AppAssure Software Information Collection Utility: AAInfo Introduction AppAssure Software understands the value of being able to quickly and easily provide our technical staff valuable system information for a health check analysis. When a call with support is initiated it is often helpful to provide various logs and results of various utility checks for review. To reduce the time and effort involved in gathering and transferring this information, AppAssure has developed an information collection utility, AAInfo. This standalone downloadable executable automates much of the process of gathering and uploading information about the environment to the support team. It also is a great way to centralize the information which can be reviewed while on a remote session with AppAssure Support after collection. When creating a new support ticket or providing additional information to an existing support ticket, AAInfo will expedite the process providing a thorough and faster review. This document describes how to obtain the latest version of AAInfo and how to use the utility. What you ll need: 1. Internet Access to download the utility and upload results. 2. 5 MB of free space for the application. 3. 10 MB or more for the collected support bundle to upload (size will vary based on data collected). 4. AppAssure Case Number - Have your case number ready. If you do not have a case, you can open the case through the Support Ticket Submission Page online or use the Support Options on our website. Downloading and Running AAInfo 1. Download the utility from http://aainfo.s3.amazonaws.com/aainfo.exe. 2. Save AAInfo.exe to a local folder. 3. After download, select Run.
4. Select Run at the following screen and also Allow access if prompted by User Access Control. 5. If a newer version of AAInfo exist, you ll be prompted to download and perform the update. Select Yes, 6. The update progress meter will appear if an update is seleted
Gathering and Sending Data 7. Enable the Log check box for the items being requested or leave the default selection if unsure of the data which might need to be reviewed.
8. Select the Start button at the lower right side of the screen. As the utility works through the lists, the status on the left side will show icons to indicate if the collection is complete, failed or in progress. Note that if it is failed, it might mean that the log or product does not exist. For example, Mail Retriever logs will not exist on a server which does not have Mail Retriever. Note: Collecting the System Info can take several minutes. A dialog is displayed to show progress of this operation. 9. When the collection is complete, the Upload logs to AppAssure will be enabled again. Select this button to push the logs to the upload site.
10. Enter the case number and select the Upload Logs button. 11. A progress meter will appear during the upload. 12. Once complete, you will see the path where the upload resides. Each bundle created has a unique file name derived from the server name, date and time the bundle was created. You can upload as many bundles as required. 13. Copy/paste the download link provided in the dialog above, (for example, http://aainfologs.s3.amazonaws.com/aa-010234/replaysupportbundle-risk-xps-2010-07-08_15-15.zip ). Send the download link in an email to support to indicate the location of the upload and that the collection is complete. 14. Close the utility using the Close button on the lower left side of the utility
Adding Additional Files AAInfo allows you to add customer files/folders to the support bundle. This is very helpful if you want to add screenshots or other information which help describe the symptoms or behavior being exhibited. 1. Select the Add Customer Files menu. 2. In the Custom Files dialog, use Add file or Add folder to add one or more items to be included the bundle. To remove an item, highlight the item in the list and select the Delete on the keyboard. 3. Click OK to add the files. Then select Start to begin the collection of the checked logs as well as the selected Custom Files.
File Options You can open the location where the AAInfo bundle was created from the File menu. You can also open the AAInfo utility error log, copy the log to the desktop or brows the compressed AAInfo Bundle.
System and AppAssure Dump files Occasionally you may be requested to collect all and if so, the below check boxes can be enabled to gather the dump. Generally, do not enabled the checkboxes unless requested. At times it will be necessary to add a specific dump file. To make gathering this information simple, do the following; 1. Run the utility with just the dump checkboxes enabled. 2. Open the bundle and remove the unwanted files 3. Disable the dump checkboxes and enable the other items requested (replay.log, etc.) 4. Add a Custom File of the previous.zip bundle you created from step 2 that has the extra dump files stripped out of it. 5. Start the collection and upload to the S3