The step-by-step guide to collect a server snapshot and analyze it with kernel

Server snapshot (also known as kernel?snapshot) is a feature available since SAP NetWeaver ABAP Kernel 740. It is helpful for the analysis of system-wide issues

This KBA provides the step-by-step guide to collect a kernel snapshot and analyzer it via kernel snapshot analyzer

Here are the steps to collect the kernel snapshot and analyze it with kernel snapshot analyzer for system-wide issues.

I. Create a kernel snapshot if it is not created by the system automatically. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Usually, when something wrong happens, the system will generate a kernel snapshot automatically.

If the snapshot is not generated by the system automatically (e.g. the snapshot threshold is not reached), it is possible to create a kernel snapshot manually with the following steps.

SAPGUI logon is possible:?SM50 -> Administration ->Snapshot -> Create

• SAPGUI logon is not possible:?dpmon -> m: menu ->?l: work-process-admin-table (long) ->?e: create snapshot?(details:?wiki)

• The details about dpmon command could be found in Note?42074. It could be started via command "dpmon pf=</path/to/instance/profile>". Here are the paths to create a snapshot from the dpmon menu.

II. Download the collected snapshot.

There are two ways to download the collected snapshot.

Download?a copy of the work folder.

The kernel snapshot content is written into the dev_* trace files. It is OK to get a copy of the zipped work folder and then analyze the zipped work folder with kernel snapshot analyzer following the steps later.?

Here is the path of the work folder.?

• /usr/sap/<System-ID>/<Instance>/work

Download a copy of the zipped snapshot file

The system also centrally collects the snapshot information and puts it into a zipped snapshot file. It is also OK to get a copy of this zipped snapshot file for further analysis.?This zipped snapshot file could be got at the operating system level in path "/usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/sapcontrol/snapshots" or the following steps in SM50.

• Go to?SM50 -> Administration ->Snapshot -> Administration
• Select a snapshot (This could also be done by shortcut "Shift + Space")
• Click the download button to start the download.

Here are the screenshots for the above steps in SM50.?

III. Start kernel snapshot analyzer, drag and drop the download kernel snapshot into it to start the analysis.

Now start kernel snapshot analyzer, drag & drop the downloaded kernel snapshot into it, and double-click on the snapshot in the kernel snapshot analyzer window like the following screenshot, then the analysis report will be shown in your default browser.

Kernel snapshot analyzer can be downloaded from?this link?(KBA?2640476). It is a standalone jar file that supports Windows/Linux/macOS, and can be started by double-clicking or command "java -jar KernelSnapshotAnalyzer.jar" if Java (JDK 8 or higher) is installed.

More information about the supported scenarios and how the report looks like can be found in the following KBAs.

• KBA?3110588?- Kernel Snapshot Analyzer: Central KBA
• KBA?2640476?- How to analyze Server Snapshot with kernel snapshot analyzer