HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP OpenVMS System Analysis Tools Manual

Order Number: BA554-90017

June 2010

This manual explains how to use various Alpha and Integrity server system analysis tools to investigate system failures and examine a running Hewlett-Packard OpenVMS system.

Revision/Update Information: This manual supersedes the HP OpenVMS System Analysis Tools Manual, Version 8.2.

Software Version: OpenVMS Version 8.4 for Integrity servers
OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4

Hewlett-Packard Company
Palo Alto, California

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

ZK6549

The HP OpenVMS documentation set is available on CD-ROM.

This document was prepared using VAX DOCUMENT, Version V3.3-1b.

Contents

Index

Preface

Intended Audience

The HP OpenVMS System Analysis Tools Manual is intended primarily for the system programmer or analyst who must investigate the causes of system failures and debug kernel-mode code, such as a device driver.

This manual also includes system management information for maintaining the system resources necessary to capture and store system crash dumps, including the use of dump-off-system-disk (DOSD). To help determine the cause of a hung process or improve system performance, consult this manual for instructions on using the appropriate system analysis tool to analyze your system.

Document Structure

This HP OpenVMS System Analysis Tools Manual contains an introductory chapter and four parts.

Chapter 1 presents an overview of the system analysis tools, which are:

System Dump Analyzer Utility including Crash Log Utility Extractor, several other extensions, and descriptions of the callable routines available to user-written extensions
System Code and System Dump debuggers
Alpha Watchpoint Utility
System Service Logging Utility
Delta/XDelta Debugger
Dump-Off-System-Disk

Part I describes the System Dump Analyzer (SDA), its use and commands, the SDA Crash Log Utility Extractor (CLUE), several other SDA extensions, and the SDA callable routines.

Part II describes the System Code Debugger (SCD) and the System Dump Debugger (SDD).

Part III describes the Alpha Watchpoint Utility (WP).

Part IV describes the System Service Logging Utility (SSLOG).

Reader's Comments

HP welcomes your comments on this manual. Please send your comments or suggestions to:

openvmsdoc@hp.com

How To Order Additional Documentation

For information about how to order additional documentation, see:

http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/order

Conventions

In this manual, any reference to OpenVMS is synonymous with HP OpenVMS.

VMScluster systems are referred to as OpenVMS Cluster systems. Unless otherwise specified, references to OpenVMS Clusters or clusters in this document are synonymous with VMSclusters.

The following conventions are used in this manual:

Ctrl/ x	A sequence such as Ctrl/ x indicates that you must hold down the key labeled Ctrl while you press another key or a pointing device button.
PF1 x	A sequence such as PF1 x indicates that you must first press and release the key labeled PF1 and then press and release another key or a pointing device button.
`[Return]`	In examples, a key name enclosed in a box indicates that you press a key on the keyboard. (In text, a key name is not enclosed in a box.) In the HTML version of this document, this convention appears as brackets, rather than a box.
...	A horizontal ellipsis in examples indicates one of the following possibilities: Additional optional arguments in a statement have been omitted. The preceding item or items can be repeated one or more times. Additional parameters, values, or other information can be entered.
. . .	A vertical ellipsis indicates the omission of items from a code example or command format; the items are omitted because they are not important to the topic being discussed.
( )	In command format descriptions, parentheses indicate that you must enclose choices in parentheses if you specify more than one.
[ ]	In command format descriptions, brackets indicate optional choices. You can choose one or more items or no items. Do not type the brackets on the command line. However, you must include the brackets in the syntax for OpenVMS directory specifications and for a substring specification in an assignment statement.
\|	In command format descriptions, vertical bars separate choices within brackets or braces. Within brackets, the choices are optional; within braces, at least one choice is required. Do not type the vertical bars on the command line.
{ }	In command format descriptions, braces indicate required choices; you must choose at least one of the items listed. Do not type the braces on the command line.
bold type	Bold type represents the introduction of a new term. It also represents the name of an argument, an attribute, or a reason.
italic type	Italic type indicates important information, complete titles of manuals, or variables. Variables include information that varies in system output (Internal error number), in command lines (/PRODUCER= name), and in command parameters in text (where dd represents the predefined code for the device type).
UPPERCASE TYPE	Uppercase type indicates a command, the name of a routine, the name of a file, or the abbreviation for a system privilege.
`Example`	This typeface indicates code examples, command examples, and interactive screen displays. In text, this type also identifies URLs, UNIX commands and pathnames, PC-based commands and folders, and certain elements of the C programming language.
-	A hyphen at the end of a command format description, command line, or code line indicates that the command or statement continues on the following line.
numbers	All numbers in text are assumed to be decimal unless otherwise noted. Nondecimal radixes---binary, octal, or hexadecimal---are explicitly indicated.
^	Hat followed by a letter represents an SDA operator. For additional information, see Table 2-3, SDA Unary Operators.