alerts. An alert is a summation of one or more events that
need or needed attention. Many events do not generate an alert, so there are more
events than alerts. In the example of showing alerts, all the alerts fit one screen.
The same system could have 100,000 events, so scrolling through them may be
impractical.

Event Show Command Syntax

Use the help event show command to list the syntax of the command. It uses
most of the same options as the alert show command. The highlighted options,
-sort, and -select, can be used with the fields listed—and -limit.

Default Show Events

By default, event show displays the first 100 events in a table. You have most of
the same options as with alerts.

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Click image to enlarge.

NVP Format

 To display specific fields and types of events, use some of the options listed on
the first tab.
 Here are the first four events, showing the most important fields in NVP format
sorted by severity:

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Use PSTCLI to Show Hardware

Hardware Help

To display the list of available hardware command options, use the help
hardware command. As with other commands, you can select which fields to
display and sort by most fields. Here is a partial list of the help for that command:

Show All Hardware

Here is an example of a partial list of hardware on a two-appliance cluster. As with

other commands, you can select and sort by fields.

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Use PSTCLI to Show Network

If you suspect a problem with the network, you can get a listing of the network
status. As with other commands, there are many options available to display what
you want. Use the help network command to see the list of options.

Network Help

You can change network settings as well as show them. Note the multiple options
for ip_pool_addresses highlighted below. See the next tab for an example.

Show Command

Here is an example network show command with specific fields:

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PSTCLI NAS Commands

If you have SMB or NFS volumes set up on a PowerStore T system, you can view
their status using the commands that are shown here.

List NAS Servers

If there are NAS servers running on the PowerStore T system, you can list them
with the following command:

By the names in the example above, you can see that one server is intended for
NFS while the other is intended for SMB. Each server uses its own IP address.

If the NAS servers are degraded, they are displayed as follows:

Note that the names the administrator chose for the NAS servers do not define
their purpose.

List SMB Services

The smb_server show command displays any SMB servers and their
corresponding domain or workgroup and NAS servers.

The smb_share show command displays SMB shares. In this example, only one
share exists on the system. Add -help to either command for a complete list of
options.

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List NFS Services

To list NFS servers, use the nfs_server show command:

To list NFS exports, use the nfs_export show command:

Show File Systems

To list all the file systems, use the file_system show command:

To see what other fields are available to select with this command, type
file_system show -help.

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Access PSTCLI from PowerStore Service Container

You can connect to the PowerStore CLI (PSTCLI) using a downloaded program on
a workstation or from a Service Container session on the maintenance node. The
commands are intended to be the same on both versions. However, the version of
PSTCLI installed on the maintenance node may be different from the version that is
installed on a workstation. Commands may vary between versions.

Connect to PSTCLI

Here is an example of creating a PSTCLI session from the Service Container.

Accept the certificate the first time:

Set Default Credentials

 Store PSTCLI credentials for a specific destination using the -save_cred

option.
 Use the -default option to store the destination as the default.
 To connect from the Service Controller to PSTCLI on the same address, use
either the self or localhost keywords in place of the address.

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Important: You can do this on a customer system, or customer

array with their permission. Never use this feature for connecting
remotely over SRS or Support Assist in your own machine. Never
store customer credentials on your machine.

 Here is an example of all of these features:

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Troubleshooting with PSTCLI Key Points

PowerStore CLI:
 Can show alerts and events
 Can show hardware, network, and NAS properties

Refer to this guide for more information: PowerStore CLI User Guide.

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Serviceability

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IPMI Overview

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMItool) connection allows you to

connect to the PowerStore T nodes when the system is in a unknown or bad state.
The tool uses the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and not the system
management stack for connectivity. As long as the PowerStore T is powered on,
IPMI connectivity is available.

The IPMI connection allows you to login to the system as service user, as you
would normally do. The Service docker runs on both nodes, and is the docker
from which all system service scripts and pstcli commands are conducted. SSH
sessions and IPMItool sessions using Serial over LAN, and the Serial Console all
gain access to the Service docker.

It also allows you to monitor the boot process (Serial Over LAN), or interrupt the
boot sequence if needed.

The example shows the IP addresses needed for an IPMI connection.

Service Laptop

The laptop can be physically connected to the PowerStore T on either Service LAN
port, or both if a hub or switch is available.

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Multiple appliances should never be connected to the same hub or switch as the
nodes use the same internal IP(s).

Never connect multiple appliances to the same hub/switch for Service LAN Port
access. DO NOT use the ToRs.

