DELL Networking SONiC How to generate and collect Tech-support

Summary: This article explains how to generate and collect tech-support in Dell Networking SONiC Version 4.0 and above.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Index

What is tech-support File?
Command Syntax
How to generate tech-support file in Dell SONiC
How to track tech-support file generation status
How to retrieve tech-support File From the Switch
      FTP
      HTTP
      USB
      SCP Client application
Tech-support file name and format
How to restrict the old entries and reduce the size of tech-support File
Delete old tech-support file to save space.

What is tech-support File

Tech-support file is a compressed archive file consisting of information about the state of the Switch like Syslog, database state, core dump, and so on. Dell Technical support agents need a tech-support file for detailed analysis of an event.

  • The tech-support file is a compressed file and is saved in /var/dump. The content of this folder can be viewed by using command: 
    dir tech-support:/
  • Tech-support file has .tar.gz extension
  • Tech-support file may take more than 15-30 Minutes to generate.
  • The file size varies depending on the data and time duration of log samples. To reduce size, we can use "since" option
  • If possible try to generate a Tech-support file in the problem state
NOTE: For an older version, see Dell Networking SONiC OS How to generate a Tech-support in 3.X releases

Command Syntax

COMMAND EXPLANATION
admin@sonic:~$ sonic-cli Enter Dell Sonic
sonic# show tech-support Generate a tech-support file.
sonic# show tech-support status Show tech-support file generation status
sonic# dir tech-support:/ Show the content of the /var/dump directory where the tech-support file is generated.
sonic# copy tech-support://<filename> ftp/home/http/scp/usb://<filename> Copy a tech-support file to a remote location using ftp, http, scp protocol, or an usb or home directory

Optional

COMMAND EXPLANATION
sonic# show tech-support since <date/time> Generate a tech-support file from a date and time. Click here for more info.
sonic# delete tech-support:/ <filename> Delete old tech-support file. This saves flash space.

How to generate tech-support file in Dell SONiC

Use "show tech-support" command to generate a tech-support file.

Example

admin@DELLSONiC:~$ sonic-cli
DELLSONiC# 
DELLSONiC# show tech-support 
%Info: Tech-support process started, please check "show tech-support status" for tech-support progress
DELLSONiC#

How to track tech-support file generation status

Use "show tech-support status" command to stack the status of tech-support file generation. The output shows Status: Completed when file generation is completed.
Use "dir tech-support:/" command to see the content of the /var/tmp folder. The tech-support file is generated in this folder.

Bellow is a sample output of "show tech-support status"and "dir tech-support:/"

During tech-support file generation:

DELLSONiC# show tech-support status 
Status: In Progress (Collecting Counters-1) Total items collected: 12
DELLSONiC# dir tech-support:/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date(Last Modified)      Size(Bytes)    Type      Filename                        
-------------------------------------------------------------------------                
2023-04-15 20:21         4096           d         sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048
2023-04-15 20:22         11100160       -         sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar

After tech-support file generation is successfully completed.

DELLSONiC# show tech-support status
Status: Completed
File Name: /var/dump/sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz
DELLSONiC# dir tech-support:/ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date(Last Modified)      Size(Bytes)    Type      Filename                        
-------------------------------------------------------------------------                
2023-04-15 20:27         252932846      -         sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz

How to retrieve tech-support file from the switch

Use "copy tech-support://<tech-support filename> <destination>//<filename>" command to copy the tech-support file to home directory or usb or remote ftp/http/scp server.

Below are the destination options available and their usage.

  • ftp: Copy to remote FTP server (ftp://userid:passwd@hostip/filepath)
  • home: Copy to home directory (home://filename)
  • http: Copy to remote HTTP server (http://hostip/filepath)
  • scp: Copy to remote SCP server (scp://userid:passwd@hostip/filepath)
  • usb: Copy to usb media directory (usb://filename)
NOTE: The "tech-support://" in "copy" command is not auto filled. Hence type the full path manually.

We would explain the options below with an example.

