Troubleshoot

How it is used

A core word in network operations, job adverts and interviews. Engineers troubleshoot a connection, a link or a slow application; the noun is 'troubleshooting'. A common approach is to work up through the OSI layers, starting with the cable.

Example sentences

1. We spent two hours troubleshooting the VPN before we found an expired certificate.

2. Can you help me troubleshoot why the printer keeps dropping off the network?

Common collocations

• troubleshoot a problem
• troubleshoot connectivity
• troubleshooting steps
• basic troubleshooting

Related terms

• pingTo send a small test message to another device and wait for a reply, in order to check whether it can be reached and how long the round trip takes.
• tracerouteA diagnostic tool that lists every router a packet passes through on its way to a destination, with the delay to each one, so you can see where traffic slows down or stops.
• outageA period during which a network, a link or a service is not working or cannot be reached by its users.
• packet captureA recording of the actual packets passing through a network interface, saved to a file so that engineers can analyse exactly what was sent and received.
• OSI modelA reference model that splits network communication into seven layers, from the physical cable (layer 1) up to the application (layer 7), so that problems and technologies can be described clearly.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• troubleshoot · Software Engineering
• troubleshoot · Robotics & Automation
• troubleshoot · Electrical & Electronics Engineering
• troubleshoot · Mechanical Engineering
• troubleshoot · Aviation
• troubleshoot · Customer Service

More terms: Troubleshooting and Monitoring

• go down
• downtime
• maintenance window
• SNMP
• network monitoring