DO NOT remove the customer management cables as this will make the system
inaccessible to the customer over the network (affects mgmt only)

Set the service laptop configuration using the IP schema below:

 IP: 128.221.1.249
 Netmask: 255.255.255.0
 Gateway: none

Node IP addresses

Once the physical connection is established, and the service laptop is configured
with the relevant IP(s), you can verify the connectivity to the PowerStore T using
the ping command. These IP(s) are internal to the node, and not configurable.

 Node A: 128.221.1.252
 Node B: 128.221.1.253

If you cannot ping to each node, check your service laptop settings and physical
connections. IPMI will not work if a ping command fails. The example shows a
successful ping to Node A

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Establish a Connection

Once you are all setup and confirmed that you can ping the IP(s) you can use IPMI
to establish the connection. The most common reason for connection failures is
using the incorrect password in the command line. The password should be the
Dell EMC Service Tag in all Caps.

Open an windows command prompt and type in the command string:

Node A: ipmitool.exe -I lanplus -C 3 -U console -P <system

service tag> -H 128.221.1.252 sol activate

Node B: ipmitool.exe -I lanplus -C 3 -U console -P <system

service tag> -H 128.221.1.253 sol activate

Important: If the previous session was not cleaned up, you can get
an error with this command. To clean up the previous session,
deactivate it first:
ipmitool.exe -I lanplus -C 3 -U console -P 1234XYZ
-H 128.221.1.252 sol deactivate

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After the Connection is Established

Once the connection is established then:

 PowerStore T:

 Assuming the system is normal or in service/rescue mode, you will be asked

for the service username and password, enter your service credentials.
You are now in the service container, here you can use service commands
as if you were using ssh (with the obvious CMD/ssh client differences).
o If the Node is constantly rebooting, you will see the boot output.
o If you see nothing, the node might be completely down or hung. Connect
to the peer node and check status from there.
 PowerStore X

 Assuming the system is normal or in service/rescue/maintenance mode, you

will be asked for the ESXi username and password. The credentials are:
root/<Dell_Service_Tag>_123!. For example, if the PowerStore X
cluster has a Dell Service Tag (DST) of 1234XYZ, the default console
credentials to login are: root/1234XYZ_123!
o If you are troubleshooting the ESXi part of it, stay there (ESXi console).
o If you are troubleshooting the PowerStore part of it, then go to the
service container with:
o nc localhost 50000
o Note: The CoreOS listens on port 50000, and since Console-
Redirection is enabled, it will bounce the you to the Service
Container.

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IPMItool example

The example shows the entry into the service container after a successful login
using IPMItool. From the service shell, you can run a number of svc commands to
get a status of various components. Note the shell is restricted and you must inject
root access to perform some operations.

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SSH and PowerStore Management Access over the Service

LAN Ports

PowerStore allows customers, tech support, and field to login to the system over
ssh or PowerStore Manager using the Service LAN Ports.

The example shows the IP address needed for an ssh or PowerStore Manager
connection.

Service Laptop

The laptop can be physically connected to the PowerStore T on either Service LAN
port, or both if a hub or switch is available.

Multiple appliances should never be connected to the same hub or switch as the
nodes use the same internal IP(s).

Never connect multiple appliances to the same hub/switch for Service LAN Port
access. DO NOT use the ToRs.

DO NOT remove the customer management cables as this will make the system
inaccessible to the customer over the network (affects mgmt only)

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Serviceability

Set the service laptop configuration using the IP schema below:

 IP: 128.221.1.249
 Netmask: 255.255.255.0
 Gateway: none

Node IP addresses

Once the physical connection is established, and the service laptop is configured
with the relevant IP(s), you can verify the connectivity to the PowerStore T using
the ping command. These IP(s) are internal to the node, and not configurable.

 Node A: 128.221.1.250
 Node B: 128.221.1.251

If you cannot ping to each node, check your service laptop settings and physical
connections. IPMI will not work if a ping command fails. The example shows a
successful ping to Node A.

Establish a Connection with ssh

Open a PuTTY session and use the IP address for the Service Port. The example
shows a session for Node A using the Service Port IP of 128.221.1.250. Note the
Port is set at 22 for the connection. Once connected, log into the PowerStore using
the service credentials. Issue the svc_help command to view the options.

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Using ssh to access to Peer Node

Once you have established a successful ssh session to a node, you can log into
the peer node using ssh from the local node. You are still restricted from using
some Bash shell commands.

