Collecting PEDBG from the HMC IBM💡

COLLECT PEDBG ENHANCED UI

This document describes how to collect diagnostic data from the HMC for problem determination.

Section 1. Preparing to Collect the Data

Take this steps if you planning to collect PEDBG Remotely

Enable Remote Command Execution & Firewall Settings

Configure the HMC firewall to allow remote ssh connections

Login to HMC UI 
    > Navigation area 
    > HMC Management 
    > Network settings 
    > LAN adapters
    > Edit 
    > Allow Secure Shell and click on Save.

Enable remote command execution

Users and Security
    > Systems and Console Security
    > scroll down until you see Remote Control
    > click Enable Remote Command Execution through ssh.

Ensure a userID of hscpe with a task role of hmcpe exists on the HMC.

The hscpe ID is not a built-in ID like hscroot, it must be created. To administer HMC users, you must be logged in as hscroot or a hmcsuperadmin user.
- Locally (at the HMC):
```
  Select Console Management 
      > Open a Restricted Shell terminal
```
- Remotely: Open an ssh session (PuTTY) to the HMC. Determining whether the hscpe user ID exists and what roles are assigned to it.
```
lshmcusr --filter "names=hscpe"
```
```
name=hscpe,taskrole=hmcpe,description=Service,pwage=99999,resourcerole=
```
  If the hscpe user ID does not exist, you should receive the message No results were found. Creating the hscpe user ID:
```
mkhmcusr -u hscpe -a hmcpe -d IBM Service
```
  When this command is run, you are prompted to enter a new password for the new user. Resetting a lost password:
```
chhmcusr -u hscpe -t passwd
```

Section 2. Collecting Data using PEDBG

Login as hscpe
Re-create the problem.
Collect pedbg

Note: For problems involving managed servers managed by two HMCs, collect pedbg files from both HMCs.

Run PEDBG command
- If the support representative did not specify the options (or for issues that need more than a few hours of historic data) type the following:
```
pedbg -c -q 4
```
- If the problem was re-created immediately before pedbg collection, the “-q 3” option can typically be used, which results in a much smaller file:
```
pedbg -c -q 3
```
- If the support representative requested dumps from the managed system(s) and HMC data type the following to collect all dumps + all historic data:
```
pedbg -c -q d4
```

Section 3. Downloading & Transmitting Data from HMC

There are many ways the data can be sent to IBM. The following is a list of preferred methods, starting with the quickest and easiest method. The method used varies depending on the type of network access available to the HMC and the availability of media:

Use removable media (USB flash drive) to move the pedbg to another workstation with Internet access.
1. Insert the formatted USB flash drive. For USB, wait several seconds for the USB device to be detected.
2. Run the command:
```
 pedbg -c -q 9
```
3. Reply yes to the prompt “Would you like to move .zip file to a DVD or other device?”
4. Enter the device name from the list when prompted.
5. The device name is the mount point for the target device. For example, for the first USB flash drive its typically “/media/sdb1”.
Use SCP or FTP to copy the pedbg file to another workstation with Internet access.
- Example of copying the file to a PC or Mac using standard scp at the command line:
```
  scp hscpe@myhmc:/dump/HMClogs.HMClogsxxxxxxxxx.zip .
```
- Example of copying the file to a PC using PuTTY pscp:
```
  "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pscp" -scp hscpe@myhmc:/dump/HMClogs.cs6hmcb0312H04.zip c:\temp\
```

Case1: Problem copying dumps from HMC to usb by using pedbg

This document describes a problem with copying dumps from HMC to usb by using the command pedbg -s -q 9.

The command pedbg -s -q 9 copies the collected dumps in .zip format to USB drive but instead it tries to delete dumps, example:

[hscpe@HMC66 ~] $ pedbg -s -q 9
# Warning, this operation deletes all existing system dumps on this HMC

Please type yes to continue
No dumps removed.
No files found or collected
[hscpe@HMC66 ~] $

Resolving the Problem

When you hit this issue, you can use the “cpdump” command instead to copy dump files to the USB drive. Example: Copy dump files to a USB flash drive:

lsmediadev #(to obtain mount points)
mount /media/sdb1
cpdump -r usb -f "HMCSysdump.HMC66012120211425.zip" -d /media/sdb1

“HMCSysdump.HMC66012120211425.zip” to be replaced with the actual name of the file!

Alternatively you can run the following command, which collects not only logs contained in pedbg -c -q 4 but all dumps available too (don’t forget to initiate dumps before this command):

pedbg -c -q d4

Use the pedbg -c -q 9 after the file is generated to copy it to an USB (if you’re using the second workaround).

Case2: Using USB Flash Drive to Collect HMC PEDBG Data Larger than 4GB

Collecting HMC pedbg support data on an HMC with version V9 or V10 might generate a .zip file larger than 4GB. The ordinary USB flash drive with partition format FAT32 or exFAT does NOT support a file larger than 4GB. On the other hand, HMC does NOT recognize USB flash drives with NTFS partition format. This document provides a workaround for field engineers to collect HMC PEDBG data larger than 4GB.

IBM field engineer can retrieve the HMC pedbg file with a FAT32 USB flash drive by the workaround in this document. We use command split to slice the large PEDBG file into smaller ones, which can be directly copied to a FAT32 USB flash drive.

WORKAROUND

Collect HMC PEDBG data.
- Log in HMC command line with user ID hscpe, run the command:
```
pedbg -c -q4
```
- If the hscpe user ID does not exist, create it by the following command with user hscroot:
```
mkhmcusr -u hscpe -a hmcpe -d "HMC PE User"
```
- If the hscpe user ID exists, but the password is forgotten, set a new password by the following command with user hscroot:
```
chhmcusr -u hscpe -t passwd
```
- When PEDBG log is successfully collected, the file name and directory are displayed on the screen. In the following example, the PEDBG log file is HMClogs.hmc1.05291621.zip, which is saved in directory /dump.
```
...omitted...
copying pedbglogs to pedbg folder
    File /dump/HMClogs.hmc1.05291621.zip was created.
    Done at Sun May 29 16:32:36 CST 2022
```
- Check the file size by command:
```
ls -l /dump | grep HMClogs
```

Apply HMC Dynamic pesh password from IBM Remote Support

 lshmc -v
 # Obtain 7-digit_HMC_SN

 pesh <7-digit_HMC_SN>
 # It is case-sensitive, use uppercase letters.
 # Input the pesh password provided by IBM Remote Support.

 su -
 # Run command 'su -' to get HMC’s root authority.

The default password of HMC user root is passw0rd. If password is forgotten, reset it with user hscroot by the following command:
```
chhmcusr -u root -t passwd
```

Run Command split to slice the PEDBG file into several small ones
- In this example, the command is:
```
split -b 2G /dump/HMClogs.hmc1.05291621.zip /dump/split_file
```
- The above command splits the PEDBG file ‘HMClogs.hmc1.05291621.zip’ into several 2GB files. The new files are named split_fileaa, split_fileab, split_fileac, and so on.
Plug USB flash drive into HMC’s USB3.0 ports, and run command lsmediadev to verify the device name. In this example, the USB flash drive is recognized as /dev/sdb1, associated with mount point /media/sdb1.
```
 lsmediadev
 mount /dev/sdb1
 cp /dump/split_file* /media/sdb1/
 umount /dev/sdb1
```
Plug the USB flash drive into any laptop or workstation that has an internet connection. Upload all the files to IBM ECuRep Data Repository under your case number: Link Upload Ecurep

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