What is Log Analysis?

IBM Operations Analytics – Log Analysis helps turn terabytes of big operational log data into understandable and actionable insights for quicker problem solving and better overall service.  Log Analysis accelerates problem isolation, identification, and repair by providing dashboard views into analyzed sources of log data from solutions and devices across the service management infrastructure.

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What does Log Analysis offer?

Use Log Analysis to eliminate the tedious process of zeroing in on the critical errors, identifying the root cause of infrastructure situations, and reference information for assisting with the concern. Log Analysis offers the following capabilities:

    • Rapidly search and index large volumes of unstructured data from various operational log data sources; log files, help desk data,event data, documentation, and so on.

  • Content specific visualization (graphs, charts, and so on) that are based on the type of infrastructure, application or middleware solution for faster problem and root cause determination.
  • Record logs search patterns, log and metric linkages, and expert advice to reduce the cost and skill-level required to manage your infrastructure.
  • Recommendations to known issues through expert advise for quick problem resolution.
  • Alerts about known errors and anomalies for reduction of mean time to resolution (MTTR).
  • IBM Big Insights Hadoop integration for long-term storage and compliance.
  • Role Based Access control for handling sensitive data.

 

Install and Evaluate Log Analysis

If you want to install Log Analysis for a 90 day trial evaluation, click here and select the Install Package files from the download page.

Click to see install package pre-requisites

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Edition Version 5 or Version 6 (64 bit) or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (64 bit) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 5 or 6 for System z
  • KornShell
  • Mozilla Firefox ESR Version 24 or Internet Explorer 10 or Google Chrome version 27
  • Python Version 2.4.3 or later with simple json module (RHEL v5)
  • Python Version 2.6.6 or later (RHEL v6. SLES v11)
  • Python Version 2.6.6
  • Perl Version 5.8.8 or later (Required to load sample data)
  • Both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE require the libstdc++ (64 bit) rpm

Use the Virtual Appliance to Evaluate

If you want to conduct a 90 day trial evaluation without having to install Log Analysis, click here and select the Virtual Appliance files from the download page.

The Virtual Appliance provides a virtual image of the Operations Analytics – Log Analysis product that can be installed and run with a VMWare Player. Users may use and explore the product without having to install, configure or load log data. This is a great option for a trial evaluation!

Click to see the virtual Appliance pre-requisites

  • VMware Player 5.0
  • WinRAR utility for Windows or Linux to extract the image files
  • Windows or Linux system with a minimum of 4GB RAM

Extend Log Analysis Solution

Deploy Insight Packs

To handle a specific operational log source, start by using the supported Insight Packs provided with Log Analysis, those that can be downloaded from this community and those that can be purchased. This will provide a quicker time to resolution for incorporating additional operational data sources.

Select from the latest list of prepared Insight Packs for your solution.  Requirements are listed with Insight Pack and in the README and User Guide.

Create Additional Insight Packs

For additional operational log data coverage, first inquire via the forums and email if an Insight Pack exists. As needed, you can use the tooling provided with Log Analysis to prepare specific data source Insight Packs. To get started reference Creating Insight Packs for steps and information. For the latest Insight Packs and Tooling reference the ITOA Resources.

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