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Establish a Connection using PowerStore Manager

Place the node service port IP address into your browser to access the PowerStore
Manager interface. The example a shows a PowerStore session to Node A using
the IP address of Node A's service port.

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Serviceability Key Points

Serviceability:
 Use ssh connection to connect to the PowerStore T nodes when the system is
in a unknown or bad state to troubleshoot issues.
 Troubleshoot PowerStore by connecting to the system over ssh or PowerStore
Manager over the Service LAN Ports.

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Service Container

Service Container

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Service Container Overview

There are two CLI programs available for managing PowerStore systems.
 Service Container
 PSTCLI

 You can download PSTCLI to a client or run it from Service Container.

This topic shows the checks to get basic information about the system from the
Service Container CLI. The CLI uses a restricted version of the Linux BASH shell.
Only certain commands are allowed using the service account.

Refer to this Guide for more information: Dell PowerStore Service

Scripts Guide.

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Connect to PowerStore Service Container

Connect to SSH Session

You can use the Service Container to perform certain tasks.

To access the Service Container use a terminal emulator to connect to one of the
management addresses or hostname using SSH on port 22. This example uses
PuTTY:
1. Open PuTTY.
2. Connect to one of the management addresses or hostname using SSH on port
22:

Log in to service Account

3. Log in to the service account:

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svc_diag Command

PowerStore Container commands run scripts of the same name. The svc_diag
command (script) displays many different pieces of system information, depending
on which subcommands and options you use. The syntax for this command is
shown in the first tab:

Command Syntax

To list svc_diag command options, add --help after the command.

Click image to enlarge.

Add an action subcommand, such as list, from basic help to get more specific help:

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Click image to enlarge.

Get System Information

To get the Node ID, Appliance Name, Service Tag, Model, IP address, and other
information, use the following command: svc_diag list --info. This
command only displays information about the current node.

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1234XYZ

Show Cluster Topology

To show cluster topology, appliances, nodes, software versions, and other

information, use the following command: svc_diag list --basic. You can
scroll back to see the information at the top. Notice that the cluster has one model
1000T appliance, which has an ID of A1. The service tag for the appliance,
1234XYZ, is the same as the one for the cluster displayed on the previous tab.

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Show Fault Status

To list fault status for various hardware components, use the following command:
svc_diag list --hardware --sub_options fault_status

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Scroll back to see the information at the top.

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svc_journalctl Command

The svc_journalctl command (or script) enables you to view log messages
from the system journal in a consistent format. It also enables you to specify
additional arguments and filter or display additional information. Use this command
as a triage tool to troubleshoot issues.

Here is the syntax for this command:

svc_journalctl [-h][-r][-b ID][-k][-t IDENTIFIER][-p RANGE][-

g EXPRESSION][--casesensitive=TRUE/FALSE][-S DATE][-U DATE][-
-system][--user][-D PATH][--file IDENTIFIER][-f][--output-
fields] FIELDS

For a complete list of fields, see the Dell EMC PowerStore Service Scripts Guide.

View Upgrade Messages

To show log entries with an identifier of upgrade, use the svc_journalctl -t

cyc_upgrade command. The -f (or --follow) option keeps the command open
so that any new messages display as they occur. The -t (or --identifier=)
option displays entries with a particular identifier.

Click image to enlarge.

Show Time Range

 The -S (or --since) and -U (or --until) options specify a range of time in
the format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss

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 By default, the search uses the timezone on the system. With the --utc
option, it uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
 The -g (or --grep) option searches for specified regular expression in the file.
You can also pipe the command to the egrep command for a more complex
search.

In this example, the command looks for messages with a priority of 3 (ERROR),
contain the string "controlpath" and occurred within 4:00 and 6:00 on 12-March-
2020. After you locate the error which identifies the problem, specify a smaller time
range with no other options to see what other events occurred near the error.

Click image to enlarge.

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Gain root Privileges

Caution: This procedure is available only to Dell EMC support. It

must only be performed under L2 supervision.

Certain commands are restricted from the service account. Accessing the root
account. This process is referred to as inject root. Use the following procedure:

1. Generate a key to enable root escalation: svc_inject generate-key --

root
2. Copy the key and paste it into the
https://hubv1.corp.emc.com/services/service_key_generator to generate the
response key.
3. Copy the response key and use it with the svc_inject script to enable root
escalation: svc_inject run <response_key>

Copy Challenge to Service Key Generator site.

