5

Logging Hardware Failures

• The system_check script
  
  

The system_check script

The BIG-IP system includes a script, called system_check, which monitors certain hardware components and notifies the user of their status. The hardware components that the system_check script monitors are:

• Chassis fan speed
  
  
• CPU fan speed (one or two)
  
  
• Power supply (for platforms that include redundant power supplies)
  
  

  It is the UNIX cron daemon that runs the system_check script. The cron daemon runs the script on an ongoing basis at a regular interval, specified in the /config/crontab file.

Failure notification

When run, the system_check script reports the hardware status to the console. The script also logs all fan and power-supply failures to the file /var/log/bigip.

In addition to displaying status to the console and logging failures in the file /var/log/bigip, the BIG-IP system also displays an alarm condition on the front panel LEDs of the Application Switch platform. Table 5.1 shows the LED usage for alarm conditions related to fans and power supplies.

Configuring system_check monitoring

You can customize the behavior of the system_check script in the following ways:

• By changing the interval at which the cron daemon runs the script
  
  
• By changing the way that the script displays output on the console
  
  
• By disabling the monitoring of redundant power supplies.
  
  

To change the system_check monitoring interval

You can change the interval at which the cron daemon runs the system_check script by editing the interval value specified in the /config/crontab file.

To configure the system_check output to the console

By default, the status of chassis fans, CPU fans, and power supplies is suppressed from appearing on the console. (This is known as quiet mode.) Only error conditions are displayed. This automatic suppression of status is specified by default in the /config/crontab file, with the string system_check -q.

You can remove the suppression of status and thus cause the BIG-IP system to display status on the console. You can do this by editing the /config/crontab file to remove the -q option from the string system_check -q.

To display full SNMP platform table information (that is, run in debug mode), type the following:

system_check -d

To enable or disable power-supply monitoring

You can enable or disable the monitoring of redundant power supplies by configuring the database key Local.Platform.PowerSupplyMonitor. The default setting enables the monitoring of the power supplies.

If the database key is not present or is set to 1, the power supplies are monitored. If the database key is set to 0, the power supplies are not monitored.