Re: Linux problem resolution.

Rob, here was a response from my resident guru:

        What was locked up?  He mentioned mouse movements didn't work...so 
I'll assume they have an X-Windows interface.  Even on the most stable 
systems, X-Windows can just kind of freeze occasionally.  Especially if 
they are using the super cool GL screensavers and beta video drivers. They 
should ALWAYS UNDERSTAND THE CLI!!  You and I both know that a GUI is 
nice, but a CLI is powerful.  They should first try to SSH into the system 
and assume root power.  Next do a "top" to see what the weather is like. 
Top will tell them the current cpu usage, and by default will list the 
processes running in order of highest cpu usage.  They can also see their 
memory/swap usage from this screen.  If they are very low on physical 
memory AND their page file is near max, then they can hit "M" (that's a 
capital M) inside of top.  This will sort the processes in order of 
highest memory usage.
        As root they can also do a "ps -ax"  This will list all running 
processes and their PIDs (process ids).  -a is all processes and I think 
-x is for all users.  Look for "xscreensaver"  one can try this command 
line "ps -ax |grep xscreensaver".  Then do a "kill -9 PID" where PID = the 
process ID of xscreensaver.  That was an example...xscreensaver might not 
be the culprit.  In any event, killing that particular process won't have 
negative ramifications.  If they see a particular process, from top, that 
was eating most of the memory or cpu, they can try killing it as well. 
They need to understand that killing random processes can be dangerous!!!
        Next they can have a look at their log files.  /var/log/messages 
is a great place to start.  They can just do a "more /var/log/messages". 
Depending on how often they rotate those logs the information can stretch 
WAY back.

        Finally...and I probably should have made this FIRSTLY..they can 
just reboot.  SSH into the system and do a "reboot" or on some systems a 
"shutdown -r now"

Chris Whisonant
Comporium
Senior Mid-Range Systems Administrator
IBM eServer Certified Systems Expert - iSeries Technical Solutions V5R2
IBM Certified System Administrator - Lotus Notes and Domino 6/6.5
IBM Certified Associate Developer - Lotus Notes and Domino 6/6.5
803.326.7270 | 803.326.6142 fax

domino400-bounces+chris.whisonant=comporium.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 
03/28/2006 11:30:12 AM:

> David gave some good ideas on the PCTECH list.  Basically I cross posted 

> it here to share in the trials and tribulations for those of us that are 

> moving some non volatile data off of our primary servers, like you and 
I.
> 
> Rob Berendt
> -- 
> Group Dekko Services, LLC
> Dept 01.073
> PO Box 2000
> Dock 108
> 6928N 400E
> Kendallville, IN 46755
> http://www.dekko.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Chris Whisonant <Chris.Whisonant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent by: domino400-bounces+rob=dekko.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> 03/28/2006 11:10 AM
> Please respond to
> Lotus Domino on the iSeries / AS400 <domino400@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> 
> To
> Lotus Domino on the iSeries / AS400 <domino400@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> cc
> 
> Subject
> Re: Linux problem resolution.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rob, I'm interested in an answer on this too. I'll forward this to a 
unix 
> guru here too.
> 
> I have a Linux server ordered that I will be mounting a NetApp NAS 
device 
> to store corporate-wide mail archives. It runs fairly well on a 600MHz 
> test Linux server and should smoke on a good box!!
> 
> Chris Whisonant
> Comporium
> Senior Mid-Range Systems Administrator
> IBM eServer Certified Systems Expert - iSeries Technical Solutions V5R2
> IBM Certified System Administrator - Lotus Notes and Domino 6/6.5
> IBM Certified Associate Developer - Lotus Notes and Domino 6/6.5
> 803.326.7270 | 803.326.6142 fax
> 
> domino400-bounces+chris.whisonant=comporium.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 
> 03/28/2006 10:23:14 AM:
> 
> > In order to save on expensive iSeries disk, the boss has decided to 
move 
> 
> 
> > some non volatile databases from our i5 based Domino servers to Linux 
> and 
> > Window servers.  Basically, when someone leaves the company we move 
> their 
> > mail file over to these and keep for x days.  This frees up the space, 

> and 
> > reduces the downtime window for backup, etc on the primary servers. 
When 
> 
> 
> > the reliability increases then we will do server wide archiving of 
mail 
> > files from the i5 based servers to these servers.
> > 
> > Now, back to my problem.  This morning the Linux server was locked up 
> > tighter than a drum.  No keystrokes, mouse, etc would get a response. 
> Suse 
> > Linux.  The network guy really is not aware of how to look for problem 

> > resolution in Linux to handle this.  For example in Windows you can 
> > actually look up codes from the BSOD, look at log files, etc.  How 
does 
> > one get started down this path in Linux?  Any RTFM is acceptable if 
you 
> > supply a good manual.
> > 
> > Rob Berendt
> > -- 
> > Group Dekko Services, LLC
> > Dept 01.073
> > PO Box 2000
> > Dock 108
> > 6928N 400E
> > Kendallville, IN 46755
> > http://www.dekko.com
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
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