1.9. Obtaining Support

Support for all SIERRA Mechanics codes, including Sierra/SM, can be obtained by contacting the SIERRA Mechanics user support team by email at sierra-help@sandia.gov. Users on the Sandia Restricted Network may consult the Computational Simulation web pages (http://compsim.sandia.gov/compsim/) for “Getting Started” information and basic troubleshooting guidance of general Sierra issues.

1.9.1. Helpful Information to Include when Requesting Support

When making an inquiry to sierra-help, providing the following information will be helpful to get the most useful and timely response.

• A description of the problem, such as error message obtained or what behavior was observed versus what was expected.

• The input deck, log file, and mesh files associated with the run. If these files are under 4MB they can be sent directly via email to sierra-help. Alternatively the path to the directory with the run in question may be given. If the files related to the run are large or have access restrictions contact sierra-help to determine the best method to provide the user support team the relevant information about the run.

• Any information that may help the development team narrow down the problem. Such as which input deck command was added to an analysis that caused an error, if the problem ran in a previous version of the code, or if the same error was seen on other analyses.

• The priority of the request as it relates to your analysis. For example, is the problem a show-stopper for the analysis or is it merely an inconvenience? Is there a deadline looming that makes resolution of your issue a high priority?