System and method for examining remote systems and gathering debug data in real time

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for dynamically debugging a multi-node network comprising an infrastructure including a plurality of devices, each device adapted for communicating messages between nodes which may include information for synchronizing a timing clock provided in each node. The apparatus comprises a plurality of probe links interconnecting each node with a probe device that monitors data included in each message communicated by a node. Each probe device processes data from each message to determine existence of a trigger condition at a node and, in response to detecting a trigger condition, generates a specialized message for receipt by all nodes in the network. Each node responds to the specialized message by halting operation at the node and recording data useful for debugging purposes. In this manner, debug information is collected at each node at the time of a first error detection and collected dynamically at execution time without manual intervention.