Active Diagnostics

In the Active Diagnostics tab, you configure logging for runtime activities and events that are processed by the SBM Application Engine Web Server, including the end-to-end processing of workflow activities that fire orchestrations. For example, when a user fires a transition that invokes an orchestration, and the orchestration makes a Web service call back to Application Engine, the entire cross-component transaction is logged by Active Diagnostics.

You can configure Active Diagnostics logging at runtime, which means you do not need to stop and start any of the services in the Manage Services tab to change the settings. Once you start the SBM Logging Services service on the server that hosts SBM Logging Services, all activities and events that are processed by the SBM Application Engine Web Server are logged.

Note the following:

Server Configuration

In this section, you configure the connection information for the Active Diagnostics database on your local machine. The Active Diagnostics database is powered by MongoDB. For more information on MongoDB, visit http://mongodb.org. To change the default connection information for the database, edit the following:

Field Description
Host Only appears if SBM Logging Services is installed on a node in a Tomcat cluster. Select the node on which SBM Logging Services will run.
Note: Only one instance of SBM Logging Services can run in a Tomcat cluster. Select that node in this field.
Port Only appears if SBM Logging Services is installed on a node in a Tomcat cluster. Enter the port number. The default is 27017.
Global admin user

This is the root account in the admin Active Diagnostics database that can manage other databases and create other users.

The default user name is admin with password serena.

Database admin user

This is the account in the sbm Active Diagnostics database that manages only the sbm database.

The default user name is sbmadmin with password mongodb.

Logger user

This is the account that is used by the various SBM components to connect to and log information in the sbm database.

The default user name is logger with password sbm.

Note: The Active Diagnostics database users are not SBM users; they are strictly used to connect to MongoDB and interact with the Active Diagnostics database. The default values can be changed for security purposes. If you change the default user names or passwords, you must click Apply to update the configuration files and Active Diagnostics database.

Runtime Configuration

Use this section to adjust what type of runtime data is logged and how much data is captured. The following options are available:

Field Description
Log Activity Select this option to capture high-level, global server activity that is not limited to a specific SBM functional area. This option is useful when want to capture the server's general usage model.
Collect CPU and Memory Counters Select this option to collect CPU and memory counters for the processes used by the SBM Application Engine Web Server and SBM Application Engine Web Services API application pools.
Filter by User ID Enter an SBM user's login ID to filter log messages for a specific SBM user. Requests that are not associated with a specific user are still logged.

The sliders represent distinct logging contexts that you can adjust as necessary. Logging contexts are loose functional groupings that capture various SBM activities. For each context that is listed, you apply a logging level to control how much detail is recorded. Note that the contexts and their corresponding logging levels are global—they apply to the entire SBM instance.

Use the slider to apply a logging level to each of the following functional logging contexts:

Logging Context Description
Administration Captures all administrative requests performed in SBM Application Administrator and remote administration operations performed by the SBM Application Engine Web Server.
System Captures system-level information such as system hangs, read and write locks, IIS stop and start activities, thread usage, and caching information. Also captures activities related to the SBM API.
Authentication / Licensing Captures authentication LDAP, NT Challenge Response, Internal Passwords, and SSO authentication calls. Also captures license requests and when licenses are released.
Reports and Searches Captures information related to report execution and searches.
Deploy and Promotion Captures deploy, promote, create snapshot, and get process app activities that are performed by SBM Application Engine.
Workflow Captures end-to-end workflow activities such as transition actions that call SBM Application Engine Web services or orchestrations and their execution. Also includes submitting, updating, and viewing items; adding notes or attachments to items, and script operations.
Notification Server Captures the end-to-end process for calls to the Application Engine and the Orchestration Engine that are made by the Notification Server.
Mail Client Captures complete transactions involving the Application Engine and the Mail Client.
User Interface Captures messages from SBM User Workspace and SBM Work Center browser sessions and logs activities related to page render requests.
Tip: Use the Filter by User ID option to prevent the log from capturing data from all users.
Common Services Captures messages related to SBM Common Services. Useful for diagnosing issues with backlogs and SBM Work Center related requests.
Solution Framework Captures framework messages related to Service Support Manager and Release Control. This context only appears if you install one of these solutions.
The following logging levels (in descending order of logging detail) are available for each context:
  • Fatal – Captures only system crashes and fatal events that occur.
  • Error – Captures errors and single thread execution failures.
  • Warn – Captures warning messages for problematic events that might occur.
  • Info – Provides high-level information about thread execution and server requests.
  • Debug – Captures a deeper level of information and covers more functionality.
  • Trace – Captures the most detail through verbose logging. Includes SQL statements and fine detail.
Important: System performance may be negatively impacted when you enable either the Debug or Trace logging levels.

After you have set the desired logging level for each context, you must click the Apply Runtime Configuration button for the changes to take effect.

Once the maximum log file size is reached, the log file rolls and older entries are removed in favor of newer entries. You can save existing log files by clicking the Collect Log Files button, and then saving the archive locally. If you want to view the Active Diagnostics logs prior to sending them to Support, you can use a third-party tool such as MongoVUE or MongoExplorer. For information about exporting the MongoDB into a text file, visit http://www.mongodb.org/.

To purge all of the data that has been collected to date, click the Empty Logs button. This operation clears the content from the log files, but does not reduce the file size that has been allocated. This action cannot be reversed, so make sure you have saved your logs or sent them to Support before you empty them.

To change the allocated file size, use the Restrict Log Size field. The default size is 3072 MB. This means 3 GB of disk space will be consumed by default when you enable Active Diagnostics. You can enter a smaller or larger value, depending on your needs and available disk space. If you clear the value, the file size will grow, unrestricted.

To reduce the allocated file size, enter a lower value, click Apply to save the change, and then click Apply again to shrink the database. This sequence of operations allows SBM Configurator to perform a repair database operation that ultimately reduces the file size.