In this topic:
Configuring a Support Bundle Relay for the server group
Creating a support bundle from the console
Monitoring support bundle status and progress
Cancelling a support bundle from the console
Creating a support bundle from the command line
Sending support bundles manually
System and configuration information is collected in support bundles which can be sent to DataCore Technical Support in order to analyze and diagnose issues.
For ease of use, we recommend creating the support bundle automatically in the console whenever possible. In the event that the management console is not accessible, or the Dcsx service is unavailable, then create the support bundle using the command line interface.
To automatically upload support bundles (without the Support Bundle Relay), Internet access and firewall access through port 3793 is required on the DataCore Servers in the server group; otherwise the support bundles can be manually transmitted.
Important Notes
o 
A
DataCore Technical Support
incident number is required in order to create a support bundle. The incident
number identifies the support bundle when it is received. If you do not
already have an incident number, open an incident via the DataCore Technical Support Portal
before creating a support bundle.
o Support bundles cannot be collected or uploaded while configuration files are being backed up.
o During the collection of support bundle files, logging in the Event Log will pause and messages in the Event Log will be temporarily unavailable until the collection is completed, then logging will resume. During support bundle collection, a message in red will be displayed in the Event Log that logging is paused.
o Data in the support bundle is recorded in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
o When support bundles are automatically uploaded to technical support, upon receipt the files are automatically deleted from the Support Bundle folder located in the installation folder.
Support Bundle Relay is a proxy service for uploading support bundles to DataCore Technical Support when the DataCore Servers in the server group do not have access to the Internet. In this case, Support Bundle Relay eliminates the need to manually copy support bundle files from the individual servers in the server group to a machine with Internet access and then manually upload the files to technical support.
When the Support Bundle Relay is configured, the support bundles created on all servers in the server group are seamlessly forwarded to the configured address for the Support Bundle Relay Server, which must have Internet access. Upon receipt of the support bundles, the DataCore Support Bundle Relay Service, installed on the Support Bundle Relay Server, will detect the presence of support bundles and automatically forward them to technical support for diagnosis.
When the Support Bundle Relay is used, support bundles are created and uploaded in the usual way, either automatically or manually from the command line. Uploading of the support bundle from the DataCore Servers to the Support Bundle Relay Server is monitored from the server group as usual.
Important Notes:
o The Support Bundle Relay is installed in a separate software package. This software feature is optional and it is not necessary to configure a relay server or use the feature.
o See the Release Notes for the Support Bundle Relay feature for server prerequisites and installation instructions. The software download and release notes are available from the DataCore Technical Support Portal.
o The DataCore Support Bundle Relay Service is installed on a computer that has network access to the server group and the Internet. Multiple server groups may use the same Support Bundle Relay Server. The Support Bundle Relay Server may be a DataCore Server or any computer that meets the server prerequisites as stated in the release notes. The DataCore Support Bundle Relay Service must be installed before configuring the Support Bundle Relay for the server group in this software.
o The default port used by the Support Bundle Relay is port 3795. To use a non-default port number, the same non-default port number must be configured directly on the Support Bundle Relay Server (see Release Notes for information) and also configured for the server group.
o The Support Bundle Relay (address and port) can be configured for the server group in the DataCore Management Console (instructions below) or via the DataCore Cmdlet Set-DcsServerGroupProperties with the SupportBundleRelayAddress parameter.
o Ensure that all DataCore Servers in the server group can connect to the Support Bundle Relay Server and that firewalls do not block port access.
o Support bundle events that occur on the Support Bundle Relay Server are reported in Windows System Event Log or the log files on the Support Bundle Relay Server. Progress of the support bundle is reported as usual. When support bundles have been successfully uploaded, they are removed from the Support Bundle Relay Server.
o In the event that the Support Bundle Relay Server loses Internet access, support bundles will be uploaded automatically when Internet access is restored.
o Sufficient space is required on the Support Bundle Relay Server in order to receive and store the support bundles or an error will be received.
To configure the Support Bundle Relay for the server group:
These instructions are used to configure or change the address for the Support Bundle Relay Server. Optionally, a non-default port may be configured or changed.
1 In the DataCore Management Console, open the Server Group Details page.
2 In
the Settings tab, expand Advanced Settings and enter the
address of the Support Bundle Relay Server.
The address may be an IP address or a host name that can be resolved to
an IP address using a name resolution mechanism (see Name Resolution). The
address entered is validated to ensure that it is a valid host name or
IP address.
The default port number 3795 will be used unless a different port is specified.
To use a non-default port number append the port number to the address,
for instance Relay1:3700 would
configure the server named Relay1 to use port 3700.
