Brocade Communications Systems StoreFabric SN6500B User manual

53-1002751-01
14 December 2012
®
Fabric OS
Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Guide
Supporting Fabric OS v7.1.0
®

Copyright © 2008-2012 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Brocade, the B-wing symbol, BigIron, DCX, Fabric OS, FastIron, IronPoint, IronShield, IronView, IronWare, JetCore, NetIron,
SecureIron, ServerIron, StorageX, and TurboIron are registered trademarks, and Brocade Network Advisor (formerly Data Center
Fabric Manager or DCFM), Extraordinary Networks, and SAN Health are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in
the United States and/or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service
marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.
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Corporate and Latin American Headquarters
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
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E-mail: [e-mail]

Fabric OS Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Guide iii
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Document History
Title Publication number Summary of changes Date
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-0000853-01 First released edition. March 2008
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1001187-01 Added support for Virtual Fabrics, fcPing,
pathInfo, and additional troubleshooting
tips.
November 2008
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1001340-01 Added support for checking physical
connections, updated commands,
removed obsolete information, and moved
the FCIP and FICON chapters into their
respective books.
July 2009
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1001769-01 Added support for the Rolling Reboot
Detection feature and the Superping tool;
added enhancements for supportSave and
spinFab; updated commands; transferred
the iSCSI chapter into its respective book.
March 2010
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1002150-01 Added Frame Viewer and Diagnostics port
features.
April 2011
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1002150-02 Updated the Diagnostics port feature. June 2011
Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide
53-1002751-01 Updated for Fabric OS v7.1.0. December 2012

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Fabric OS Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Guide v
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Contents
About This Document
How this document is organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Supported hardware and software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
What’s new in this document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Document conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Text formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Command syntax conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Command examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Notes, cautions, and warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Key terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Additional information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Brocade resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Other industry resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Getting technical help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Document feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
Chapter 1 Introduction
Troubleshooting overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Network time protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Most common problem areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Questions for common symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Gathering information for your switch support provider. . . . . . . . . . . 5
Setting up your switch for FTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Capturing a supportSave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Capturing output from a console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Capturing command output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Building a case for your switch support provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Basic information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Detailed problem information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Gathering additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 2 General
Licenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Frame Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Switch message logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

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Switch boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rolling Reboot Detection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
FC-FC routing connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Generating and routing an ECHO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Superping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Route and statistical information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Performance issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 3 Connectivity
Port initialization and FCP auto-discovery process . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Link issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Connection problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Checking the physical connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Checking the logical connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Checking the Name Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Link failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Determining a successful speed negotiation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Checking for a loop initialization failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Checking for a point-to-point initialization failure . . . . . . . . . . .29
Correcting a port that has come up in the wrong mode . . . . . .30
Marginal links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Troubleshooting a marginal link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Device login issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Pinpointing problems with device logins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Media-related issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Testing a port’s external transmit and receive path . . . . . . . . .36
Testing a switch’s internal components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Testing components to and from the HBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Segmented fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Reconciling fabric parameters individually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Downloading a correct configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Reconciling a domain ID conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Reconciling incompatible software features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Port mirroring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
In-Order Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Port mirroring considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Supported platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Maximum mirror connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Configuring a port to be a mirror port. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Adding a port mirror connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Deleting a port mirror connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Displaying port mirror connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Chapter 4 Configuration
Configuration upload and download issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Gathering additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

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Brocade configuration form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Chapter 5 Firmware Download Errors
Blade troubleshooting tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Firmware download issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Troubleshooting with the firmwareDownload command . . . . . . . . .54
Gathering additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
USB error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Considerations for downgrading firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Preinstallation messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Blade types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Firmware versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Chapter 6 Security
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Password recovery options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Device authentication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Protocol and certificate management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Gathering additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
SNMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Gathering additional information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
FIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Chapter 7 Virtual Fabrics
General Virtual Fabrics troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Fabric identification issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Logical Fabric issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Base switch issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Logical switch issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Switch configuration blade compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Gathering additional information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Chapter 8 ISL Trunking
Link issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Buffer credit issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Getting out of buffer-limited mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

