Analyzing the status of BareMetal server disks using HW Watcher

If you encounter disk read/write errors, disk or RAID array failures while using with the BareMetal server, you can run server diagnostics to identify the source of the problem and generate a report for support.

Generate a reportGenerate a report

To generate a system status report using HW Watcher:

1. Connect to a Linux server over SSH by running the following command in the terminal:

   ssh root@<server_public_IP_address>
   

2. Download HW Watcher:

   wget https://storage.yandexcloud.net/baremetal-support-tools/support/hwcheck
   

3. Add the root user permissions to run the downloaded executable file:

   chmod u+x hwcheck
   

4. Run the downloaded utility:

   ./hwcheck
   

   As a result, the report files will be saved to an archive:

   ...
   Save data to archive: hwcheck_my-sample-server-_2025-05-27_20-31-04.tgz
   

5. To view status reports for individual server disks, unpack the archive by specifying its name:

   tar -xvzf <file_name_with_report_archive>
   

6. In the drive directory, see the list of disk status report files:

   ls ./drive/ -l
   

   Result:

   total 24
   -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8957 May 27 20:31 sda-smartctl
   -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8957 May 27 20:31 sdb-smartctl
   

7. Look up the contents of the report file for the disk of interest. The disk device ID is specified in the file name:

   cat ./drive/sda-smartctl
   

   Among other things, a table of the disk's SMART attribute values will be displayed:

   ...
   SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
   Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
   ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAGS    VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE
     5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   PO--CK   100   100   010    -    0
     9 Power_On_Hours          -O--CK   086   086   000    -    67715
    12 Power_Cycle_Count       -O--CK   099   099   000    -    108
   177 Wear_Leveling_Count     PO--C-   062   062   005    -    1182
   179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot   PO--C-   100   100   010    -    0
   180 Unused_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot PO--C-   100   100   010    -    17618
   181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total  -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
   182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total  -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
   183 Runtime_Bad_Block       PO--C-   100   100   010    -    0
   184 End-to-End_Error        PO--CK   100   100   097    -    0
   187 Reported_Uncorrect      -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
   190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel -O--CK   074   049   000    -    26
   195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  -O-RC-   200   200   000    -    0
   199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    -OSRCK   100   100   000    -    0
   202 Unknown_SSD_Attribute   PO--CK   100   100   010    -    0
   235 Unknown_Attribute       -O--C-   099   099   000    -    68
   241 Total_LBAs_Written      -O--CK   099   099   000    -    2179265164499
                               ||||||_ K auto-keep
                               |||||__ C event count
                               ||||___ R error rate
                               |||____ S speed/performance
                               ||_____ O updated online
                               |______ P prefailure warning
   ...
   

   You can either analyze the results yourself or contact support for assistance.

Send a report to supportSend a report to support

To send the resulting report to support:

1. Copy the report from the server to your local computer by running this command in the local computer terminal:

   scp root@<server_public_IP_address>:/root/<file_name_with_report_archive> ./
   

   This will save the report file to the current directory on your local computer.

2. Create a request to support.

   In your request, describe the issue with the server in detail and attach the saved archive with the report.

See alsoSee also

• Analysis of BareMetal server disk status
• Replacing a disk in a RAID array