3 To
test the connections between all DataCore Servers
and the Support Bundle Relay Server, click Test
Relay. A message will appear in the tab to inform administrators
whether or not communications are successful. This test confirms that
the support bundle can be sent from all servers in the server group to
the relay server.
If the connection fails,
verify the relay address, name resolution, and firewall rules, ensure
the relay server is running and the support bundle relay service is running.
See the log for information.
4 Click Apply to complete.
The relay address can be changed or removed in the Advanced Settings for the Server Group:
o To remove, clear the text box and Apply. Support bundles will be directly uploaded to technical support without using the relay server.
o To change, enter the new host name or IP address and Apply. (If using a non-default port number, append the port number to the address as shown above.)
The Support Bundle tool in the console automatically collects and optionally uploads support bundle information from all servers in a server group.
Notes:
o The tool will collect support bundle information for all servers in the group provided that servers are accessible to each other; otherwise the administrator will have to run the tool independently on each DataCore Server.
o To upload the support bundles from the customer site to DataCore Technical Support, DataCore Servers must have Internet access or a Support Bundle Relay Server with Internet access must be configured. When the support bundle is either uploaded directly to technical support or received by the Support Bundle Relay Server, the support bundle files will be deleted from the DataCore Servers.
o If a server is unreachable or unavailable, the support bundle can be created from the command line. (See Unavailable state below for more information.)
o Each time the tool is run, a file is created containing the collected information.
To create a support bundle:
1 In the DataCore Servers Panel, right-click the server group and click Upload Support Bundle to open the Support Bundle Details dialog box.
2 In the dialog box select the bundle type:
a Standard bundle collects more recent file information pertaining to configuration and system, logs, drivers, hot fix information, dump file, historical performance recordings, and replication checkpoint markers. This is the default bundle type.
b Crash dump collects the memory dump
at crash time.
If
a crash dump is required, create one support bundle to collect the crash
dump, and another support bundle to collect the full support bundle. Both
files should be sent (either manually or
automatically)
to
technical support.
c Full bundle collects complete files pertaining to configuration and system information, event logs driver dumps, hot fix information, dump file, historical performance recordings, and replication checkpoint markers.
d Mini bundle collects configuration, memory, and hot fix information.
3 If the DataCore Servers have access to the Internet or a Support Bundle Relay Server is configured, ensure the Upload to support check box is selected; otherwise, clear the check box and after the support bundle is created send the support bundles manually.
4 Enter the company name and the 12-digit incident number assigned by technical support so that the support bundle can be identified.
5 Click Collect to begin.
When a support bundle is collected in the management console, you can monitor the progress of support bundle file collection and transfer:
1 In the DataCore Servers Panel, double-click the server group to open the Server Group Details page.
2 Click the DataCore Server tab.
See the Support State column.
Event log messages are also provided when support bundles are created
and uploaded. 
States include:
· Idle - There is no support bundle collection or upload in progress.
· Collecting... - Files for support bundle are being collected.
· Sending... - Support bundle files are being uploaded to DataCore Technical Support.
· Sending(Communication failed)" - Trying to send a support bundle, but is prevented due to a communications problem, possibly because a firewall is blocking access or the network connection failed between the server group and the support bundle destination, which may be a Support Bundle Relay Server if configured.
· Unavailable - A support bundle cannot be collected and uploaded. This could happen for different reasons, for example:
§ There is no connection to a server in a server group with two servers. The servers have lost access to each other.
§ The server is unreachable for any reason.
§ The support bundle service is not running on a server, possibly because the server has crashed or the service was stopped.
· Cancelling - This is a transient state lasting until the Cancel operation is complete.
To cancel the Support Bundle:
In the DataCore Servers Panel, right-click the server group and select Cancel Upload from the menu.
In the event that the management console is not accessible, or the Dcsx.exe is unavailable, the support bundle can be collected by running the DcsSupportBundle.exe executable file from a command line. This method is also supported by the Support Bundle Relay.
If
servers have lost access to each other, run the same commands on all servers
in the server group. (Refer
to Unavailable state above for more information.)
To create a Support Bundle from the command line:
1 The Support Bundle CLIs are run from the program files folder where the software was installed. Open a command line and navigate to the installation folder. (The default location of the program files is C:\Program Files\DataCore\SANsymphony.)
2 Review the command line parameters and syntax below and see syntax examples.
3 On the command line, run DcsSupportBundle.exe with the appropriate parameter options.
4 When support bundles
are being collected, the message Collecting
bundles... will appear on the screen. When the bundle has finished,
the message Operation complete
will appear on the screen.
Full
support bundles and crash dumps can take some time to collect. Be patient
and wait for the collection to complete.