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Chapter 9 Zoning
Overview of corrective action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Verifying a fabric merge problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Verifying a TI zone problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Segmented fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Zone conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Correcting a fabric merge problem quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Changing the default zone access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Editing zone configuration members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Reordering the zone member list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Checking for Fibre Channel connectivity problems . . . . . . . . . . 78
Checking for zoning problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Gathering additional information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Chapter 10 Diagnostic Features
About Fabric OS diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Diagnostic information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Power-on self test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Disabling POST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Enabling POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Switch status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Viewing the overall status of the switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Displaying switch information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Displaying the uptime for a switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Using the SpinFab and portTest commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Debugging spinFab errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Clearing the error counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Enabling a port. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Disabling a port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Diagnostic Port (D_Port) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Understanding D_Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Supported topologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Using D_Port without HBAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Using D_Port with HBAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Controlling testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Example test scenarios and output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Port information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Viewing the status of a port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Displaying the port statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Displaying a summary of port errors for a switch . . . . . . . . . .107
Equipment status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Checking the temperature, fan, and power supply . . . . . . . . .108
Checking the status of the fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Checking the status of a power supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Checking temperature status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

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System message log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Displaying the system message log, with no page breaks . . .110
Displaying the system message log
one message at a time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Clearing the system message log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Port log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Viewing the port log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Syslogd configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Configuring the host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Configuring the switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Automatic trace dump transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Specifying a remote server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Enabling the automatic transfer of trace dumps. . . . . . . . . . .115
Setting up periodic checking of the remote server . . . . . . . . .115
Saving comprehensive diagnostic files to the server . . . . . . .116
Appendix A Switch Type and Blade ID
Appendix B Hexadecimal Conversion
Example conversion of the hexadecimal triplet Ox616000 . .121
Decimal-to-hexadecimal conversion table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Index

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About This Document
In this chapter
•How this document is organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
•Supported hardware and software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
•What’s new in this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
•Document conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
•Additional information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
•Getting technical help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
•Document feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
How this document is organized
The document contains the following chapters:
•Chapter 1, “Introduction,” gives a brief overview of troubleshooting the Fabric OS, and provides
procedures for gathering basic information from your switch and fabric to aid in
troubleshooting.
•Chapter 2, “General,” provides information on licensing, hardware, and syslog issues.
•Chapter 3, “Connectivity,” provides information and procedures on troubleshooting various link
issues.
•Chapter 4, “Configuration,” provides troubleshooting information and procedures for
configuration file issues.
•Chapter 5, “Firmware Download Errors,” provides procedures for troubleshooting firmware
download issues.
•Chapter 6, “Security,” provides procedures for user account and security issues.
•Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics,” provides procedures for troubleshooting Virtual Fabrics.
•Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking,” provides procedures for resolving trunking issues.
•Chapter 9, “Zoning,” provides preparations and procedures for performing firmware
downloads, as well troubleshooting information.
•Chapter 10, “Diagnostic Features,” provides procedures for the use of the diagnostics
commands for the chassis, ports, and other chassis equipment. Provides information on the
system messages.
•Appendix A, “Switch Type and Blade ID,” provides reference information to guide you in
understanding switch output.
•Appendix B, “Hexadecimal Conversion,” provide reference information for translating
hexadecimal output.

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Supported hardware and software
In those instances in which procedures or parts of procedures documented here apply to some
switches but not to others, this guide identifies which switches are supported and which are not.
Although many different software and hardware configurations are tested and supported by
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. for Fabric OS v7.1.0, documenting all possible
configurations and scenarios is beyond the scope of this document.
The following hardware platforms are supported by this release of Fabric OS:
•Brocade 300 switch
•Brocade 5100 switch
•Brocade 5300 switch
•Brocade 5410 embedded switch
•Brocade 5424 embedded switch
•Brocade 5450 embedded switch
•Brocade 5460 embedded switch
•Brocade 5470 embedded switch
•Brocade 5480 embedded switch
•Brocade 6505 switch
•Brocade 6510 switch
•Brocade 6520 switch
•Brocade 7800 extension switch
•Brocade 8000 FCoE switch
•Brocade VA-40FC
•Brocade Encryption Switch
•Brocade DCX
•Brocade DCX-4S
•Brocade DCX 8510-4
•Brocade DCX 8510-8
What’s new in this document
Updated for Brocade Fabric OS v7.1.0, including the following:
•Updated system messages related to firmware downloads. (Refer to Chapter 5, “Firmware
Download Errors,” on page 51.)
•Introduced new features available with the D_Port diagnostic tool. (Refer to Chapter 10,
“Diagnostic Features,” on page 81.)
For further information about documentation updates for this release, refer to the release notes.

