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PyPNM - Support Bundle Builder

Create Sanitized Support Bundles For PNM File And Capture Issues.

Table Of Contents

Overview

The Support Bundle Builder is an offline helper script that creates a sanitized archive (.zip) containing only the PNM files and metadata required to debug a specific PyPNM issue.

Instead of sharing your full .data/ tree, you can run this tool locally and send a compact bundle that contains:

  • Only the captures relevant to your issue (by Transaction ID, Operation ID, or MAC).
  • Sanitized MAC addresses (rewritten to aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff by default).
  • Sanitized system_description fields using the canonical demo descriptor:
{
  "HW_REV":  "1.0",
  "VENDOR":  "LANCity",
  "BOOTR":   "NONE",
  "SW_REV":  "1.0.0",
  "MODEL":   "LCPET-3"
}

The original data stays on your system. The bundle is safe to attach to a support ticket or email when requesting help.

What Gets Collected

Given a set of input selectors (Transaction ID, Operation ID, or MAC address), the tool:

  1. Uses the configured JSON databases to discover the relevant transactions:

  2. PnmFileRetrieval.transaction_db

  3. PnmFileRetrieval.capture_group_db

  4. PnmFileRetrieval.operation_db

  5. Resolves each transaction into:

  6. The capture file under .data/pnm

  7. The corresponding transaction record from the transaction DB

  8. Builds a temporary support dataset under a working directory using the same structure as .data:

.data/
  pnm/
    <capture files>
  db/
    json_transactions.json
    capture_group_db.json
    operation_db.json

  1. Sanitizes the dataset (MAC address, filename MAC fragments, and system_description) so it can be safely shared.

  2. Packs the dataset into a ZIP file using the ArchiveManager.zip_files helper. Unless you pass an absolute --output-zip path, the ZIP is created under an issues/ directory in the current working tree.

Sanitization Rules

By default, the support bundle is sanitized to remove customer-specific identity details while preserving structure and relative relationships.

MAC Address

  • All MAC addresses in:
  • Transaction JSON records (mac_address field)
  • Filenames that include MAC fragments
  • Any capture files passed through pnm-mac-updater.py
  • Are rewritten to the generic MAC address:
aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff

This preserves per-modem grouping while removing the original hardware identity.

System Descriptor

For each transaction record that includes device_details.system_description, the script overwrites the contents with the canonical demo descriptor:

{
  "HW_REV":  "1.0",
  "VENDOR":  "LANCity",
  "BOOTR":   "NONE",
  "SW_REV":  "1.0.0",
  "MODEL":   "LCPET-3"
}

This keeps the field present (so parsing and models behave normally) but removes real vendor and model information.

Opt-Out

Optional flags allow you to keep real MAC addresses and/or system descriptions when absolutely necessary for debugging. See the Examples section for usage notes.

Command-Line Usage

The support bundle script is intended to live under tools/:

tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py

Basic invocation:

./tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py [OPTIONS]

Core selectors (you must provide at least one):

  • --transaction-id TRANSACTION_ID
    Build a bundle for a single transaction.

  • --operation-id OPERATION_ID
    Build a bundle containing all transactions associated with a multi-capture operation.

  • --mac-address MAC_ADDRESS
    Build a bundle containing all transactions and captures for a cable modem MAC address.

Sanitization and behavior flags:

  • --keep-original-mac
    Keep the original MAC address in JSON and filenames, and skip binary MAC rewriting. By default, all MAC addresses are sanitized to aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff.

  • --keep-original-sysdescr
    Keep the original device_details.system_description instead of the demo descriptor.

  • --output-zip PATH
    Name or path of the output ZIP file. When PATH is relative (the default is pypnm_support_bundle.zip), the file is written under the issues/ directory (for example, issues/pypnm_support_bundle.zip). When PATH is absolute, it is used as-is.

  • --support-root PATH
    Temporary working directory used to construct the .data tree before zipping (default: .support_bundle). This directory can be safely deleted after the bundle is created.

  • --clean-output
    Remove any existing --support-root directory before building the bundle.

  • --verbose
    Enable per-file logging during bundle creation.

The script prints the final ZIP file path at the end, for example:

Support bundle created at: issues/pypnm_support_bundle.zip

Examples

1. Build Bundle From A Single Transaction ID

You have a failing analysis for a single capture and want to share that file and its metadata only.

./tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py   --transaction-id ea18519a572e2487

Results:

  • All files and JSON records related to ea18519a572e2487 are copied into a temporary .data tree.
  • MAC address and system_description are sanitized.
  • A ZIP file is created under issues/ and the full path is printed.

2. Build Bundle From An Operation ID (Multi-Capture)

You ran a multi-capture test (for example, multi-RxMER or multi-constellation) and want to share the entire capture group.

./tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py   --operation-id ed2fcba02bba42f6

The tool:

  1. Looks up the capture group for ed2fcba02bba42f6 via the operation DB.
  2. Retrieves all transaction IDs listed for that group.
  3. Collects all related capture files and transaction records.
  4. Sanitizes and archives them into a single support bundle ZIP under issues/.

3. Build Bundle From A MAC Address

You suspect a specific modem is mis-behaving and want to share all captures PyPNM has stored for that MAC address.

./tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py   --mac-address aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff

All transactions whose mac_address matches the provided value are included in the bundle, and the sanitized ZIP is written to issues/pypnm_support_bundle.zip by default.

4. Build Bundle With No Sanitization

If you are working in a lab environment and want to keep the real MAC and system_description values, you can disable sanitization:

./tools/build/support_bundle_builder.py   --transaction-id ea18519a572e2487   \
                                    --keep-original-mac                 \
                                    --keep-original-sysdescr

Use this only when you are comfortable with sharing identifying details.

Bundle Layout

Inside the ZIP file, the support bundle uses a minimal .data layout that mirrors the PyPNM runtime structure but contains only the files needed to reproduce the issue:

.data/
  pnm/
    ds_ofdm_rxmer_per_subcar_aa_bb_cc_dd_ee_ff_194_1764820674.bin
    ds_ofdm_constellation_aa_bb_cc_dd_ee_ff_194_1764820678.bin
    ...
  db/
    json_transactions.json
    capture_group_db.json
    operation_db.json

Key points:

  • Only PNM files and JSON metadata for the selected transactions are included.
  • Paths are relative to .data/ so the bundle can be dropped into another PyPNM instance for reproduction.
  • If sanitization is enabled, the contents are safe to share outside your environment.

Submitting A Bundle

When you open a support request for PyPNM, include:

  1. The generated ZIP file (for example:
    issues/pypnm_support_bundle.zip)

  2. A short description of the problem:

  3. Which endpoint or CLI command you used.
  4. What you expected to happen.

  5. The actual error message or behavior.

  6. Any relevant screenshots or logs (for example, logs/pypnm.log).

With a sanitized support bundle attached, PyPNM maintainers can reproduce and investigate issues without requiring full access to your production data.