16 Logging Observer Errors and Debugging Information

The observer writes error and debugging information to the following log files:

NanoAgentStartupErrors.log – contains configuration-related errors. This file is recreated on each restart of the server. The file will be empty if no errors were encountered. It's maximum size is 5 MB.
NanoAgent.log – contains runtime error and debugging information (you can adjust this logger's settings using the Enable trace logging option in the Observer Communication policy.)
NanoAgentPreprocessTrace.log – contains information about bytecode instrumentation errors and debugging, class-loading, and preprocessing. This file is regenerated on each restart of the server. The maximum size of this log file is 10 MB. Because the JAX-RPC probe is not aspect-based, it does not write to this log.

This file was renamed for release 12.1.0.2.2. For observers of previous releases, the file was named AWTrace.log.

Note:

You can also configure observers to log observed messages. For information on this topic, refer to the online help for information about the Log Observed Messages to File field in the Observer Communication policy.

The default location of the log files is as follows:

WebLogic – the domain directory
OC4J – the j2ee\home directory inside your SOA Suite installation directory
WebSphere – the profile directory
JBoss – the JBOSS_HOME/bin directory
WCF and ASP.NET – the C:/temp/NanoAgentBaseDir directory

Note:

The default log location for WCF and ASP.NET is not a true default. It is simply the default setting of the AmberPoint:NanoLogBaseDir key. If you set this key to null, log files will not be created.

If you want the log files generated in a different directory, set the AP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR Java property or AmberPoint:NanoLogBaseDir Windows key. For Java application servers, you can set the property to either an absolute path or a path that is relative to the default log directory. For WCF and ASP.NET, you must set the key to an absolute path. The following examples illustrate how to set this property or key:

On WebLogic, if you configure your server by editing local scripts, edit the nanoEnvWeblogic script located in WL_HOME/nanoagent/bin directory. In the options section of the file, add -DAP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR="my_log_dir" to the end of the NANOAGENT_JAVA_OPTIONS. This relative path would generate the log files in the directory my_log_dir under your domain directory.

If you configure you WebLogic server using the Node Manager, open the WebLogic Administration Console, select your server, and display the Configuration / Server Start tab. Then add -DAP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR=my_log_dir to the Arguments field. This relative path would generate the log files in the directory my_log_dir under your domain directory.
On OC4J, add -DAP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR=my_log_dir to the Java startup options. This relative path would generate the log files in the directory my_log_dir under the j2ee\home directory inside your SOA Suite installation directory. For information about editing the Java startup options, see steps 4, 5, and 6 in Installing the Observer Libraries on OC4J.
On WebSphere, in the WebSphere Administrative Console, navigate to Servers > Application servers > server1 > Server Infrastructure > Java and Process Management > Process Definition > Java Virtual Machine > Custom Properties (you might have to substitute a different server name for server1). Create a custom property named AP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR and set it's value to my_log_dir. This relative path would generate the log files in the directory my_log_dir under your profile directory.
On JBoss, edit your server startup script JBOSS_HOME/bin/run. In the options section of the file, add set JAVA_OPTS=-DAP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR="my_log_dir". This relative path would generate the log files in the directory JBOSS_HOME/bin/my_log_dir.
For WCF or ASP.NET, edit the application configuration file (for example, Web.config) and set the value for the AmberPoint:NanoLogBaseDir key to C:/Inetpub/wwwroot/my_log_dir. This absolute path would generate the log files in the directory my_log_dir under your default web site directory, for example:

<configuration>
 <configSections>
  ...
 </configSections>
 <AmberPoint>
  <NanoAgentDataSection>
   <add key="AmberPoint:NanoConfig" value="c:/temp/NanoAgentLogBaseDir/nanoagentDiscovery.CONFIGURATION"/>
   <add key="AmberPoint:NanoLogBaseDir" value="c:/Inetpub/wwwroot/my_log_dir"/>
   <add key="AmberPoint:NanoCreateLogBaseDir" value="false"/>
  </NanoAgentDataSection>
 </AmberPoint>
 <system.web>
  ...
 </system.web>
</configuration>

In order for the observer to generate the log files, ensure that the user under which the observer is running has permission to write to the log directory. For Java observers, the user is the user that is running the application server. For IIS observers (WCF and ASP.NET), the user is as follows:

IIS 5.x – the observer user is ASPNET
IIS 6.x and 7.x – the observer user is NETWORK SERVICE

By default, the directory specified by the AP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR property is automatically created if it does not exist. If you do not want this directory to be automatically created, set the property AP_NANO_CREATE_LOG_BASEDIR to false. In this case, you must create the directory yourself. Set this property in the same way you set AP_NANO_LOG_BASEDIR.

Notes:

For Java application servers – If the log directory does not exist and AP_NANO_CREATE_LOG_BASEDIR is set to false, runtime errors might occur and the observer might not initialize.

For IIS – If the NanoLogBaseDir Windows key set to null, log files are not created.