5 If the executable was run to upload support bundles, after the collection is complete, the message Uploading bundles... will appear on the screen. At this time, you can press the enter key to see the progress in percentage complete. When the bundle has finished uploading, the message Operation complete will appear on the screen.
6 If the executable was run with the /skipUpload option and support bundle collection is complete, manually send the support bundles to DataCore Technical Support.
Commands
are case sensitive. Do not type "<" or ">" in
the command; they are used as placeholders. Include a space between parameters.
Parameters are provided in long and short form for convenience.
Examples:
If servers have Internet access, this command will collect and upload files: DcsSupportbundle.exe /c:dcsw /u:username /p:password /i:dddddd-dddddd /t:ticketnumber /co:"Company Name"
If servers do not have Internet access, this command will collect the files and skip the upload: DcsSupportbundle.exe /c:dcsw /u:username /p:password /i:dddddd-dddddd /t:ticketnumber /co:"Company Name" /su
To collect a support bundle with minimal parameters (without an incident number or company identification) and skip the upload: DcsSupportbundle.exe /c:dcsw /u:username /p:password /su
Support Bundle Command Line Parameters |
|
/connectionType:<string> or /c:<string> |
Specifies the type of connection the service will establish to upload the bundle. The only valid connection type is dcsw. |
/skipCollect[+|-] or /sc |
Instructs the service not to collect new log data before uploading. |
/skipUpload[+|-] or /su |
Instructs the service not to upload the support bundle. |
/SupportBundleRelayAddress:<string>:<int> [+|-] or /BundleRelay:<string>:<int> |
Include this parameter if using Support Bundle Relay. The value is the IP address or hostname for a server running the DataCore Support Bundle Relay Service. Also include the port to use if using a non-default port. Do not include the port number if using the default port of 3795. For example: /BundleRelay:RelayServer1 would use the Support Bundle Relay Server named "RelayServer1" and the default port of "3795". (Do not include the port in the parameter if using the default 3795.) /BundleRelay:RelayServer1:3700 would use the Support Bundle Relay Server named "RelayServer1" and non-default port "3700". |
/bundleType:<CrashDump|Mini|Full|Standard> [+|-] or /b:<CrashDump|Mini|Full|Standard> |
Instructs the service whether it should collect the standard support bundle, full support bundle, mini support bundle, or crash dump.
|
/disableLogging[+|-] or /d |
Instructs the service to avoid logging messages when operations are performed. |
/username:<string> or /u:<string> |
User name used to log in to the DataCore Management Console. This is used for authentication. |
/password:<string> or /p:<string> |
Password used to log in to the DataCore Management Console. This is used for authentication. |
/incidentNumber:<string> or /i:<string> |
The incident number that was opened for the problem. DataCore Technical Support will be able to identify the support bundle and match it to the corresponding incident for analysis. Incident number is a 12-digit decimal number in this format: dddddd-dddddd. The first group of six digits represents the date (YYMMDD format) and the second group of six digits are the number assigned to the incident. |
/ticketNumber:<string> or /t:<string> |
The ticket number is a reference number used to associate support bundle folders from more than one server. Use a ticket number if the connection to the other server in the group is lost. If you have access to the management console, a ticket number is automatically created and is listed as a message entry in the Server Group Details page in the Events Log tab. If you cannot access the management console, you can enter a ticket number based on the date and time; such as the year-month-day (dddd_dd_dd) and 24-hour time (dd_dd_dd). Connect the two formats with an underscore. For example: /t:2009_10_31_13_30_00 would refer to a timestamp of October 31, 2009 at 1:30 PM. |
/companyName:<string> or /co:<string> |
Name of the company of the end-user where the software is installed. Use quotes around the string if a space exists in the name. For example: /co:"Acme Co." |
If servers do not have Internet access, support bundles will have to be sent manually to DataCore Technical Support. After any type of support bundle is collected, the support bundle information is stored in a file on each DataCore Server. (Support bundles larger than 2 GB will be stored in a zip file instead of a cabinet file.).
1 On each DataCore Server, copy the support bundle file to a network share, flash drive or other media in order to transport the files to a computer with Internet access:
a The files are located in a subdirectory named Support where SANsymphony program files were installed. (Default location is C:\Program Files\DataCore\SANsymphony\Support.)
b In the
Support folder will be the support
bundle folder. The name of the support bundle folder is based on the date
and time when the support bundle was created. (The local timestamp
of the computer running the DataCore Management Console
will be displayed.)
c The file
is located in the support bundle folder and is identified by the server
name with the date and time appended.
Remember the
files are needed from each DataCore Server
in the server group.
2 Upload the support bundle file to our site. Refer to FAQ 1623 for instructions. (This FAQ can be viewed by registered customers with a login to the DataCore Support Web page.)
