DCM Health-Check

General
The specifications and information regarding the products in this manual are subject to change without
notice. All statements, information, and recommendations in this manual are believed to be accurate
but are presented without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Users must take full responsibility
for their application of any products.
The software license and limited warranty for the accompanying. Products are set forth in the
informationpacket that shipped with the product and is incorporated herein by this reference.
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“asis” with all faults.
Named suppliers disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, those of
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In no event shall Synamedia or its suppliers be liable for any indirect, special, consequential, or
incidentaldamages, including, without limitation, lost profits or loss or damage to data arising out of the
use or inabilityto use this manual, even if Synamedia or its Suppliers have been advised of the possibility of
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any manner withoutSynamedia written permission.

Audience

The audience for this document includes authorized and trained service personnel who are
responsible forinstalling, configuring, and using the DCM devices.

Required Knowledge

To make the best use of this guide, you should have at least a basic knowledge of the technology used with
thisproduct.

Overview

This document intends to provide to the reader guidance in the process to perform a DCM health-check.
The content is divided into 4 different sections. Section 1 purpose is to provide some guidance to ididentify the scope
that the activity will cover, which devices will be analyzed and their role in the topology. Section 2 focuses on the
tasks that we recommend performing frequently to have it updated, this includes collecting settings and license
information from DCM. Section 3 guides you through the steps to perform the different checks on the DCM and VSM.
Section 4 indicates how to collect the Alarms and logs from the devices. In case of any questions or concerns previous,
during, or after the healt check please don’t hesitate to contact Synamedia VDT TAC and provide the collected
information.
Table of contents

Section 1: General Topology 1

1.1 Devices on Topology 1
1.2 Devices to Check 1
SECTION 2: BACKUP 2
2.1 DCM Settings Backup 2
2.2 License Backup 3
SECTION 3: Devices Check 5
3.1 Command Line Check 5
3.2 VSM check 7
3.3 DCM GUI Checks 7
SECTION 4: Logs and Alarms Collection 8
4.1 Logs Collecting 8
4.2 Alarm History Collecting 9
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© 2021 Synamedia and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved

Section 1: General Topology

1.1 – Devices On Topology
It is recommended to have an updated high-level topology of the Video Network solution. That include the following information:
 Video source(s)
o Format
o Owner
o Technology
 Video Devices involved
o VSM
o DCM
o vDCM
o PNC
o IRDs
o Otros
 Device information
o Name
o Model
o IP
o SW version
 Network Devices
o Switches
o Load balancer
o Routers
o Firewalls
o Wireless (point to point, satellite)

1.2 – Devices To Check

Also, it is recommended to define a list that contains the devices to Check and the information to collect during the planned activity

VSM / DCM Health Check

Platform Name IP address Hardware Software Role License Limitation Errors Alarms EOL

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SECTION 2: BACKUP

The following section describes the different thinks that is important to backup tasks to do a health-check.

2.1. DCM Settings Backup

The first thing to collect is the backup settings file. If you are logged on to the DCM GUI using a GUI account
that belongs to the user's security group, you can export the configuration settings without the security
settingsto your local disk. To use the complete functionality of the import and export settings of the DCM,
you must be logged on using a GUI account that belongs to the administrator’s security group.
The following procedure explains how to export the configuration settings file of the DCM:
o Step 1
 Log on to the DCM GUI using a GUI account that belongs to the users or administrator’s security group.
o Step 2
 Choose Configuration > Device > Backup from the main menu and then click the Import/Export Settings tab.
o Step 3
 Refer to the Export Settings area.
o Step 4
 From the Export drop-down list, choose Device to export the device configuration settings.
o Step 5
 From the Export Settings To drop-down list, choose Local System to save the settings to your local disk.
o Step 6
 Click Export.

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2.2. License Backup

The second thing to have backed up is your DCM license. Get theDevice Host ID through the GUI:

To collect this information, need to go to Configuration>Device>Licenses

Then download the License file from the portal:

Step 1
Open the following URL https://license.synamedia-ops.com/ and log in.