FTP
For copying a file to a remote FTP server, use following syntax.

copy techsupport://<techsupport file.tag.gz> ftp://userid:passwd@hostip/filepath

Consider we are copying the tech-support file to a remote FTP server with IP 10.0.0.1, username: TEST and password PASS

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# copy tech-support://sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz ftp://TEST:PASS@10.0.0.1/sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz

HTTP
For copying a file to a remote HTTP server, use following syntax.

copy techsupport://<techsupport file.tag.gz> http://hostip/filepath

Consider we are copying the tech-support file to a remote HTTP server with IP 10.0.0.1.

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# copy tech-support://sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz http://10.0.0.1/sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz

USB
For using USB on a DELL SONiC in a Networking switch, we must ensure that the usb enable command is configured. By default usb is disabled.
Run the usb mount command after inserting usb into the switch.

Dell Networking SONiC How to mount and unmount USB

Sample Out

sonic#
sonic# configure terminal
sonic(config)# usb enable
sonic(config)# exit
sonic# usb mount
DELLSONiC# copy tech-support://sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz usb://sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz

SCP Client application
You may use any SCP client applications to extract tech-support file in the switch.
Use Switch login credentials in the SCP client application to log in to switch. The tech-support file is located in Directory /var/dump/.
Some SCP client applications have a graphical interface which makes it even easier to copy a file from switch /var/dump/ to a location in your local machine.

Tech-support file name and format

The tech-support file has a name in format "sonic_dump_<Hostname>_ _YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz"
*YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS is Year Month Day _ Hour Minute Second. This is the time of tech-support file generation.

For example, "sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz" is the generated tech-support file. Here, YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS is 20230415_202048, and DELLSONiC is the hostname of the switch.

How to restrict the old entries and reduce Size of tech-support File

The tech-support file may be a large file based on the switch uptime. In Dell SONiC, we can reduce the size of the tech by limiting the logging duration.

Use "show tech-support since <date/time>" command to capture tech-support from a particular time.

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# show tech-support since "2023-04-14T12:30:30Z"
%Info: Tech-support process started, please check "show tech-support status" for tech-support progress

It is recommended to capture up to the 0 hour of the day before for any possible preemptive actions before the event.

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# show tech-support since "2023-04-14T00:00:00Z"
%Info: Tech-support process started, please check "show tech-support status" for tech-support progress

Command Syntax

Command Explanation
sonic# show tech-support since <date/time> Below is the format for date/time.

 "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS[.ddd…]Z" or
 "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS[.ddd…]+hh:mm" or
 "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS[.ddd…]-hh:mm" Where:

 YYYY = year, MM = month, DD = day,
 T (required before time),
 HH = hours, MM = minutes, SS = seconds,
 (optional) .ddd… = decimal fraction of a second (for example ".323")
 Z indicates a zero offset from local time.
 +/- hh:mm indicates hour:minute offset from local time.

Delete old tech-support file to save space

We can safely delete tech-support file in the dump folder after extracting the file from the switch.

Use the command "delete tech-support:/ <techsupport file.tar.gz>" to delete the tech-support file.

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# delete tech-support:/ sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz
Proceed to delete tech-support:/sonic_dump_DELLSONiC_20230415_202048.tar.gz? [y/N]:y

Use the command "dir tech-support:/" to verify if the file is deleted.

Sample Out

DELLSONiC# dir tech-support:/ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date(Last Modified)      Size(Bytes)    Type      Filename                        
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Affected Products

Enterprise SONiC Distribution, PowerSwitch E3200-ON Series, Dell EMC Networking N3200-ON, PowerSwitch S5212F-ON, PowerSwitch S5224F-ON, PowerSwitch S5232F-ON, PowerSwitch S5248F-ON, PowerSwitch S5296F-ON, PowerSwitch Z9100-ON, PowerSwitch Z9264F-ON , PowerSwitch Z9332F-ON, PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000212428
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 25 Feb 2025
Version:  5
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