Prepping the device to be ready to Log Kernel Log/Trace:
- Download Putty : https://www.putty.org/.
- Configure the Putty Session logging as needed.
- Connect to the Serial Console of the affected PCS/PPS device as shown below.

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. 4. Click on the left tip of the Putty session Window as shown below.

5. Select “Special Command” and Select “Break”.
6. As soon as “Break” is selected, hit the 9 (Number Key).
7. This will enable the Kernel Tracing with output “LogLevel set to 9” (As shown below).

8. If this output isn’t obtained, please try it a few times.
9. Leave the serial console in this state while capturing the contents into a local file as from time to time the device may log important Kernel Messages important to Root Cause system issues.
10. When the system Freezes/Stalls or when Web/UI goes inaccessible, click on the left tip of the Putty session as shown below and select “Special Command” & select “Break”.

11. As soon as “Break” is selected, hit the T key (Upper or Lower Case).
Disclaimer: Do not execute this command in a fully operational system as this could disconnect user sessions. |
12. The console should output a list of entries similar to the screenshot below,
13. Save the output completely or take a screenshot.
14. If the console still responds, navigate to Option # 7. System Maintenance on the Serial Console and generate a System snapshot.
15. Reboot the device & login to the Admin UI.
16. Save the PCS logs (User Access/Admin/Events) by navigating to System -> Log/Monitoring -> Select “Save All Logs”.
17. Navigate to “Maintenance” > “Troubleshooting” > “System Snapshot”. Ensure that “Include Debug log” & “Include System config” options are selected.
18. Generate a system snapshot, if you could not generate via Serial Console.
- If the device is already in the Stall/Hung state, Execute Step # 6 and wait for 10-15 minutes without fail, before proceeding to step # 11.
- During these 10-15 minutes, the device may print useful Kernel logs. Therefore, this waiting period becomes very important.
19. Gather the following details without fail and upload them to the Support case,
- Complete Serial Console Output.
- PCS Logs.
- System snapshots along with any Process Snapshots or Watchdogs that get generated under the System snapshot tab.
- Dashboard graphs for 1 day/week/month.
- Date/time of the occurrence along with the timezone.
- Response to Ping.
Steps to collect Kernel Trace (Console Logs) for Azure Deployments:
- Navigate to the Serial Console of the affected Azure Instance.
- Click on the “Keyboard” icon on the Command Bar and select “Send SysRq Command” as shown below,
Note - A SysRq (System Request) is a sequence of keys understood by the Linux operation system kernel, which can trigger a set of pre-defined actions. These commands are often used when virtual machine troubleshooting or recovery can't be performed through traditional administration.
3. In the resulting Dialog box, type “
9” upon selecting “
Enter Key or Key sequence to send below:” and click on “
Send SysRq” button (As shown below). This should set the log level to verbose.
4. ONLY when the VM crashes/Freezes, please send lower case t as a SysRq command as shown below (Please
DO NOT execute this command on a LIVE/PRODUCTION system).
This will generate the stack trace (Console output) on the Serial Console (Wait up to 10-15 minutes if the Console Output takes time).
Gather these console logs along with the other logs described for Hardware as well and upload them to the case for Engineering analysis.