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ConSol CM Logging and Log Files

This chapter discusses the following:

• Introduction
• Log Files
• Log File Types
• Log File Structure

Introduction

Log files are the main information source for the administrator about the activities of the system and potential problems of the system. The administrator should have a look at the log files on a regular basis. There may be problems that do not appear on the user interface, but are reported in the log file.

Log Files

The location of the log files and the logging behavior can be configured in the respective .xml files:

• log4j.xml
  (in WebLogic, where Log4J is used as logging framework)
• cm6.xml and/or cm6-cmrf.xml
  (in JBoss 7 standalone, where the built-in logging module of JBoss 7 is used)
• domain.xml, tag <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:logging:1.3">
  (in JBoss 7 in domain mode, where the built-in logging module of JBoss 7 is used)

Log File Types

The following log files are used:

• boot.log
  Messages pertaining to system start-up (e.g., the Java version is indicated). JBoss 5 only, application server specific.
• cmrf.log
  Messages pertaining to CMRF (ConSol CM Reporting Framework), i.e., messages regarding the data transfer operations from the ConSol CM database to the CMRF database (DWH). This is done using JMS (Java Messaging Service).
• cmweb.log
  Messages pertaining to the ConSol CM Web Client.
• ctx.log
  Contains messages from the Spring Framework.
• errors.log
  Contains only messages that have at least the log level ERROR.
• esb.log
  Contains messages from the Mule Framework (Mule is the internal ESB that is used for the processing of incoming e-mails).
• index.log
  Messages pertaining to the Indexer.
• mail.log
  Contains log messages from the e-mail subsystem.
• operationtimes.log
  Only used when it has been enabled. Contains timing information for requests in order to identify possible performance bottlenecks.
• server.log
  The general log file that contains all messages, by default, with at least log level INFO. It is recommended to use the DailyRollingFileAppender in order to prevent the file system from filling up.
• session.log
  Contains messages about logins (session starts) and session timeouts of ConSol CM users.
• sql.log
  Contains log entries about SQL statements coming from hibernate if it is set to DEBUG level (by default it is set to INFO).
• support_libs_errors.log
  Contains errors which are thrown by support libs but are properly handled by the ConSol CM application (this method keeps the server.log clean).
• timer-manager.log
  Contains additional log messages written in log level DEBUG when workflow timers are activated or deactivated. Information about the escalation date is logged, too.
• tx.log
  Contains Spring Framework transactions related log messages.
• workflow.log
  Information about activated/reinitialized/deactivated timers is logged with level INFO and all debug output related to the workflow engine is written to this dedicated file.

Log File Structure

In the default configuration, log file entries have the following syntax:

Date Timestamp Loglevel [Logger] Message

Example for a log file entry (successful start of ConSol CM in JBoss):

2012-11-06 14:22:12,685 INFO [e.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol] Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-0.0.0.0-8080

The components of the message:

• Date:
  November 6th, 2012
• Timestamp:
  14:22:12
• Loglevel:
  INFO
• Logger:
  e.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol
  Name of a Java class, not complete (only last 30 characters), the real name would be org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol.
• Message:
  Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-0.0.0.0-8080

Simple messages, and those reporting a successful operation, often have only one line.

When errors are reported (log level ERROR), you might find stack traces in the logs. Please contact one of our ConSol CM consultants or our ConSol CM support team for help.