Tag: troubleshooting

How do I troubleshoot tape backups on Linux?

Here are a few helpful procedures for troubleshooting tape backup problems under Linux.

  • First, test the tape drive by attempting to rewind the tape:
mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
    • If there are no problems issuing the rewind command, you’ll be returned to the command prompt.
    • If there are any issues, you will be presented with a descriptive error message.
  • Next, try to perform a manual backup of a few small files:
tar -czvpf /dev/st0 /etc
    • If there are no problems performing the test backup, you’ll see a number of files scroll by and then be returned to the command prompt.
    • If there are any issues, you will presented with a descriptive error message.
  • If there were errors with either of the above tests, please run the Dell Hardware diagnostics

Here are some common errors you may see with tape drives under Linux:

  • Tape has been marked as write-protected or read-only:
tar: /dev/st0: Cannot open: Read-only file system
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Resources:

How do I troubleshoot a Linux printer

To troubleshoot a print queue on Linux:

  • Log into the server as root
  • Try to ping the server:
ping -c4 lp1
  • Common problems:
    • If the printer doesn’t respond, verify its network connectivity
    • If the printer exhibits packet loss or high latency (round trip) times, check with your network support provider, as these can disrupt printing
  • Check the Linux (CUPS) print queue status:
lpstat -p lp1
  • Common problems:
    • If the printer is “disabled” or “paused,” enable the queue: cupsenable lp1
  • Check the UniVerse (UV) print queue status:
usa -p lp1
  • Common problems:
    • If the printer is marked as “off,” enable the queue: usa +o -p lp1

How do I run diagnostics on my Dell Linux server?

Installing the Dell diagnostics utility

Locate the latest Online Diagnostic utility installer for your server:

  • Go to http://support.dell.com/
  • Select Drivers and Downloads
  • Enter your server’s service tag or model
  • Select Red Hat Enterprise Linux from the OS drop-down menu
  • From the Diagnostics category, select the Dell – Online Diagnostics Utility

For this example, we’ll use the most recent Dell Online Diagnostics installer for RHEL (dell-onlinediags-linux-2.17.0.44.tar.gz).

Download and extract to a temporary directory:

mkdir -p /esupport/diag
cd /esupport/diag
wget http://ftp.us.dell.com/diags/dell-onlinediags-linux-2.17.0.44.tar.gz
tar xzvf dell-onlinediags-linux-2.17.0.44.tar.gz

Run the installer:

cd /esupport/diag/onlinediags/
./install.sh

Accept the license agreement when prompted.

Running the Dell diagnostics utility (GUI)

The diagnostics must be run from the GUI (the local console or VNC)

/opt/dell/onlinediags/startDiags.sh

After the diagnostics console has loaded, select the appropriate hardware to test and run tests.

Running the Dell diagnostics utility (command line)

cd /opt/dell/onlinediags/oldiags/bin/
./pediags --show all

Choose one of the listed classes, for example a tape drive:

./pediags scsidevdiag --show device
./pediags scsidevdiag --run

Additional Resources: