Log message repositories

A local log server is automatically installed when you install Content Manager or the Application Tier Components. You can specify one or more repositories where the local log server sends log messages.

Sending log messages to a remote log server

In a distributed installation, you can configure the log server on each IBM® Cognos® computer to send log messages to a single remote log server, which acts as a common log server. You can then configure the common log server to send the log messages to a local file or database on the same or different computer.

If the remote log server becomes unavailable, log messages are redirected to recovery files on the local computer in the install_location/logs/recovery/remote directory. These recovery files have timestamp information in their file names, and are not readable like regular log files. When the remote log server becomes available, an automatic recovery process moves all log information to the remote log server and deletes the local log files.

Saving log messages to a file

The log server is configured by default to send log messages to the install_location/logs/cogaudit.log file. If the default log file does not exist when the IBM Cognos service starts, it is created automatically.

You can configure the log server to send log messages to a different file. If you configure a different log file, IBM Cognos attempts to automatically create this file on startup, in addition to the default log file. If the location for the configured log file is different from the install_location/logs directory, you must ensure the path to the log file exists before starting the IBM Cognos service. For example, if you configure the log server to send messages to the /usr/lpp/logfiles/cognos.log file, IBM Cognos attempts to automatically create the cognos.log file in the /usr/lpp/logfiles folder. If this folder does not exist, IBM Cognos does not create the cognos.log file and no log messages can be recorded in it. Note that these log messages are not recorded in the default log file. Although IBM Cognos automatically creates the default log file even when another log file is configured, the default log file is not used as a backup.

Saving log messages to a database

The log server can also send audit logs to a database on the same or another computer. Audit logs provide information about user and report activity.

The logging database has the same configuration and user account requirements as the content store database. After you configure IBM Cognos components to send messages to a logging database, and restart the IBM Cognos service, IBM Cognos components create the required tables and table fields. You can test the connection to the logging database before you restart the IBM Cognos service.