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Document conventions
This section describes text formatting conventions and important notice formats used in this
document.
TEXT FORMATTING
The narrative-text formatting conventions that are used are as follows:
bold text Identifies command names
Identifies the names of user-manipulated GUI elements
Identifies keywords and operands
Identifies text to enter at the GUI or CLI
italic text Provides emphasis
Identifies variables
Identifies paths and Internet addresses
Identifies document titles
code text Identifies CLI output
Identifies command syntax examples
COMMAND SYNTAX CONVENTIONS
For readability, command names in the narrative portions of this guide are presented in mixed
lettercase: for example, switchShow. In actual examples, command lettercase is often all
lowercase. Otherwise, this manual specifically notes those cases in which a command is case
sensitive. Command syntax in this manual follows these conventions:
COMMAND EXAMPLES
This book describes how to perform configuration tasks using the Fabric OS command line
interface, but does not describe the commands in detail. For complete descriptions of all Fabric OS
commands, including syntax, operand description, and sample output, refer to the Fabric OS
Command Reference.
command Commands are printed in bold.
--option, option Command options are printed in bold.
-argument, arg Arguments.
[ ] Optional element.
variable Variables are printed in italics. In the help pages, values are underlined or
enclosed in angled brackets < >.
... Repeat the previous element, for example “member[;member...]”
value Fixed values following arguments are printed in plain font. For example,
--show WWN
| Boolean. Elements are exclusive. Example: --show -mode egress | ingress

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NOTES, CAUTIONS, AND WARNINGS
The following notices and statements are used in this manual. They are listed below in order of
increasing severity of potential hazards.
NOTE
A note provides a tip, guidance, or advice, emphasizes important information, or provides a
reference to related information.
ATTENTION
An Attention statement indicates potential damage to hardware or data.
CAUTION
A Caution statement alerts you to situations that can be potentially hazardous to you or cause
damage to hardware, firmware, software, or data.
DANGER
A Danger statement indicates conditions or situations that can be potentially lethal or extremely
hazardous to you. Safety labels are also attached directly to products to warn of these conditions
or situations.
KEY TERMS
For definitions specific to Brocade and Fibre Channel, refer to the Brocade Glossary.
For definitions of SAN-specific terms, visit the Storage Networking Industry Association online
dictionary at:
http://www.snia.org/education/dictionary
Additional information
This section lists additional Brocade and industry-specific documentation that you might find
helpful.
BROCADE RESOURCES
To get up-to-the-minute information, go to http://my.brocade.com and register at no cost for a user
ID and password.
For practical discussions about SAN design, implementation, and maintenance, you can obtain
Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches through:
http://www.amazon.com

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White papers, online demonstrations, and data sheets are available through the Brocade website
at:
http://www.brocade.com/products-solutions/products/index.page
For additional Brocade documentation, visit the Brocade website:
http://www.brocade.com
Release notes are available on the MyBrocade website and are also bundled with the Fabric OS
firmware.
OTHER INDUSTRY RESOURCES
For additional resource information, visit the Technical Committee T11 website. This website
provides interface standards for high-performance and mass storage applications for Fibre
Channel, storage management, and other applications:
http://www.t11.org
For information about the Fibre Channel industry, visit the Fibre Channel Industry Association
website:
http://www.fibrechannel.org
Getting technical help
Contact your switch support supplier for hardware, firmware, and software support, including
product repairs and part ordering. To expedite your call, have the following information available:
1. General Information
•Switch model
•Switch operating system version
•Error numbers and messages received
•supportSave command output
•Detailed description of the problem, including the switch or fabric behavior immediately
following the problem, and specific questions
•Description of any troubleshooting steps already performed and the results
•Serial console and Telnet session logs
•syslog message logs
2. Switch Serial Number
The switch serial number and corresponding bar code are provided on the serial number label,
as illustrated below.:
The serial number label is located as follows:
•Brocade 5424 — On the bottom of the switch module.
*FT00X0054E9*
FT00X0054E9