Copy Response from Service Key Generator site.

Run svc_service shell

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Troubleshoot PowerStore Manager GUI Unavailable

If the PowerStore system is running, but the GUI interface is inaccessible, here are
some troubleshooting tips.

Service commands are available using SSH and logging in with the service
credentials.

1. Check the Control Path (CP) status:

[SVC:service@FNM00xxxxxxxxx-A user]$ svc_container_mgmt

status CP
CP Container controlpath is up

This status shows that the Control Path is running, but it may be unresponsive
or in an error state. Go to the next step to dig deeper.
2. Check the journal logs with the svc_journalctl command with the -f (or -
-follow) option, which keeps the command active so that new log entries are
displayed as they occur. Use the -g (or --grep) option to filter the command to
see only st_io_monitor status:

SVC:service@FNM00xxxxxxxxx-A user]$ svc_journalctl -f -g

"st_io_monitor"
Jan 06 11:28:48 FNM00xxxxxxxxx-A xtremapp[18033]: Jan 06
11:28:48.336143 R10 [log_id:0][6037(6185 nb_truck_2
0x7f53f1194c40)]st_io_monitor:102: IO counter: 76658028988
received, 76658028733 completed, 255 in-progress, 0 aborted,
255 outstanding, 0 canceled, 257 allocated
Jan 06 11:29:48 FNM00xxxxxxxxx-A xtremapp[18033]: Jan 06
11:29:48.333946 R10 [log_id:0][6037(6185 nb_truck_2
0x7f53f1194c40)]st_io_monitor:102: IO counter: 76663405640
received, 76663405372 completed, 268 in-progress, 0 aborted,
268 outstanding, 0 canceled, 269 allocated

3. Although I/O is being processed, restarting CP might restart the GUI:

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 Service Container

[SVC:service@FNM00xxxxxxxxx-A user]$ svc_container_mgmt

restart CP
Waiting for container restart
Container controlpath restart returned: 0
Container controlpath is back up
Waiting for stack to load
Waiting for stack to load
Waiting for stack to load
Waiting for stack to load

4. Connect to the PowerStore GUI to see if the problem is resolved.

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Service Container

Collect Logs with Service Container

Use the commands shown here to collect PowerStore log files. You can also
generate logs specific to one type of service. For example, to check the status of
PowerStore T NAS service, use the commands that are shown here.

Generate Log File

To generate a specific log file, use the svc_dc run -p profile command,
where profile is one of the following:

Profile Name Meaning

essential Collect essential data.

detailed Collect detailed information.

hypervisor Collect hypervisor data.

(PowerStore X)

ControlpathHeapDump Collect control path information.

nas (PowerStore T) Collect NAS information.

All normal and detailed bundles include the NAS logs. If you only need the NAS
logs, you can use the NAS profile:

1. Generate a NAS-only log with the following command.

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Important: Since the job may take a long time to run, add an
ampersand (&) to the end of the command to run the job in the
background. This action allows you to run other commands while
the job runs. The system notifies you when the job completes, or
you can use the jobs command to check the status.

Locate NAS Log Id

2. Since the svc_dc run command specified a profile of nas, look for a bundle
with that profile. To list and find your bundle, use the svc_dc list command:

The nas bundle has an id of 191cc8a6-baf7-4ac0-861d-fe408ddc1642.

On the next tab look for a link to a file with that name in your directory.

Locate the file in your home Directory

3. Use the ls -l command to list out the files in your directory in a long format,
and look for a file with a pointer to 191cc8a6-baf7-4ac0-861d-
fe408ddc1642:

This points to the physical file.

The "l" indicates a symbolic link.

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Service Container

The l in the first column of each row means that the file is a symbolic link, or
pointer, to a file in the /cyc_var/cyc_service/data_collection folder,
indicated by the ->
Note that each line wraps to the line below, so the id spans two lines.
Use an application, such as Winscp, to download the file to a system where you
can examine the contents. The the application does not accept symbolic links,
copy the oringal file from the subfolder of
/cyc_var/cyc_service/data_collection to your home directory, giving
the new file a different name.

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 Service Container

PowerStore Service Container Key Points

 You access PowerStore Service Container using SSH to the management

node.
 You can access PSTCLI from Service Container.
 You can collect many types of configuration and log information using Service
Container.

Refer to this Guide for more information: Dell PowerStore Service

Scripts Guide.