Step 2
Click on Get License then Download License

Step 3
Then click on Next

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© 2021 Synamedia and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved
Introduce the Host ID and click Next

Step 5
You will be able to visualize the Licenses on this device

Step 6
Then click confirm, the license will be sent to your email

Step 7
Or you can download by clicking on the Download License file button

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Section 3: Devices Check

3.1. Command Line Check

Collect the output from the following commands, before upgrade of the DCMs, you can save it in a
worddocument, take screenshot or in personal separate notes. Please log in via SSH to the DCMs to
collect

 Top

Linux Top command is a performance monitoring program that is used to display

all the running and active real-time processes in an ordered list and updates it
regularly.

It displays CPU usage, Memory usage, Swap Memory, Cache Size, Buffer Size,
Process PID, User, Commands, and much more. It also shows high memory and cpu
utilization of running processes.

 VmStat – Virtual Memory Statistics

Linux VmStat command is used to display statistics of virtual memory, kernel threads,
disks, system processes, I/O blocks, interrupts, CPU activity, and much more.

 Netstat – Network Statistics

The netstat is a command-line tool for monitoring incoming and outgoing network
packets statistics as well as interface statistics. It is a very useful tool for every system
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administrator to monitor network performance and troubleshoot network-related
problems.

 DF
Show information about the file system on which each FILE resides,
or all file systems by default.

 Free
Free also comes pre-installed with Linux distributions, to check the memory usage. It shows you
buffers and cached memory as well. There are several formats like KB, MB and GB. You just have to
use ‘m’ and ‘g’ parameter with the command. Following the screenshot of memory check in MB’s.

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3.2 VSM check

 Verify all your services are working fine and take note of any active alarms.
 Check the Streaming state on VSM Device Pool/Pair.

3.3 DCM GUI Checks

For each of the DCMs check the following:
Check in the GUI, Configuration>Device>Version info that you have the new
version.
Verify no extra alarms Status>Summary.
Verify NTP Offset Configuration>Device>Clock.
Verify “CPU load” per card Help>Diagnostic>CPU Load.

GUI Login Check that GUI is accessible DCM Login Screen Daily

Check Active Status Main should be Active DCM and Configuration -> Device ->
Daily
and Peer Status Backup should be Inactive Backup

Check Active Alarms on Device and

Check Active Alarms Status -> Summary Daily
Ports

Device Alarm Look through Alarm History and Status -> Summary -> View
Daily
History troubleshoot alarms. Alarm History -> View

Look through Alarm History and Status -> Summary -> View
I/O Alarm History Daily
troubleshoot alarms. Alarm History -> View

Proxy Connection Configuration -> Device ->

Verify Connections are available Daily
to ECMg Proxy
Check that services on output of
Services match on
DCM match between Main DCM and Service Tab Weekly
Main and Backup
Backup DCM.

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© 2021 Synamedia and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved

Section 4 : Logs and Alarms Collection

This section contains first aid actions that can be performed in case problems are experienced during
installation.

4.1 Logs Collecting

It is highly recommended to collect the logs since that can help to determine the cause of the issue.

The export function of the DCM GUI compresses all trace log files in a single file and exports this file to the
hard disk of your PC. Please include the core files, XML files, and All files in /var/log.

Step 1
In the DCM GUI, choose Help > Traces from the main menu.
The Traces page appears.

Step 2

In the Trace Export (For offline failure analysis) area, check the Include Core Files check box to include
the core files, the XML files, and All files in /var/log.

Step 3
Click Export and save the file to your local disk.

Note: The Export button is dimmed during exporting the trace log files.

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If you have not access to GUI, you can alternatively use the sftp to collect the files in /var/log

4.2 Alarm History Collecting

The alarms history can be found in StatusSummaryDownload Alarm history

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© 2021 Synamedia and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved

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Synamedia and the Synamedia logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Synamedia and/or its
affiliates in the E.U., the U.S., andother countries.

Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner
does not imply a partnershiprelationship between Synamedia and any other company.

Publication Disclaimer

Synamedia assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear in this publication. We
reserve the right to change this publication at any time without notice. This document is not to be
construed as conferring by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right under any copyright
or patent, whether or not the use of any information in this document employs an invention claimedin
any existing or later issued patent. A printed copy of this document is considered uncontrolled. Refer to
Synamedia VDT TAC for the latest revision.

Copyright

© 2021 Synamedia and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Information in this publication is subject to change without notice. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in anyform, by photocopy, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or
incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without
the express permission of Synamedia.

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