OCLA enables the user to tell which instructions each Alpha EV7 CPU has executed by setting aside one seventh of the Alpha EV7 cache as acquisition memory which stores the virtual addresses of instructions executed by the Alpha EV7 CPU. The acquisition memory in the cache can later be analyzed with an SDA extension. The acquisition of instructions can be enabled or disabled while the system is running, thereby allowing the acquisition of instruction streams for a given period of time without the need to restart the system. If the OCLA is enabled and started, and your system subsequently fails due to a crash, the current acquisition memory is automatically saved to the system dump file. The instructions executed by each CPU prior to the system failure can then be analyzed with SDA. Upon restart of the system, the acquisition memory in the EV7 is still there and can be copied into system memory using the OCLA ENABLE and OCLA DUMP commands. If the STOP/CPU command is issued on a CPU for which OCLA has been enabled, OCLA is automatically disabled if the CPU is allowed to leave the active set. When a CPU is started with the START/CPU command, OCLA is not automatically enabled; rather, it must be enabled using SDA.