Preface

About This Book

The SunDiag^(TM) on-line system exerciser runs diagnostic hardware tests. These diagnostic tests can be run from the SunDiag OPEN LOOK^(R) window interface, through serial ports, or individually from shell command lines.

As part of the Solaris^(R) 2.4 for System Administrators AnswerBook^(R), this manual explains how to set up and run the SunDiag diagnostic tests, as well as how to run the tests individually from command lines. This manual also gives you tips on creating your own diagnostic tests.

The primary audience of this manual is hardware testing and verification organizations. However, SunDiag is simple enough that anyone with Solaris operating environment experience can run it.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1, "Introducing the SunDiag System Exerciser," provides general information about the SunDiag software: how to start the program and what special hardware and software is required for its use.

Chapter 2, "The SunDiag OPEN LOOK Interface," describes startup and exit procedures for the OPEN LOOK user interface. This chapter also explains how to set up test options, which vary according to the hardware installed in the system under test. Instructions for customizing the test sequence and running tests are also provided.

Chapter 3, "The SunDiag TTY Interface," describes the software's complementary TTY interface.

Chapter 4, "Scaling SunDiag Hardware Tests," explains how to "scale" testing for use in multiprocessing systems.

Chapter 5, "Running Individual SunDiag Tests from the Command Line,"

explains the syntax for running individual SunDiag tests from the command line of a shell, and includes an overview of the procedure for running the SunDiag system exerciser.

Chapter 6, "SunDiag Test Descriptions," contains descriptions of individual SunDiag tests that will work on machines with SPARC^(R) architectures. These descriptions include specific test options, procedures, and error messages.

Appendix A, "Developing Your Own Tests," explains how to use the libraries provided in /opt/SUNWdiag/lib and /opt/SUNWdiag/bin to develop and create your own tests to use within the SunDiag environment.

Appendix B, "Loopback Connectors," provides information about the serial and parallel port loopback connectors required by some of the SunDiag tests.

Appendix C, "The what_rev Utility," describes what_rev, a version control utility designed to determine which files in the SunDiag directory are different from those officially released.

Typographic Conventions

The following table further describes the typefaces and symbols used in this book.

Table P-1

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories, and on-screen computer output (for example, commands, pathnames, test names, and system messages)	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. system% You have mail.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output	system% su Password:
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type rm filename.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words or terms, or words to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.

Italics also represent variables that are dependent on the system being tested. For example, D=device_name is an option to many SunDiag tests where more than one device can be tested. You must specify the particular device to test by entering the D= immediately followed by your choice of device. If an Ethernet connection you wanted to test was designated by the device named /dev/le0, you would replace D=device_name with D=/dev/le0.