PMStack

Version 16
Created by Vidya on Jul 9, 2012 6:56 AM. Last modified by Rashmi Rekha Gogoi on Jul 26, 2017 2:49 AM.

    Current Version

    • PMStack 7.1 dated 24 July 2017

    Introduction

    When running an application on UNIX it may fail with a signal exception and cause a core file, or it may hang. It must be killed causing a core file. The pmstack utility is a UNIX script file that retrieves the stack trace from a core file and creates an output file that can be sent to Informatica support for analysis of the problem.

     

    Purpose

    The pmstack utility can be used to extract the stack trace from a core file or a hanging Informatica process (pmserver, pmrepserver, etc.) on UNIX.

     

    Prerequisites

    • Pre-requisite checks are done from within script itself. In case of any issues, the tool will report.

     

    Supported Informatica Products

    • PowerCenter
    • Data Quality

    License Info

    • Free download

    Current Version

    • PMStack 7.1

    Download

    • pmstackv71.zip (See Attachment section below)
    • pmstackv71.tar (See Attachment section below)

    How to Install

    1. Login as the Unix user who started the Informatica process.
    2. Download and save the attached file aspmstack to the Informatica installation directory where the core file exists.
    3. chmod 755 pmstack
    4. The utility usage help is as follows:
      Usage : pmstack [-c corefilename]|[-p processid] [-e executableName] [-d dbx|gdb|mdb] [-i]

    Option

    Argument

    Description

    -c

    coreFilename

    Core filename on which utility has to run.

    Required – if pmstack is run on corefile

    corefilemode

    -p

    processid

    PID on which utility has to run.

    Required – if pmstack is run on a live process

    processmode

    -e

    executableName

    Optional in corefilemode. Executable name on which the core file was generated. Use this to force the utility to use the executableName for crash report generation. Only executables under INFA_HOME and “JAVA” is supported

    Options: pmserver/pmdtm/pmdtmsvc/pmdtmsvc2/pmrep/java

    -d

    debuggerName

    1. Default is gdb. Use this option to specify any other debugger that’s installed on the operating system.

    Options: gdb / dbx / mdb

    -i

    ignoreProcStack

    1. Ignores procstack utility and uses dbx to collect stack from a hung process on AIX. This option has effect only on AIX and when used in processmode

     

    After the PMSTACK is run, the following file will be created in the PWD:

    corefilemode – <corefile_name>_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.trace

    processmode – corepid_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.trace

     

    Usage Examples
    • To collect thread stack from a core file called corefile_name with dbx as debugger:
      • pmstack -c corefile_name -d dbx
    • To collect thread stack from a process with a process ID pid with gdb as debugger:
      • pmstack -p pid
    • To collect thread stack from a process with process ID pid using procstackutlity on AIX:
      • pmstack -p pid –d dbx
    • To collect thread stack from a process using dbx on AIX
      • pmstack –p pid –d dbx –i
    • To collect thread stack from a core file called “corefile_name” using “gdb” as debugger and using “pmserver” as the executableName
      • Pmstack –p corefile_name –e pmserver
    • To collect thread stack from a core file called “corefile_name” using “dbx” as debugger and using “pmrepagent” as the executableName
      • pmstack –c corefile_name –e pmrepagent –d dbx

     

     

    Note

    Run ps -ef | grep process_name to determine the process ID.

     

    Send the trace file to Informatica support.

    Known Limitations

    • This tool is not available for Windows
    • This tool fails to produce a valid thread stack from a core file in SUSE linux when the operating system’s “file” command misbehaves. It is highly recommended to use the “-e executableName” option when running PMSTACK in SUSE Linux.

     

    References

    KB 13652: Utility to retrieve the stack trace from a core file or a hanging Informatica process (pmstack 2.0)

    Supported Platforms

    • All Unix Operating Systems (32-bit and 64-bit)