Collecting data on first occurance of the problem can id in problem determination and timely resolution of defects. At IBM®, this process of collecting data on first occurance if often referred to as First Failure Data Capture (FFDC). Gathering this data before reporting a defect helps to understand the problem more quickly and thoroughly, which saves time analyzing data and reduces the time and mission affects in fixing defects.

Several diagnostic capabilities are built into the Linux operating system that enable you to determine the application level problems and system level problems. Collecting FFDC logs early, even before opening a defect report, helps to quickly determine whether:

• Symptoms match known problems (rediscovery)
• A report can be identified and resolved as a not-a-defect problem
• A workaround to reduce severity exists

Introduction

Configuring systems to collect logs

Firmware Assisted Dump

Defect submission guidelines

System crash and hang issues

Linux installation issues

DLPAR and LPM issues

Storage and I/O Issues

Networking issues

kdump issues

Virtualization issues

Conclusion

Firmware Assisted Dump