Monitoring servers

System logging facility

Content Manager OnDemand provides a logging facility to help administrators track Content Manager OnDemand activity and monitor the system. When you enable logging for system events, user events, and application group events, Content Manager OnDemand stores the messages that are generated by the various Content Manager OnDemand programs in the system log. You can use one of the Content Manager OnDemand client programs to search for and filter messages by time stamp, severity, message number, and user name.

Searching for and viewing messages

To search for and view the messages that are stored in the system logging facility, log on to Content Manager OnDemand with a Content Manager OnDemand client program and open the System Log folder. Enter search criteria in one or more of the search fields. When you choose the Search command, Content Manager OnDemand retrieves the messages from the database that match the search criteria that you specified.

System log user exit

When you configure the system to enable logging for system, user, and application group events, Content Manager OnDemand sends a copy of each message that is generated by the system to the system log user exit program. The system log user exit program on UNIX servers is named ARSLOG and resides in the Content Manager OnDemand executable directory (bin). The system log user exit program on Windows servers is named ARSLOG.BAT.

The system log user exit program that is provided by IBM® does not perform any functions. However, you can replace the program that is provided by IBM with a user-written program that does user-defined processing. For example, you could provide a user-written program to check for certain message numbers or severity, and take whatever action you deem appropriate.

You configure the system to send messages to the system log user exit by selecting User Exit Logging options from the System Parameters dialog box in the OnDemand Administrator client. See the online help for the OnDemand Administrator client for more information about the User Exit Logging options on the System Parameters dialog box.

See IBM Content Manager OnDemand for Multiplatforms: Installation and Configuration Guide for more information about the system log user exit.

Sample ARSLOG user exit script for UNIX

# $1 - OnDemand Instance Name
# $2 - Time Stamp
# $3 - Log Identifier
# $4 - Userid
# $5 - Account
# $6 - Severity
# $7 - Message Number
# $8 - Message Text
# $9 - Document File
#

echo "$@" >> ${ARS_TMP}/syslog.log

if [ -n "$9" ];then
   if [ -f "$9" ];then
      print "Copy log doc $9\n" >> ${ARS_TMP}/syslog.log
      cp $9 /tmp/syslogdocs/$(basename $9).doc 2>> ${ARS_TMP}/syslog.log
   else
      print "$9 does not exist\n" >> ${ARS_TMP}/syslog.log
   fi
fi

exit 0

Sample ARSLOG user exit batch file for Windows

REM %1 - OnDemand Instance Name
REM %2 - Time Stamp
REM %3 - Log Identifier
REM %4 - Userid
REM %5 - Account
REM %6 - Severity
REM %7 - Message Number
REM %8 - Message Text
REM %9 - Document File
REM

ECHO %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9>%ARS_TMP%\System.log

REM make sure the %ARS_TMP%\Syslog directory exists
IF EXIST %9 COPY %9 %ARS_TMP%\Syslog

EXIT

Monitoring users

System load logging facility

Content Manager OnDemand provides a logging facility to help you track loading activity. After you enable system load logging, Content Manager OnDemand stores the messages that are generated by the load programs in the system load log. You can use one of the Content Manager OnDemand client programs to search for and filter messages by criteria such as load date, application group name, application name, load ID, and input file name.

Before you start Content Manager OnDemand for the first time, make sure that you initialize the system load logging facility. See IBM Content Manager OnDemand for Multiplatforms: Installation and Configuration Guide for information about initializing the system load logging facility.

Monitoring performance

You can choose to monitor snapshots or events. Snapshots allow you to capture point-in-time information at specified intervals. Events allow you to record information over the duration of an event, such as a connection to the database.

As part of the initial setup of your system, IBM recommends that you create a measurement baseline of information for use in analyzing system performance. This is important because to determine if a resource is being overused, under used, or is at maximum capacity and performance, you need to identify what is normal. You can also use this information to set expectations of system performance for users.

Automating the collection of server data is essential to control the amount of data collected and to facilitate its analysis. You can use tools provided with the operating system, such as Performance Monitor and Network Monitor on Windows servers, to automatically capture server data during specified periods and then store the data in a database.

Finally, you should establish and implement a plan for long-term record keeping and long-term trend analysis. If you store server performance data in a database, you can use tools such as a spreadsheet to analyze the data and generate charts and create reports.