Log File Management

Overview

KeyServer maintains log files in a simple text format that document software usage transactions and client log on activity as well as some diagnostic information.

KeyServer's essential software usage and computer logon data is recorded in a single structured file called "Usage Log" which is located at the top level of the KeyServer Data Folder. In addition, KeyServer duplicates much of this same information (plus some diagnostics) in several legacy format log files that are stored in the "Log Files" sub-folder. Even though the reports menu includes a "Legacy Reports" menu item that will bring up old style text based reports that depend on the legacy logs, most users will find that the new reports available via the main Reports menu are far more useful and flexible.

There are several options available for organizing your log files. KeyServer's default is to swap log files every month, and to save old logs until there is no more disk space. It may be more useful to maintain separate logs for each day or week, depending on your KeyServer's usage load. You may also want to throw out old logs, by using the Delete on Auto-Swap option. The auto-swap options start a new log file at midnight after a specified number of days have passed, or alternately, after a log file has grown to a certain size.

You may also want to use this dialog to change what information is written to the log, since much of it is now repeated in the more flexible Usage Log. See the section on Log File Contents below for more information.

Disk space and Auto-Swap

KeyServer's log files grow with any client activity, and might eventually use up all disk space on the KeyServer computer. Before this happens, you must make room for a new log file either by using the Delete... button, or by telling KeyServer to automatically delete old log files (you may also manually delete old log files). You may wish to keep a compression utility on the KeyServer machine, and periodically compress old log files. However, you will not be able to delete compressed log files from within KeyConfigure.

The Auto-Swap at nnn Kbytes option keeps the size of your log files reasonable. When used with the Delete on Auto-Swap option, the KeyServer limits the amount of space used for its log files. This may be especially important when the KeyServer is running on the same computer as a file server.

You may also instruct the KeyServer to auto-swap the log file on a certain day. For example, you might want the swap to take place every Sunday night. The swap will always take place immediately after midnight on the date specified. To do this, check the Auto-Swap on button.

Whenever the log files are auto-swapped, the KeyServer performs the following steps:

• If the Delete on Auto-Swap option is set, the previous log file is deleted (assuming it is still in the KeyServer Data Folder).
• The active log file is demoted to previous log file.
• A new log file is created and becomes the new active log file.

Delete on Auto-Swap

To maintain a complete record of KeyServer log transactions, leave the Delete on Auto-Swap option un-checked. To always keep a limited amount of log data, check off this option.

Log File Contents

The Log File Contents section contains a menu of settings, each of which enables a certain amount of information to enter the log file. You should select a setting that best suits your needs and desired use of the log file. The more information saved in the log file, the faster it will fill up your disk.

The following list details the information that is placed in the log file:

• No Info Written to Log - New log files are created, but they remain empty as long as this option is selected. To avoid clutter in the KeyServer Data Folder, select Never Auto-Swap, so only one empty log file is created.
• Diagnostic Info Only - Information pertaining to license creation, license configuration, server status, etc is written to the log. These types of information are not written to the Usage Log, so this option lets you use the Usage Log for reporting purposes, while still saving diagnostic information to the log file.
• Program Specific Info Only - Information pertaining to specific programs (like launches and quits) is written in the log file when this option is selected.
• Write All Information to Log - Both network specific and program specific information is written in the log file when this option is selected. This is KeyServer's default.

Since KeyServer 6.2 keeps a Usage Log which contains license and program usage events, you may not need these events to be written to the log as well. Unless you use legacy reports, use log file data directly, or are trying to diagnose problems with program configuration, you should consider using the Diagnostic Info Only option. For a full description of the contents of the Log File, see Log File Codes.

A large KeyServer installation with both controlled and logged application launches will find that their log files can quickly grow large. Unless the majority of your programs are set to Ignored we recommend that you periodically look at your Programs window and scan for any logged applications that you might be able to set to Ignored. If you later decide you want to log usage of the program, you can still change it back to Logged or Controlled at any time.

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