Server debug mode

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At times, the error logs do not provide enough information to resolve a problem. You can run IBM® Security Directory Server in a special debug mode that generates more detailed information.

You must run the server command idsslapd from a command prompt to enable debug output. The syntax is as follows:

ldtrc on
idsslapd -I instance_name -h debug_mask

where the specified debug_mask value determines which categories of debug output are generated.

Note: Running the server with the debug output option has a noticeable negative effect on performance.

After you run the ldtrc on command, you can also use the -d debug_mask with any of the server commands except for idsxinst and idsxcfg.

You can also use the LDAP_DEBUG environment variable to specify the debug level. Set this environment variable with the value you would use for debug_mask.

If the LDAP_DEBUG environment variable is set and you use the -d option with a different debug mask, the debug mask that is specified with the -d option overrides the debug mask that is specified in the environment variable.

Table 1. Debug categories
Hex	Decimal	Value	Description
0x0001	1	`LDAP_DEBUG_TRACE`	Entry and exit from routines
0x0002	2	`LDAP_DEBUG_PACKETS`	Packet activity
0x0004	4	`LDAP_DEBUG_ARGS`	Data arguments from requests
0x0008	8	`LDAP_DEBUG_CONNS`	Connection activity
0x0010	16	`LDAP_DEBUG_BER`	Encoding and decoding of data
0x0020	32	`LDAP_DEBUG_FILTER`	Search filters
0x0040	64	`LDAP_DEBUG_MESSAGE`	Messaging subsystem activities and events
0x0080	128	`LDAP_DEBUG_ACL`	Access Control List activities
0x0100	256	`LDAP_DEBUG_STATS`	Operational statistics
0x0200	512	`LDAP_DEBUG_THREAD`	Threading statistics
0x0400	1024	`LDAP_DEBUG_REPL`	Replication statistics
0x0800	2048	`LDAP_DEBUG_PARSE`	Parsing activities
0x1000	4096	`LDAP_DEBUG_PERFORMANCE`	Relational back-end performance statistics
0x1000	8192	`LDAP_DEBUG_RDBM`	Relational back-end activities (RDBM)
0x4000	16384	`LDAP_DEBUG_REFERRAL`	Referral activities
0x8000	32768	`LDAP_DEBUG_ERROR`	Error conditions
0xffff	65535	`LDAP_DEBUG_ANY`	All levels of debug

For example, specifying a bit mask value of 65535 turns on full debug output and generates the most complete information.

To turn off the environment variable, use the unset LDAP_DEBUG command.

When you are finished, type the following command at a command prompt:

ldtrc off

Note: If you set the debug output option but tracing is off, no debug output is generated.

The generated debug output is displayed to standard error. You can place the output in a file in one of the following ways:

Set the LDAP_DEBUG_FILE environment variable.
On server commands (but not the idsslapd command), you can use the -b option to specify a file. If the LDAP_DEBUG_FILE environment variable is set and you use the -b option and specify a different file, the file you specify overrides the file that is specified in the environment variable.

Contact IBM Software Support for assistance with interpreting the debug output and resolving the problem.

Note: The idsldaptrace tracing utility can be used to dynamically activate or deactivate tracing of the directory server. See the IBM Security Directory Server Command Reference for information about the idsldaptrace utility.