Unix as a Second Language

Unix tip: Finding a fault when your server's shut down

One of the most useful commands to run when you suspect a failing component on your Sun server is showboards. Showboards will display the status of all boards in your system. With the -ev arguments, the command will provide more complete information and also tell you about empty slots. The showboards -ev command will start with a display like that shown below. In this case, you can see that the PCI I/O Board has failed (look at the next to last line in the output below).

lom>showboards -ev

Slot     Pwr Component Type                 State      Status     
----     --- --------------                 -----      ------     
SSC1     On  System Controller              Main       Passed     
/N0/SCC  -   System Config Card             Assigned   OK         
/N0/BP   -   Baseplane                      Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SIB  -   Indicator Board                Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SPDB -   System Power Distribution Bd.  Assigned   Passed     
/N0/PS0  On  D142 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS1  On  D142 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS2  On  D142 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS3  On  D142 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/FT0  On  Fan Tray                       Auto Speed Passed     
/N0/RP0  On  Repeater Board                 Assigned   OK         
/N0/RP2  On  Repeater Board                 Assigned   OK         
/N0/SB0  On  CPU Board                      Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SB2  On  CPU Board                      Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SB4  On  CPU Board                      Assigned   Passed     
/N0/IB6  On  PCI I/O Board                  Active     Failed
/N0/MB   -   Media Bay                      Assigned   Passed 

This display will be followed by a series of additional tables. For example, the memory in the system might be display in a series of lines like those below that describe its configuration:

Component         J-No.   Size      Reason                                  
---------         -----   ----      ------                                  
/N0/SB0/P0/B0/D0  J13300  512 MB                                            
/N0/SB0/P0/B0/D1  J13400  512 MB                                            
/N0/SB0/P0/B0/D2  J13500  512 MB                                            
/N0/SB0/P0/B0/D3  J13600  512 MB                                            
/N0/SB0/P0/B1     -       -         DRAM DIMM Group 1 Empty
...

Additional components will be listed as well. In these top few lines of the following table, we see another reference to the failed I/O board:

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world