SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop DocumentationAdministration Guide > Support and Common Tasks > ◀ ▶

Chapter 2. Gathering System Information for Support

Contents

2.1. Overview
2.2. Collecting Information Using Supportconfig
2.3. Submitting Information to Novell
2.4. For More Information

Abstract

In case of problems, a system report may be created using the supportconfig command. This tool will collect information about the system such as: current kernel version, hardware, installed packages, partition setup and much more. This report will help Novell Technical Services to assist or locate the issue you reported. The command is provided by the package supportutils which is installed by default.

2.1. Overview

Novell Support Link (NSL) is new to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. It is a tool that gathers system information and allows you to upload the collected data to another server for further analysis.

There are two ways to use Novell Support Link:

  1. Use the YaST Support module.

  2. Use the command line utility supportconfig.

The YaST Support module calls supportconfig to gather system information.

2.2. Collecting Information Using Supportconfig

The following sections describe how to use supportconfig with YaST, with the command line and what other options you have.

2.2.1. Using YaST

To use YaST to gather your system information, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the URL http://www.novell.com/center/eservice and create a service request number.

  2. Start YaST.

  3. Open the Support module.

  4. Click on Create report tarball.

  5. Select an option from the radio button list. If you want to test it first, use Only gather a minimum amount of info. Proceed with Next.

  6. Enter your contact information. Use your service request number from Step 1 and enter it into the text field labeled Novell 11 digit service request number. Proceed with Next.

  7. The information gathering begins. After the process is finished, continue with Next.

  8. Review the data collection. Continue with Next.

  9. Save your tarball. If you want to upload to the Novell customer center, make sure Upload log files tarball into URL is activated. Finish the operation with Next.

2.2.2. Using Supportconfig Directly

To use supportconfig from the command line, proceed as follows:

  1. Open a shell and become root.

  2. Run supportconfig without any options. This gathers the default system information.

  3. Wait for the tool to complete the operation.

  4. The default archive location is /var/log with the filename format nts_HOST_DATE_TIME.tbz

2.2.3. Common Supportconfig Options

The supportconfig utility is usually called without any options. Display a list of all options with supportconfig --help or refer to the man page. The following list gives a brief overview of the more common cases:

  • Use the minimal option (-m) to reduce the size of the information being gathered: 

    supportconfig -m

  • Include additional contact information in the output (in one line): 

    supportconfig -E tux@example.org -N "Tux Penguin" -O "Penguin Inc." ...

  • While troubleshooting a problem, you may want to gather information only about the area of the problem you are currently working on. For example, if you have problems with LVM, and recently found the problem with the default supportconfig output. After making changes, you want to gather the current LVM information. The following would gather the minimum supportconfig information and LVM only. 

    supportconfig -i LVM

    To see a complete feature list, run: 

    supportconfig -F

    If you need the opposite, exclude an area with the -x option. Both options, -i and -x, can be combined.

  • Collect already rotated log files. This is especially useful in high logging environments or after a kernel crash when syslog rotates the logs after a reboot.

    supportconfig -l

2.3. Submitting Information to Novell

You can use the YaST Support module or the supportconfig command line utility to submit system information to Novell. When you experience a server issue and would like Novell's assistance, you will need to open a service request and submit your server information to Novell. Both YaST and command line methods are described.

[Note]Privacy Statement

Novell treats system reports as confidental data. Please see our privacy commitment for details at http://www.novell.com/company/legal/privacy/.

Procedure 2.1. Submitting Information to Novell with YaST

  1. Open the URL http://www.novell.com/center/eservice and create a service request number.

  2. Write down your 11 digit service request number. The following examples will assume the service request number is 12345678901.

  3. Click on Create report tarball in the YaST Support module window.

  4. Select the Use custom radio button. Proceed with Next.

  5. Enter your contact information, fill in Novell 11 digit service request number and include Novell's upload target URL.

    Proceed with Next. Information gathering starts. After the process is finished, continue with Next.

  6. Review the data collection and use Remove from Data to remove any files you want excluded from the tarball uploaded to Novell. Continue with Next.

  7. By default, a copy of the tarball will be saved in /root. Confirm you are using one of the Novell upload targets described above and the Upload log files tarball into URL is activated. Finish with Next.

  8. Click Finish.

Procedure 2.2. Submitting Information to Novell with supportconfig

  1. Open the URL http://www.novell.com/center/eservice and create a service request number.

  2. Write down your 11 digit service request number. The following examples will assume the service request number is 12345678901.

  3. Servers with Internet connectivity:

    1. To use the default upload target, run: 

      supportconfig -ur 12345678901

    2. For the secure upload target, use the following on one line: 

      supportconfig -r 12345678901 -U  'https://secure-www.novell.com/upload?appname=supportconfig&file={tarball}'

  4. Servers without Internet connectivity

    1. Run the following: 

      supportconfig -r 12345678901

    2. Manually upload the /var/log/nts_SR12345678901*tbz tarball to our FTP server (US customers use ftp://ftp.novell.com/incoming; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa use ftp://support-ftp.suse.com/in).

    3. You can also attach the tarball to your service request using the service request URL: http://www.novell.com/center/eservice.

  5. Once the tarball is in the incoming directory of our FTP server, it becomes automatically attached to your service request.

2.4. For More Information

Find more information about gathering system information in the following documents:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Guide 11 SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop DocumentationAdministration Guide > Support and Common Tasks > ◀ ▶