What is Oracle Explorer? Why is it used?

What

Explorer is a support data collector for Solaris hosts: hardware, OS, storage, network, logs and firmware information.

Why

Oracle Support uses explorer bundles to quickly understand your system environment and investigate SRs faster.

How

You run explorer on the Solaris host, then upload the generated .tar.gz file to My Oracle Support under your SR.

Typical cases where explorer is requested

Hardware issues (disks, HBAs, NICs, controllers).
Performance cases where OS / storage details are needed.
Kernel panics or frequent system crashes.
Complex patching / SRU / configuration problems.

First time vs regular runs – explorer -k vs explorer

explorer -k (first time)

Runs an interactive configuration dialog.
Lets you choose which modules to run (hw, disks, Solaris, etc.).
Configures output directory and naming.
Saves a profile under /etc/opt/SUNWexplo/default/explorer (path may vary).

explorer (repeat runs)

Uses saved configuration (no questions asked).
Suitable for regular/automated collections.
Usually what you run when Oracle asks: 'Please send latest explorer'.

Step-by-step: collecting explorer logs

1. Check if explorer is installed

Explorer is usually part of Oracle Explorer Data Collector. On newer systems it may be in a support tools bundle.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# pkg list '*explorer*'
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
application/enterprise/oracle-explorer            8.8.0-0.175.3.0.0.30.0     i--

2. Check explorer version and help

Good practice before running it – also mention version in SR.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# explorer -V
Oracle Explorer (Data Collector) version 8.8.0
 
[root@solaris ~]# explorer -help

3. First-time configuration: explorer -k

The -k option creates a configuration profile (.explorerrc) with what data to collect and where to save logs.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# explorer -k
 
Oracle Explorer Configuration
-----------------------------
This dialog will ask you questions about which modules to enable,
where to store output, contact/SR info, etc.
 
... (answer prompts as per your environment) ...
 
Configuration saved in: /etc/opt/SUNWexplo/default/explorer
 
# After this, plain 'explorer' will reuse this configuration.

4. Collect explorer logs using default configuration

After configuration is done once, just run explorer to collect a fresh bundle.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# explorer
 
Oracle Explorer will now run using configuration:
  /etc/opt/SUNWexplo/default/explorer
 
Collecting system data ...
  - Hardware inventory
  - OS configuration
  - ZFS, disks, controllers
  - Logs and platform-specific info
...
 
Explorer run completed.
Output bundle: /var/opt/SUNWexplo/output/EXPLR_hostname_01192025_01.tar.gz

5. Check explorer output directory and files

Output location depends on configuration; default is often under /var/opt/SUNWexplo/output or /opt/SUNWexplo/output.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# ls -lh /var/opt/SUNWexplo/output
total 120M
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  25M Jan 19 22:10 EXPLR_hostname_01192025_01.tar.gz
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  26M Dec 10 11:30 EXPLR_hostname_12102024_01.tar.gz

6. Optionally rename file before uploading to SR

Some admins like to add SR number or short description to the filename.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# cd /var/opt/SUNWexplo/output
 
[root@solaris output]# mv EXPLR_hostname_01192025_01.tar.gz EXPLR_hostname_SR3-12345678_01192025.tar.gz

7. Optional: schedule regular explorer collection via cron

Some sites run explorer weekly/monthly and keep last N bundles for trend analysis.

terminal — explorer

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# crontab -e
 
# Example: run explorer every Sunday at 02:00
0 2 * * 0 /usr/bin/explorer > /var/log/explorer_cron.log 2>&1

What does explorer actually collect?

Typical content inside explorer bundle

Hardware inventory (CPU, memory, FRUs, serial numbers).
Disk layout, controllers, ZFS pools, slices, multipath status.
OS info: uname, patch/SRU level, packages.
Network interfaces and configuration.
Important logs: /var/adm/messages, crash info, etc.

Benefits for troubleshooting

No need for multiple screenshots/emails with partial data.
Oracle engineer can reproduce environment view locally.
Faster root cause analysis and recommendations.

Best practices when running explorer

Always run explorer as root on the Solaris host (needs full system access).

Prefer running during normal load if possible, so performance metrics reflect real workload.

Do not edit files inside the explorer bundle – upload as-is to My Oracle Support.

If hostname or environment is sensitive, follow your company's policy (sometimes masking is allowed, but ask Oracle first).

For long-running issues, keep a history of explorer bundles over time for comparison (before/after changes).

A clean explorer bundle attached to your SR is one of the fastest ways to get meaningful feedback from Oracle Support.