How To create BVMS memory dump?

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This article covers all important aspects of BVMS dump creation - error scenarios and corresponding dump creation methods.

 

Quick links:

• BVMS_OC_dump_onException.zip
• BVMS_DumpTools_V2.zip
• BVMS_OC_dump_Just-In-Time-Debuger.zip

BVMS dumps are needed to troubleshoot the following types of issues:

• Application crashes – dump is expected to provide more information about the cause of the crash and its origin.
• Memory or handle leaks – dump is expected to point to their origins
• Deadlocks, freezes and hangs – dump is expected to point to their origins

Recommended tool to create BVMS dumps.

The recommended tool is Procdump. It is a command line tool which must be started from the command shell. Bosch development team provides couple of .bat files that start Procdump with predefined parameters and cover the most common dump creation cases. The tool as well as the set of .bat files are attached to this article.

 

Batch files for dump creation

The batch file names follow a naming guideline: <Executable>_<Dump use case>

where <Executable> is one of:

• ConfigClient
• ConfigWizard
• OperatorClient
• ManagementServer
• ArchivePlayer
• ExceptionTest

and <Dump use case> is one of:

• SingleDump
• TwoDumps
• DumpOnException

E.g.

• batch file OperatorClient_SingleDump.bat immediately creates a dump of the Operator Client process,
• while OperatorClient_TwoDumps.bat creates two dumps of the Operator Client process with a delay of 1 hour between the dumps.
• OperatorClient_DumpOnException.bat creates a dump of the Operator Client process as soon as it throws an unhandled exception.

Note that also batches for executable "ExceptionTest.exe" are provided. These batches can be used for testing purposes - ExceptionTest.exe is a little test application that simply crashes when being started.

There is an additional batch file "ActivatePostmortemDebugging.bat" which registers procdump as Just-In-Time debugger.

Calling this batch will ensure that a dump is created when Windows Error Reporting is triggered by a crash.

To learn more about the advanced capabilities of the procdump tool, start batches ShowProcdumpHelp.bat and ShowProcdumpHelpSamples.bat. These batches display procdump options and some samples for how to use prodcump.

Error scenarios and corresponding dump creation methods

The procdump tool is useful for creating dumps for different problem scenarios:


Issues which can be easily reproduced

• application crashes which trigger windows error reporting
• memory or handle leaks

Issues which are hard to reproduce

• sporadic application crashes or crashes which do not trigger windows error reporting
• application sporadically becoming unresponsive (freezes/hangs)

 

Step-by-step guide

A. Dump creation for reproducible crashes that trigger Windows Error Reporting

To create a dump for a reproducible crash, follow these steps:

1. Run the affected application/service (Operator Client, Configuration Client). Note: Management Server Service is running by default.
2. Reproduce the steps that lead to the crash
3. Leave the Windows crash dialog open
4. Run the corresponding batch file for creating a single dump: *_SingleDump.bat. E.g. run OperatorClient_SingleDump.bat to create a single dump of the Operator Client process.
5. Provide support with

• the resulting .dmp file
• a description of the steps to reproduce the problem
• a ConfigCollection

Note: attached you can find a configured example for this scenario and application Operator Client - BVMS_OC_dump_onException.zip

 

B. Dump creation for reproducible memory or handle leaks

To create a dump for a memory/handle leak, follow these steps:

1.Run the affected application/service (Operator Client, Configuration Client). Note: Management Server Service is running by default.

2. Run the corresponding batch file for creating two dumps: *_TwoDumps.bat. E.g. run OperatorClient_TwoDumps.bat to create two dumps of the Operator Client process.

Note that by default, the delay between the two dumps is set to one hour (3600 seconds).

Depending on the magnitude of the memory leak, you might want to increase/decrease the delay.

To do that, edit file *_TwoDumps.bat: replace value "3600" by a value that fits your needs

E.g. a value of "7200" will create two dumps with a delay of two hours.

3. Reproduce the steps that lead to the memory leak. Wait until the second dump was created.

4. Provide support with

• the resulting two .dmp files
• a description of the steps to reproduce the memory leak
• a ConfigCollection

Note: attached you can find a configured example for this scenario and application Operator Client, as well as additional examples - BVMS_DumpTools_V2.zip

C. Dump creation for crashes/hangs/freezes that are hard to reproduce

It is impossible to create a manual dump for sporadic crashes/hangs/freezes or for those cases where a crash does not result in display of a Windows Error Reporting dialog. For these cases, procdump should be registered as just-in-time debugger.



To register procdump as just-in-time debugger, follow these steps:

1. Deactivate the restarting option for Operator Client / Configuration Client (skip this step for BVMS MS issues).
   
   • To deactivate the restarting option for Operator Client / Configuration Client: edit ..\Bosch\VMS\bin\ConfigClient.exe.config or ..\Bosch\VMS\bin\OperatorClient.exe.config.
     • Navigate to section <appSettings>
     • add a new entry <add key = "DisableExceptionHandling" value="TRUE" />.
       
       
2. Run ActivatePostmortemDebugging.bat (run it with administrator rights)
   
   
3. Run the affected application/service (Operator Client, Configuration Client). Note: Management Server Service is running by default.
4. As soon as the issue appears, check whether the dump was created.
5. Provide support with

• the resulting .dmp file
• a description of the steps to reproduce the crash
• a ConfigCollection

Note: attached you can find a configured example for this scenario and application Operator Client - BVMS_OC_dump_Just-In-Time-Debuger.zip

Note: after collecting the logs, please disable the debugger - delete the Auto and Debugger registry entries (they were created by command in point 2. Run ActivatePostmortemDebugging.bat )