Abstract

The Show Diagnostics Information feature in the Sixnet I/O Tool Kit can pull information from Sixnet series IPm RTUs to help troubleshoot issues. Diagnostic information can be queried from RS232 or Ethernet. The output in the Sixnet I/O Tool Kit report views pane shows the result helpful linux commands ‘ps,’ ‘ifconfig,’ ‘df -h’ and ‘uptime’ without any knowledge or access to Linux commands.  

Products

RTU Products:

ST-IPm-8460/VT-mIPm-248-D/VT-mIPm-138-D/ST-IPm-6350/ST-IPm-2350/ST-IPm-1350/VT-IPm-1410/VT-IPm-2410/VT-mIPm-245-D/VT-mIPm-241-D/VT-mIPm-135-D/VT-mIPm-131-D/VT-IPm2m-213-D/VT-IPm2m-113-D/VT-uIPm-431-H/VT-uIPm-441-H/ST-GT-1210/ET-GT-ST-3

Use Case: Querying useful Linux commands to aid in troubleshooting.

Required Software

Sixnet I/O Tool Kit 5.0.103

How to Show Diagnostic Information

1. To show Diagnostic information connect to the RTU with a serial or IP connection.
2. Open the Sixnet I/O Tool Kit and select the desired communication method in the Device > Select menu.
3. Select the RTU in the Sixnet I/O Tool Kit project file or create an new station.
4. Go to Operations > Advanced Operations > Show Diagnostic Information.
1. 
5. The resulting information will be populated in the Report Views Pane of the Sixnet I/O Tool Kit.

PS command shows all processes running in the RTU

1. One command sent to the RTU is ‘ps’ this results in a list of all the processes running in the RTU. Below is list of processes that are common and explanation of their function.

1. ./sxmbeth_client – Modbus slave functionality.
2. ./sxpeerlink – Master IP and Serial Modbus/Sixnet communication, Wait for Reply.
3. ./sxetherpeer – Master IP Modbus/Sixnet Communication, Rapid Fire.
4. ./sxtagload – Tag names reference for C programs used in the RTU.
5. ./aDispatch – Alarms in the RTU.
6. ./ioAgent – Alarms in the RTU.
7. ./ioMonitor – Alarms in the RTU.
8. ./sxredundancy – Manages controller redundancy
9. ./sxseria_ttyS# - Serial port processes; the quantity will depend on the amount serial ports on the RTU.
10. ./sxmanager –  Manages communications.
11. ./sxether_client – UDR communication over Ethernet ports.
12. ./sxspecfeat – Scales analog and float values. Manages retained I/O.
13. ./sxdatalog – Datalog functionality.
14. ./sxpeerlink – peer to peer communications.
15. ./sxsivm – Updates the system information module values.
16. ./sxnbtwdg – Heartbeat and watchdog functionality.
17. ./sxportload – Manages changes to serial ports.
18. ./sxdnp… - DNP3 driver. Requires a separate driver to be installed. Not started in most versions of firmware.
19. ./sxaga… - AGA driver. Requires a separate driver to be installed. Not started in most versions of firmware.

IFCONFIG command shows Ethernet port information.

1. The ‘ifconfig’ command is sent to show the IP interface information. The eth0 interface is Network 1 on the device, eth1 is Network 2 and lo is the loopback address.
2. What information can be derived from if command?
   1. IP address, broadcast address and subnet configuration can verified.
   2. MAC Address can be verified or used for attached switch MAC address filtering.
   3. Sent and received packets, errors, dropped, overruns and collisions can help to identify Ethernet network issues. A high percentage of collisions or dropped packets may point to invalid network configuration, faulty cables or lossy network.
      1. Note: ST-IPm-6350, ST-IPm-2350 and ST-IPm-1350 Network 2 connection from the on-board switch to CPU has a half-duplex connection, so in some cases it will have higher number of collisions than Network 1.

DF -H command shows information on the mounted file systems

File systems in firmware 7.0.xxx and above

1. Applies to ST-IPm-8460, VT-mIPm-138-D and VT-mIPm-248-D. This shows the file systems and relative path, total space and amount available.
2. Mtdblock3 mounted on /nvram is the status of the NVRAM.
   1. If datalogging to NVRAM the stats here can indicate when the RTU is running out of NVRAM. Adjust datalog configurations to fix this.
3. The 512MB of Flash is partitioned into multiple file systems. The amount available for user use is the partition mounted on ‘/’ called “ubi0_0.” When loading files or datalogging to FLASH monitor the usage.

File systems in firmware 4.9.152 and below.

5. Applies to ST-IPm-6350/ST-IPm-2350/ST-IPm-1350/VT-IPm-1410/VT-IPm-2410/VT-mIPm-245-D/VT-mIPm-241-D/VT-mIPm-135-D/VT-mIPm-131-D/VT-IPm2m-213-D/VT-IPm2m-113-D/VT-uIPm-431-H/VT-uIPm-441-H/ST-GT-1210/ET-GT-ST-3.
   1. /dev/mtdblock4 is the memory dedicated to NVRAM. This may fill up if datalogging is not configured correctly.
   2. /dev/mtdblock4 is memory used for Flash. Loading files and datalogging to flash can cause this to fill up.

Disclaimer

It is the customer's responsibility to review the advice provided herein and its applicability to the system. Red Lion makes no representation about specific knowledge of the customer's system or the specific performance of the system. Red Lion is not responsible for any damage to equipment or connected systems. The use of this document is at your own risk. Red Lion standard product warranty applies.

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