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At installation, PhixFlow logging id configured using the files logback.xml and PhixFlow-logging.xml; see Configure logback.xml and phixflow-logging.xml for details.

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This page is for administrators who need to monitor events on the PhixFlow system. 

Overview

The 

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 has a series of tabs displaying information about PhixFlow activity; see System Console. Use the:

  • Task Logs tab to monitor processes that are running on PhixFlow
  • Archive Log tab to monitor the archiving of stream sets; see pages in the Tasks, Task Plans and Archiving topic for details.

In some cases you may need to investigate problems not covered by the information in the console. In this a case, refer to the server log files that record PhixFlow and Tomcat activity and network traffic. In particular, the phixflow.log files include information to help you track down problems.


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Server Log Files

PhixFlow generates detailed logs of activity on PhixFlow and Tomcat and writes them to:

Code Block
[tomcat installation base]/logs

For example:

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/usr/local/tomcat/logs

In most cases, you only need to use these files when investigating problems - for most day-to-day issues the logging information generated in the Console.

The name of the principal log file for the PhixFlow application is set in the logback.xml file (see below), but commonly this is called phixflow.log.  Generally, the only reason that the default name (phixflow.log) is not used, is when multiple instances of PhixFlow are being hosted under the same tomcat instance - in this case, check in the logback.xml file for the PhixFlow instance you are interested in, and find out the file name of the principal server log being generated for this instance of PhixFlow.

Server logging configuration - logback.xml

The level of server logging generated by PhixFlow is controlled in the logback.xml file.

The name of the principal server log file generated by this instance of PhixFlow is also set in this file, although this will commonly be left as the default value, phixflow.log. This will be set when the instance is installed - see Install PhixFlow Webapp for details.

Downloading Server-side Log Files

In addition to viewing the log files in the logs directory you can download a zip file of all or selected log files.

  1. In the bottom right, click
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     to open the Administration menu.
  2. Select Other Options → Download Log Files. PhixFlow opens a window prompting you to enter file names.
  3. Enter file names, optionally using an asterisk * as a wildcard.
  4. Click 
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     to start the download process. PhixFlow zips the specified log files into a single zipped archive. Depending on your system configuration, downloading all log files may take some time and will produce a large (several GB) zip file.
  5. When the download is finished, a blue notification box reports that the file is ready. Click the notification to download the zip file.

The server log files generated by PhixFlow and Tomcat, are:

  • phixflow.log and phixflow.log.<date>
    phixflow.log is the default name. The name and recorded data can be configured in logback.xml.
  • manager.<date>.log
  • localhost_access_log.<date>.txt
  • localhost.<date>.log
  • host-manager.<date>.log
  • catalina.out and catalina.<date>.log

The main log files are phixflow.log and phixflow.log.<date>. This is the default name. The name and recorded data can be configured in logback.xml.

If you have multiple instances of PhixFlow hosted under the same Tomcat instance, each PhixFlow instance will have a different log file name. Check logback.xml file to find out the main log file names.

Configuring Server Log Files

During the PhixFlow webapp installation, the administrator configures the level of server logging in:

When investigating problems, you can change the logging level for PhixFlow. If you are working with the PhixFlow support team, they can provide advice on what to change.

Edit and save the logback.xml file, which is in:

Code Block
[tomcat installation base]/webapps/[instance name]/WEB-INF/classes/logback.xml

For example:

Code Block
/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/phixflow/WEB-INF/classes/logback.xml

Changing the server logging configuration

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Some options can generate huge amounts of extra logging, and these will create very large log files.

PhixFlow will automatically pick up the change,

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so you can

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Reverting to standard logging

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continue investigating, for example repeating the activity that has the problem. After repeating the problem, check your phixflow.log file to see the additional logging details. 

Tip

Remember reset logback.xml to the standard logging options once your investigation is finished

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