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Data Collection using GUI

Data Collection using GUI

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Data Collection Overview

The collection of support materials is one of the core PowerStore serviceability

tools. Data collection is used to gather logs, configuration data, system
dumps, and other information.

The data collections are critical to Dell EMC, as they provide the ability to diagnose
and repair issues on PowerStore systems.

Data collections can be run manually using PowerStore Manager or the svc_dc
commands.

Goals and Capabilities

Listed are the goals and capabilities for data collection on a PowerStore system:
 High Availability
 Reduced collection size
 Customer convenience
 Full cluster collection or single appliance collection
 Download from the array, upload to support
 GUI and service script support

TIP: You can request the collection of support materials for one or
more appliances.
When you request a support materials collection, data is always
collected at the appliance level. For example, if you request a
collection for a volume, the system collects support materials for the
appliance that contains the volume. If you request a collection for
multiple volumes, the system collects support materials for all
appliances that contain the volumes.

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Data Collection using GUI

Data Collection Placement

By default, data collections are collected daily (24 hrs) by the system from all
appliances. You can manually initiate a data collection at any time.

Data Collections are managed and collected at the appliance level. Data
Collections can run on both appliances or a single appliance depending on the type
of collection. For example, if a data collection is started on a single appliance or
volume on a single appliance, only that appliance stores the files. The files are not
stored on other appliances. In the example, Data Collection 2 and Data
Collection 4 were run on a single appliance.

Cluster

Appliance 1 Appliance 2

Node A Node A

Initial Configuration Initial Configuration

Data Collection 2 Data Collection 3

Data Collection 3 Data Collection 4

Node B Node B

Support materials are collected using the PowerStore Manager or the svc_dc
commands from the service shell.

The example shows a successful data collection that is initiated from the Settings
> Support Materials window. Both appliances were selected. The data collection
file Initial Configuration and Data Collection 3 were created on both appliance
with the same name and identifier.

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Collecting Support Materials

Support Materials Collection - Settings

Collecting Support Materials can be initiated several ways from PowerStore

Manager. Data Collections can be started at the Cluster, Appliance, Storage
Resource, and Alerts level.

To start a data collection:

1. Select Settings from the Dashboard.
2. Select Support Materials from the Settings menu option on the left.
3. From the Details page, select START COLLECTION.

The collection includes a collection of support materials such as system logs,

configuration details, and other diagnostic information. You can specify which
object to collect data for. The completed support materials package is archived on
your cluster and can be downloaded from the Support Materials Library.

Data is always collected at the appliance level. You may include additional
information in the data collection by selecting the Advanced support materials
collection option. The Advanced option collects additional system information and
requires additional space on the Node. Advanced collections can take longer than
the default data collection. The system runs one collection job at a time.

Movie:
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Procedure:

 Select the Settings icon, and then select Support Materials in the Support
section.
 Click START COLLECTION.
 Select the type of support data that are needed and the appliances for which
to collect support information.
 Optionally, write a description of the collection. This description is displayed in
the list of support materials on the Support Materials page and can help you
recognize the collection.

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 Select Send to Support if you want the system to automatically send the
collection to Dell EMC Support when the job completes. This option is only
enabled when remote support through Secure Remote Services is enabled on
the system. You can also send the collection to Dell EMC Support later.
 Select Recent Jobs to monitor the support collection job. When the collection
job completes, the system posts the job information, including its status, on the
Support Materials page.

Storage Objects - Volume Collection

Volumes, Volume Groups, and vVols

Data collections can be initiated by selecting a storage object such as a Volume,

Volume Group, or vVols. Data Collects are started by checking the storage object
box and selecting More Actions tab > Gather Support Materials. The collection is
done on the appliance that owns the object.

Movie:
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Procedures:

 Select the storage object type from the Dashboard > Storage tab.
 Open the More Options tab > Gather Support Materials.
 From the Collect Support Materials page, type a description.
 Select the Send materials to Support when finished box. Note this is
available only if SupportAssist is enabled.
 Optionally, open the Advanced Support Materials text and select the box to
include additional information. Do this only when directed by support personnel,
as the collection process takes a considerably longer.

Alerts - Remediation

When an alert is generated, it is displayed in various locations such as the

Dashboard, Monitoring, or the Hardware page. Selecting an alert launches the
Alerts page, which describes information on the alert and allows the alert to be
acknowledged. Select Gather Support Materials from the Service and Support
options to gather data directly from the Alerts page.

