IBM AIX 7.3 – Common Problem 86 – Diagnosis and Fix

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

trace or curt monitoring is consuming excessive CPU on the LPAR.

Environment & Reproduction

Happens when trace -j is left running with broad hook IDs.

Root Cause Analysis

Active trace buffers continuously flush, taxing CPU and disk.

Quick Triage

Run trcstop and check ps -elk for trace and trcfmt processes.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect /var/adm/ras/trcfile size and time of last trcon.

Solution – Primary Fix

Stop tracing with trcstop and remove the trcfile to reclaim space.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Alternative: scope future traces with trace -a -J instead of -j.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Verify with topas -P that CPU returns to its baseline.

Rollback Plan

Keep prior trace data by renaming /var/adm/ras/trcfile before deletion.

Prevention & Hardening

Use perfpmr.sh in time-limited windows rather than continuous trace.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Related: TRCBUFFER_FULL warnings and high SYS CPU in topas.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for aix-7.3.

View all aix-7.3 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

IBM Docs: trace command and AIX performance data collection.