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•Brocade 300, 5100, and 5300 — On the switch ID pull-out tab located on the bottom of the
port side of the switch.
•Brocade 6505, 6510, and 6520— On the switch ID pull-out tab located inside the chassis
on the port side on the left.
•Brocade 7800 and 8000 — On the bottom of the chassis.
•Brocade DCX Backbone — On the bottom right on the port side of the chassis.
•Brocade DCX-4S Backbone — On the bottom right on the port side of the chassis.
•Brocade DCX 8510-4 — On the nonport side of the chassis, on the left just below the left
power supply.
•Brocade DCX 8510-8 — On the bottom right on the port side of the chassis and directly
above the cable management comb.
3. World Wide Name (WWN)
Use the licenseIdShow command to display the chassis’ WWN.
If you cannot use the licenseIdShow command because the switch is inoperable, you can get
the WWN from the same place as the serial number, except for the Brocade DCX. For the
Brocade DCX, access the numbers on the WWN cards by removing the Brocade logo plate at
the top of the nonport side of the chassis.
Document feedback
Quality is our first concern at Brocade and we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and
completeness of this document. However, if you find an error or an omission, or you think that a
topic needs further development, we want to hear from you. Forward your feedback to:
[e-mail]
Provide the title and version number of the document and as much detail as possible about your
comment, including the topic heading and page number and your suggestions for improvement.

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Chapter
1
Introduction
In this chapter
•Troubleshooting overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
•Most common problem areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
•Questions for common symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
•Gathering information for your switch support provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
•Building a case for your switch support provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Troubleshooting overview
This book is a companion guide to be used in conjunction with the Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide.
Although it provides a lot of common troubleshooting tips and techniques, it does not teach
troubleshooting methodology.
Troubleshooting should begin at the center of the SAN — the fabric. Because switches are located
between the hosts and storage devices and have visibility into both sides of the storage network,
starting with them can help narrow the search path. After eliminating the possibility of a fault within
the fabric, see if the problem is on the storage side or the host side, and continue a more detailed
diagnosis from there. Using this approach can quickly pinpoint and isolate problems.
For example, if a host cannot detect a storage device, run the switchShow command to determine if
the storage device is logically connected to the switch. If not, focus first on the switch directly
connecting to storage. Use your vendor-supplied storage diagnostic tools to better understand why
it is not visible to the switch. If the storage can be detected by the switch, and the host still cannot
detect the storage device, then there is still a problem between the host and switch.
Network time protocol
One of the most frustrating parts of troubleshooting is trying to synchronize switch’s message logs
and portlogs with other switches in the fabric. If you do not have NTP set up on your switches, then
trying to synchronize log files to track a problem is more difficult.

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Most common problem areas
1
Most common problem areas
Table 1 identifies the most common problem areas that arise within SANs and identifies tools to
use to resolve them.
Questions for common symptoms
You first must determine what the problem is. Some symptoms are obvious, such as the switch
rebooted without any user intervention, or more obscure, such as your storage is having
intermittent connectivity to a particular host. Whatever the symptom is, you must gather
information from the devices that are directly involved in the symptom.
Table 2 lists common symptoms and possible areas to check. You may notice that an intermittent
connectivity problem has lots of variables to look into, such as the type of connection between the
two devices, how the connection is behaving, and the port type involved.
TABLE 1 Common troubleshooting problems and tools
Problem area Investigate Tools
Fabric •Missing devices
•Marginal links (unstable connections)
•Incorrect zoning configurations
•Incorrect switch configurations
•Switch LEDs
•Switch commands (for example,
switchShow or nsAllShow) for
diagnostics
•Web or GUI-based monitoring and
management software tools
Storage Devices •Physical issues between switch and
devices
•Incorrect storage software
configurations
•Device LEDs
•Storage diagnostic tools
•Switch commands (for example,
switchShow or nsAllShow) for
diagnostics
Hosts •Physical issues between switch and
devices
•Downgrade HBA firmware
•Incorrect device driver installation
•Incorrect device driver configuration
•Device LEDs
•Host operating system diagnostic
tools
•Device driver diagnostic tools
•Switch commands (for example,
switchShow or nsAllShow) for
diagnostics
Also, make sure you use the latest HBA
firmware recommended by the switch
supplier or on the HBA supplier's website
Storage Management
Applications
•Incorrect installation and
configuration of the storage devices
that the software references.
For example, if using a
volume-management application,
check for:
-Incorrect volume installation
-Incorrect volume
configuration
•Application-specific tools and
resources

