When you are working with your support vendor, whether EMC or 3^rd Party EMC support, you may be asked to provide a diagnostic data file from your unit.  With an EMC VNX or Clariion storage system, these are called SPCollect files.

An SPCollect is large compressed file that will contain diagnostic, logs, and properties of the array. If there has been any type of hardware malfunction in the array, data about the failure will be provided in the SPCollect.  An SPCollect can also list any faults or configuration errors in the unit.

Pulling an SPCollect is a crucial step when dealing with repairs and system upgrades. Having correct diagnostic data ensures that the correct part (with correct firmware) is replaced and/or upgraded in your system.

If you are trying to repair without the assistance of a qualified EMC support vendor,  you may not be able to read the SPCollect without specialized software. While the files may not look very informative to you, your support vendor will find the details they require to service or repair your array.

Spectra Technologies is a top-tier EMC 3^rd party support provider, with level 3 EMC technicians, and all the parts necessary to repair your EMC VNX or Clariion storage systems. If you are having trouble with your storage array, we will be happy to assist you — even if you are not a current customer. To learn more about our support options, please visit our support and maintenance page.

 

Obtaining SPCollects from EMC VNX / Clariion Systems:

Unisphere

1. Launch Unisphere & login.
2. Select the array from the dashboard or the Systems drop-down menu.
3. Click System on the toolbar.
4. On the right pane (under Diagnostic Files) select ‘Generate Diagnostic Files – SPA’. Confirm. “Success” will be displayed when the SPcollect starts (this takes around 15 minutes to complete)
5. Repeat step 4 for SP B.
6. On the right pane, select ‘Get Diagnostic files – SP A’.
7. When the SPCollect file has completed, a file with the following name will be listed: <ArraySerialnumber>_SPA_<date_time(GMT)_code>_data.zip
8. On the right side of the box: select the location on the local host where the SP Collects should be sent.
9. On the left side of the box select the file to be transferred.
10. Repeat Steps 6-9 on SP B for diagnostic files.

Unisphere Service Manager

1. Log in to Unisphere client.
2. Select the array, either from the dashboard or the Systems drop-down.
3. Click System on the toolbar.
4. On the right pane (under Service Tasks) select ‘Capture Diagnostic Data’. This will launch USM.
5. Select the Diagnostics tab – then select ‘Capture Diagnostics Data’.
6. The Wizard will capture and retrieve SPCollect files from both SP and Support Materials from the File storage and combine them into a zip folder.

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