PhixFlow Webapp Log Files

Where to Look

To find the logged information about PhixFlow webapp activity on the server and network, use the log files saved in the <tomcat_installation_base>/logs directory. You can also download a zip file of all or selected log files; see Downloading Server Log Files, below.

The default names of the server log files generated by PhixFlow are:

• phixflow.log 
• phixflow.log.<date>
• security.log
• security.log<date>

If you have multiple instances of PhixFlow hosted under the same Tomcat instance, each PhixFlow instance requires a different log file name. You can find the log file names for different instances in logback.xml.

Security.log records:

• all logouts, including details of the username, session, IP address, and whether the user logged out or their session timed out.
• all login attempts,  including details of the username and IP address of the user. Additionally:
  • successful logins include the session 
  • failed attempts include the reason for the failure.

Configuration

phixflow-logging.xml

phixflow-logging.xml is configured at installation; see Configure phixflow-logging.xml. When you use the PhixFlow Administration menu option Download Log Files,  PhixFlow uses this file to find the the path to the logs directory; see Downloading Server Log Files, below. 

You only need to change this file as requested by PhixFlow Support.

logback.xml

logback.xml is configured at installation; see Configure logback.xml. The installer sets:

• the default level of event or error logging
• the name of the log files generated, if you have multiple PhixFlow instances; see Multiple PhixFlow Webapps.

The logback.xml file is in:

<tomcat_installation_base>/webapps/<instance_name>/WEB-INF/classes/logback.xml

For example:

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

Changing the Logging Level

When investigating problems, you can change the logging level set in logback.xml. If you are working with the PhixFlow support team, they can advise you about what to change. Changes to logback.xml take effect within one or two minutes, without having to restart the Tomcat server.

logback.xml contains lines with the form: <logger name="name" level="level" />

where level is one of:

• error - reports errors only
• debug - reports more details.

For example: <logger name="com.accipia.centerview.util.security" level="debug" />

Edit logback.xml to change the logging level to debug for the required logger and then rerun the activity that has the problem. Then, check the more detailed output in phixflow.log. 

Tomcat Log Files

Where to look

Tomcat generates a set of log files, including:

• manager.<date>.log
• localhost_access_log.<date>.txt
• localhost.<date>.log
• host-manager.<date>.log
• catalina.out and catalina.<date>.log

Configuration

You can configure the Tomcat access log, localhost_access_log.<date>.txt in $TOMCAT/conf/server.xml (this is the default location). By default, the access log does not include information about the PhixFlow user making a request. To add the PhixFlow user details to the access log, specify %{username}s in the log file configuration message pattern.

For more information about configuring the Tomcat access log, see Tomcat Configuration Reference → Attributes.

Downloading Server Log Files

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

1. In the bottom right, click  Administration 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. Files you may want to download are:
   • generated by PhixFlow (you may have configured different names for different instances)
     • phixflow.log 
     • phixflow.log.<date> 
     • security.log
     • security.log.<date>
   • generated by Tomcat
     • manager.<date>.log
     • localhost_access_log.<date>.txt
     • localhost.<date>.log
     • host-manager.<date>.log
     • catalina.out and catalina.<date>.log
4. Click  OK 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.

PhixFlow finds the location of the server log files using the directories specified in phixflow-logging.xml.