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Movie:
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Procedures:

 Select an Alert to open

 From the Alert page, select Gather Support Materials
 From the Support Materials page, select START COLLECTION
 From the Collect Support Materials page, enter the Description, select and
Object Type and Object Name.

Support Materials - Hardware

In addition to the Settings > Support Materials page, you can execute Gather
Support Materials from the Hardware page. The example shows a data collection
being done on TwoApplianceCluster appliance-2.

Movie:
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Procedure:

 From the Hardware page, select The appliance for the data collection
 From the More Actions drop-down, select Gather Support Materials
 From the Gather Support Materials page, provide a Description
 Select the icon to expand Advanced support materials collection options, if
needed
 Check the box to Include additional information
 Select the START button

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Downloading Support Materials to a Windows Host

Once data collection completes, you can DOWNLOAD the file to a host, SEND TO
SUPPORT or DELETE it.

Select the checkbox for the data collection files you want to act on, then select the
option you want. The SEND TO SUPPORT option is only available if the
SupportAssist page is configured.

Movie:

The web version of this content contains a movie.

The example shows the download process. The Initial Configuration data
collection includes files from both appliances. Once the files are selected, it is
downloaded to the Downloads directory on the localhost. The output is a .tgz file.
Optionally, the file can be exported in either a .csv or .xlsm file to the same
Downloads directory.
1. Select the file.
2. Click the DOWNLOAD.
3. Select the file to download if both service and dump files are available. There
could be dump file or regular system collect files.

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 Data Collection using Service Container

Data Collection using Service Container

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Data Collection using Service Container

Service Commands for Data Collection

The svc_dc (data collect) command set is used to manage data collections on the
PowerStore. All commands can be found in the PowerStore Service Scripts
Guide. Service commands are available from the Service shell using SSH, Port
22, and logging in with the service credentials. The service shell is restricted and
limits your ability to run certain commands.

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Managing Data Collects with Service Commands

svc_dc run

The svc_dc run command generates a new data collection on the local
appliance using the default profile. Each appliance in a cluster generates its own
data collection archive and stores it locally on that appliance. The example
generates a new data collection on appliances FNM00191700631 and
FNM00191500463 using the Essential and Detailed profiles. Use the svc_dc
run -h option for additional details.

svc_dc list

The svc_dc list command lists all data collections, or details for one collection.
Each data collection is identified by an ID. Use the ID in the command to get details
of the collection. For example svc_dc list 949af06e-7896-4b36-9f29-
d3871a13ad6.

svc_dc download

The svc_dc download command allows you to download a data collection file to
a Linux host. The commands requires an IP address, path, username, and
password of the remote Linux host on which the collection is placed. If the

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Data Collection using Service Container

PowerStore contains data collection several files, you can select the file you want
by entering the Index number of the file.

The file transfer uses the SCP protocol on TCP port 22. When the file transfer is
underway, there is no indication of progress, which could take several minutes to
an hour to complete.

In the example, The file indicated by Index 1 is downloaded to the Linux host into
/opt directory.

svc_dc delete

Since data collects require space, it may be advantageous to delete files that are
no longer needed. The svc_dc delete command displays a list of files on the
PowerStore and allow you to delete any or all of them.

The example shows the file with Index 1 will be deleted from the PowerStore
database.

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Data Collection Key Points

Data Collection using GUI

 Data collection in PowerStore Manager is used to gather logs, configuration
data, system dumps, and other information.
 Data collections can be run manually using PowerStore Manager or the svc_dc
commands.
 You can request the collection of support materials for one or more appliances.
 By default, data collections are collected daily (24 hrs) by the system from all
appliances.

Data Collection using Service Container

 The svc_dc (data collect) command set is used to manage data collections on
the PowerStore.
 The svc_dc run command generates a new data collection on the local
appliance using the default profile.
 Since data collects require space, delete files that are no longer needed.

Refer to this Guide for more information: Dell PowerStore Service

Scripts Guide.

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Appendix

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Appendix

Blink LED

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Glossary
Pipe
Represented by the character "|" in a UNIX, Linux, or Windows command line. It
"pipes" the output of the original command the command which follows. For
example, "ls -l | sort" in Linux or UNIX produces a sorted version of the ls
command.

regular expression
Used in UNIX or Linux utilities such as grep--A string that can be used to describe a
sequence of characters, including their position on a line. For example, with the
grep command, "^Mar" searches for a line that begins with "Mar". The regular
expression "arch$" searches for a line that ends with "arch".

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