gathering system information(snap)

why we use snap command?


to gathers system configuration information and compress the informatiion in  pax  file we use snap command.  we  can then save it to disk or tape, or send it  to a remote system. This information can be used for futher troubleshooting.


about 8mb of free disk space is needed for that in /tmp. 




 the default directory for snap command output is /tmp/ibmsupt directory,


you should be root user to run snap command.



The" #snap -g"   command gathers general system information, including the following:


 1.    Error report
 2.    Copy of the customized ODM  database
3.     Trace file
4.     User environment
5.     Amount of physical memory and paging space
6     .Device and attribute information
7.     Security user information






 " #snap -g"  command also gathers the output of the " #lslpp -hac" command, which is required to recreate exact operating system environments and writes output to the /tmp/ibmsupt/general/lslpp.hac file. Also collects general system information and writes the output to the /tmp/ibmsupt/general/general.snap file

****to gather HACMP specific information from nodes node1 and node2 belonging to a single cluster.Output is written to the /tmp/ibmsupt/hacmp directory
 #snap -e -m node1,node2




this command gathers LVM characterstics.
#snap -L


to remove the snap command output from /tmp/ibmsupt run
#snap -r

how to read the snap report?

you have to uncompress it.

# uncompress snap.pax.Z

you will see that snap.pax.Z will be replaced by snap.pax

after that run,

#pax -rvf snap.pax

after that you can view the file and get all details.

#more snap.pax

important files and directories related to snap



/usr/sbin/snap - Contains the snap command.


/tmp/ibmsupt - Contains snap command output.


/tmp/ibmsupt/general/lslpp.hac - Contains the output of the lslpp -hac command, which is required to recreate exact operating system environments.


/tmp/ibmsupt/general/general.snap - Contains general system information that is collected with the snap -g command.


/tmp/ibmsupt/testcase - Contains the test case that demonstrates your system problem.