Examples: using trace logs

Typically, IBM Software Support applies specialized knowledge to analyze trace logs to determine the source of problems. You can open trace logs in a text editor to learn some basic facts about your IBM Tivoli Monitoring environment. The following examples are from the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server log.

Example one

This excerpt shows the typical log for a failed connection between a monitoring agent and a monitoring server with the host name server1a:
(Thursday, August 11, 2005, 08:21:30-{94C}kdcl0cl.c,105,"KDCL0_ClientLookup") status=1c020006, "location server unavailable", ncs/KDC1_STC_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE
(Thursday, August 11, 2005, 08:21:35-{94C}kraarreg.cpp,1157,"LookupProxy") Unable to connect to broker at ip.pipe:: status=0, "success", ncs/KDC1_STC_OK
(Thursday, August 11, 2005, 08:21:35-{94C}kraarreg.cpp,1402,"FindProxyUsingLocalLookup") Unable to find running CMS on CT_CMSLIST <IP.PIPE:#server1a>

Example two

The following excerpts from the trace log for the monitoring server show the status of an agent, identified here as "Remote node." The name of the computer where the agent is running is SERVER5B:
(42C039F9.0000-6A4:kpxreqhb.cpp,649,"HeartbeatInserter") Remote node SERVER5B:RJ is ON-LINE.
. . .
(42C3079B.0000-6A4:kpxreqhb.cpp,644,"HeartbeatInserter") Remote node SERVER5B:RJ is OFF-LINE.

Key points regarding the preceding excerpt:

  • The monitoring server appends the RJ product code to the server name to form a unique name (SERVER5B:RJ) for this instance of the IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management for z/OS Agent. This unique name enables you to distinguish multiple monitoring products that might be running on SERVER5B.
  • The log shows when the agent started (ON-LINE) and later stopped (OFF-LINE) in the environment.
  • For the sake of brevity an ellipsis (...) represents the series of trace log entries that were generated while the agent was running.
  • Between the ON-LINE and OFF-LINE log entries, the agent was communicating with the monitoring server.
  • The ON-LINE and OFF-LINE log entries are always available in the trace log. All trace levels that are described in “Setting RAS trace parameters” provide these entries.
On Windows, you can use the following alternate method to view trace logs:
  1. In the Windows Start menu, choose Program Files > IBM Tivoli Monitoring >Manage Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Services. The Manage Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Services window is displayed.
  2. Right-click a component and select Advanced > View Trace Log in the pop-up menu. For example, if you want to view the trace log of the IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management agent, right-click the name of that agent in the window. You can also use the viewer to access remote logs.
Note: The viewer converts time stamps in the logs to a format that is easier to read.