Result Codes

Important:The product name for this user guide has changed from Foundation and Cloudscape to Business Service Discovery and Migration Planning.

For each operation run during the validation process, what operation is performed and the result of that operation is logged. Understanding the result codes is the key to understanding the output of the Collection Validation feature.

All operations may result in the SUCCESS code, which indicates that the operation completed successfully and collected the associated data. Any other result code shows the manner in which the operation failed, in respect to the outcome of that failure.

Result Codes

Result Code	Description	Overall Status	Cause for Concern
SUCCESS	The operation was successful.	-	No
FAIL	The operation failed, where either the collection attempt was not successful, or data was not returned. A FAIL code is always cause for concern and further action.	FAIL	Yes
EXPLORE	The operation failed, but the specific operation or the data it is intended to collect is not critical. Often, this indicates an operation that tests for the availability of some data or collection method.	-	No
FALLBACK	The operation failed, but a fallback operation to collect equivalent data will immediately follow. Used in cases where a preferred operation may not be available, and an alternative method is available.	-	Maybe (For details, see the following Fallback note)
INCOMPLETE	The operation failed, which results in a failure to collect non-critical data. Correcting the issue is recommended for the best experience with the platform, but not required.	PARTIAL	User Discretion

For these non-SUCCESS result codes, you should do the following:

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FAIL—Any operation that reports a FAIL result should be investigated and corrected. Under normal collection activity, this may prevent data collection activity for the device or critical data will be missing from the platform.

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EXPLORE—Operations that result in an EXPLORE status can be safely ignored. A failure from an EXPLORE operation will not negatively affect data collection, and is shown in the Collection Validation report for logging purposes.

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INCOMPLETE—Operations that result in INCOMPLETE may or may not be an issue, depending on what data is interesting in the context of a specific engagement. An operation related to critical data for the platform will never result in an INCOMPLETE. For instance, a failure to collect hardware platform information from a Linux/UNIX device using the SSH Collection Module is not critical for the core value of the platform, but in cases where this data is important for the goals of an engagement further action to correct the issue may be necessary.

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FALLBACK—The FALLBACK result warrants the most explanation. This is reported for an operation that failed, but another (typically less preferred) operation is available to be run immediately afterwards to attempt to collect equivalent data. This means that the operation that is logged immediately following one that reported a FALLBACK result will indicate whether further action is required. If a FALLBACK is immediately followed by a SUCCESS, then the second operation was successful and no further action is required. If a FALLBACK is immediately followed by a FAIL, then all attempts to collect particular critical data were exhausted, and the issue must be corrected. If a FALLBACK is immediately followed by an INCOMPLETE, then all attempts to collect particular non-critical data were exhausted, and further action to correct the issue is at the user's discretion. Collection of particular data may have multiple fallback operations, so a FALLBACK may be immediately followed by another FALLBACK. Such a string of operations will always terminate with a result code other that FALLBACK, which indicates the ultimate outcome of the attempt to collect that data.