The Crash Handler
- Last UpdatedSep 20, 2024
- 2 minute read
The Crash Handler can be used to help determine the cause of an unexpected program shut down.
If Plant SCADA suffers an unexpected shut down, the Crash Handler will create a compressed file containing a number of log and data files that may be useful in determining the cause. These files include:
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syslog.dat
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Citect.ini
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tracelog.dat
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kernel.dat
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params.dat
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reloadlog.dat
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debug.log
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user.dmp (see below)
In a multi-process system, these files may use extended names, for example:
syslog.IOServer.Cluster1.dat
You can configure Plant SCADA to save the Crash Handler zip file to the local Logs directory. If an unexpected shut down occurs, the path to the saved zip file will be recorded in the syslog.dat.
These features are not enabled by default; to enabled and configure the Crash Handler you need to set the CrashHandler Parameters.
Note: AVEVA may use the information included in an unexpected shutdown email to help resolve problems in future releases, but it cannot reply or follow up a problem with users directly. To discuss these, contact Technical Support.
Configure User.dmp
User.dmp is a configurable file that logs exception details. When an unexpected shut down occurs, it captures objects and their variables in memory in a process referred to as a "mini-dump". This dump file can be analyzed by Technical Support.
The information included in this process is adjustable via the parameter [Debug]MiniDumpType. It supports a "light" mini-dump (with local stack information for unmanaged code) through to a "heavy" dump (the default setting) which includes accessible memory for a process and thread information. You can also switch the mini-dump off.
To reduce the amount of disk space used by a dump file, it is compressed after it is created (along with other log files) into one of the following zip files:
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Citect32Exception_[timestamp].zip (32-bit process)
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CitectException_[timestamp].zip (64-bit process)
To help manage the amount of disk space used by this process, you can adjust the number of zip files that are stored using [Debug]MaxMiniDumps.
You can also raise a hardware alarm to warn when disk space on the drive where these files are stored falls below a specified minimum amount using [Debug]LogsDriveMinimumFreeSpace.