Tracing operations using the wsadmin scripting tool

You can enable and disable tracing with scripting and the wsadmin tool.

Before you begin

Before starting this task, the wsadmin tool must be running. See the topic about starting the wsadmin tool.

About this task

Use a trace command to trace operations.

Procedure

  • Enable wsadmin client tracing.
    • Using Jacl:
      $AdminControl trace com.ibm.*=all
    • Using Jython:
      AdminControl.trace('com.ibm.*=all')
    where:
    Table 1. Syntax explanation . Run the trace command with com.ibm.*=all to enable tracing.
    Attribute Definition
    $ is a Jacl operator for substituting a variable name with its value
    AdminControl is an object that enables the manipulation of MBeans running in a WebSphere server process
    trace is an AdminControl command
    com.ibm.*=all indicates to turn on tracing
  • Disable wsadmin client tracing.
    • Using Jacl:
      $AdminControl trace com.ibm.*=info
    • Using Jython:
      AdminControl.trace('com.ibm.*=info')
    where:
    Table 2. Syntax explanation . Run the trace command with com.ibm.*=info to disable tracing.
    Attribute Definition
    $ is a Jacl operator for substituting a variable name with its value
    AdminControl is an object that enables the manipulation of MBeans running in a WebSphere server process
    trace is an AdminControl command
    com.ibm.*=info indicates to turn off tracing

Results

The trace command changes the trace settings for the current session. You can change this setting persistently by editing the wsadmin.properties file. The property com.ibm.ws.scripting.traceString is read by the launcher during initialization. If it has a value, the value is used to set the trace.

The property com.ibm.ws.scripting.traceString can also be passed in as a javaoption through the command line. Passing the property through the command line changes the trace setting for the current session.
Enable Tracing
wsadmin.sh -javaoption -Dcom.ibm.ws.scripting.traceString=com.ibm.*=all=enabled

A related property, com.ibm.ws.scripting.traceFile, designates a file to receive all trace and logging information. The wsadmin.properties file contains a value for this property. Run the wsadmin tool with a value set for this property. It is possible to run without this property set, where all logging and tracing goes to the administrative console.