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Questions for common symptoms 1
TABLE 2 Common symptoms
Symptom Areas to check Chapter or Document
Blade is faulty Firmware or application download
Hardware connections
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 5, “Firmware Download Errors”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Blade is stuck in the “LOADING” state Firmware or application download Chapter 5, “Firmware Download Errors”
Configupload or download fails FTP or SCP server or USB availability Chapter 4, “Configuration”
E_Port failed to come online Correct licensing
Fabric parameters
Zoning
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
EX_Port does not form Links Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Fabric merge fails Fabric segmentation Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
Fabric segments Licensing
Zoning
Virtual Fabrics
Fabric parameters
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
FCIP tunnel bounces FCIP tunnel, including the network between FCIP
tunnel endpoints
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
FCIP tunnel does not come online FCIP tunnel, including the network between FCIP
tunnel endpoints
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
FCIP tunnel does not form Licensing
Fabric parameters
Chapter 2, “General”
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
FCIP tunnel is sluggish FCIP tunnel, including the network between FCIP
tunnel endpoints
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
Feature is not working Licensing Chapter 2, “General”
FCR is slowing down FCR LSAN tags Chapter 2, “General”
FICON switch does not talk to hosts FICON settings FICON Administrator’s Guide
FirmwareDownload fails FTP or SCP server or USB availability
Firmware version compatibility
Unsupported features enabled
Firmware versions on switch
Chapter 5, “Firmware Download Errors”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Host application times out FCR LSAN tags
Marginal links
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Intermittent connectivity Links
Trunking
Buffer credits
FCIP tunnel
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking”
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
LEDs are flashing Links Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
LEDs are steady Links Chapter 3, “Connectivity”

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Questions for common symptoms
1
License issues Licensing Chapter 2, “General”
LSAN is slow or times-out LSAN tagging Chapter 2, “General”
Marginal link Links Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
No connectivity between host and storage Cables
SCSI timeout errors
SCSI retry errors
Zoning
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
No connectivity between switches Licensing
Fabric parameters
Segmentation
Virtual Fabrics
Zoning, if applicable
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
No light on LEDs Links Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Performance problems Links
FCR LSAN tags
FCIP tunnels
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 2, “General”
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
Port cannot be moved Virtual Fabrics Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
SCSI retry errors Buffer credits
FCIP tunnel bandwidth
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
SCSI timeout errors Links
HBA
Buffer credits
FCIP tunnel bandwidth
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking”
Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s
Guide
Switch constantly reboots Rolling reboot detection
FIPS Chapter 6, “Security”
Switch is unable to join fabric Security policies
Zoning
Fabric parameters
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 7, “Virtual Fabrics”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
Switch reboots during configup/download Configuration file discrepancy Chapter 4, “Configuration”
Syslog messages Hardware
SNMP management station
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 6, “Security”
Trunk bounces Cables are on same port group
SFPs
Trunked por ts
Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking”
Trunk failed to form Licensing
Cables are on same port group
SFPs
Trunked por ts
Zoning
E_Port QoS configuration mismatch
Chapter 2, “General”
Chapter 3, “Connectivity”
Chapter 8, “ISL Trunking”
Chapter 9, “Zoning”
User forgot password Password recovery Chapter 6, “Security”
TABLE 2 Common symptoms (Continued)
Symptom Areas to check Chapter or Document