Logging and tracing for HCL Digital Experience Containers and new services

The following table outlines the tracing options that can be used to capture logging and tracing for HCL Digital Experience (DX) 9.5 container based services with container update CF_181 and higher releases.


Container	Log Location	Default Logging	Default Logging Amount
DX Core	/opt/HCL/wp_profile/logs/HCL Portal and HCL Web Content Manager	`*=info`	Small
DX Remote Search	/opt/HCL/AppServer/profiles/rs_profile/logs/server1	`*=info`	Small
Open LDAP	/var/dx-openldap/log/slapd.log	`stats log connections/operations/results`	Small
Cloud Operator	stdout and stderr	`Info`	Large
Media Library Operator	stdout and stderr	`Info`	Large
Ambassador	stdout and stderr	`Info`	Small
Experience API	stdout and stderr	`*=Debug`	Extra-Large
Digital Asset Management (DAM)	stdout and stderr	`*=Debug`	Extra-Large
Content Composer	stdout and stderr	`*=Debug`	Large
Postgres	stdout and stderr Runtime: /var/lib/pgsql/11/data/log	`*=Debug`	Medium

If using the Experience API, Digital Asset Management, or Content-Composer containers (you have enabled Digital Asset Management and/or Content Composer) and are using a logging driver that logs to a file, it is necessary to configure log rotation for your Kubernetes environment. See the vendor documentation of your Kubernetes environment on how to configure this.

Note: If you do not configure log rotation it will be necessary to clean up the logs frequently to not run out of disk space.

The tables and information above outlines the server side tracing available for HCL Digital Experience 9.5 CF_181 and higher containers. Client side browser tracing for those container environments can also be enabled when debugging user interface issues, and is described below.

Enable the use of IBM WebSphere® Application Server trace facilities to create trace information for Content Composer and Digital Asset Management, integrated via the Digital Asset Management portlet in HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Container Update CF_181 and higher releases. Logging for these applications can be enabled hierarchically for as much or as little of the application as is desired.

Pre-requisite: Install and configure Content Composer and Digital Asset Management to your Digital Experience 9.5 CF_181 and higher deployment.

Documentation resource: Install Content Composer and Digital Asset Management

Trace string format

The trace strings must be of the following format, and text not in angled brackets should not be changed:

hcl.logging.<app-name>.client.<severity>.<client-hierarchy>.*=all

The text strings in angled bracket placeholders should be replaced as described below.

app-name

The application name is that configured in the React portlet (Digital Asset Management) shared settings. The allowed values are currently:

medialibrary - for Digital Asset Management
content-ui - for Content Composer

severity

This presents the React (enchanted) logger severity level. The values likely to be used are:

info
debug

client-hierarchy

This specifies the subsections of the client application for which you wish to enable tracing. It is specified in the trace string in "Java format" (i.e. dot separated) and converted by the Digital Asset Management to "enchanted logger format" (i.e. colon separated). The exact hierarchy will depend on the client application. Examples include:

app.*
app.redux.*
app.redux.actions.*

Example trace strings

Below are some examples of full trace strings for Content Composer and Digital Asset Management, and their results:

hcl.logging.content-ui.*=all - Enables debug message logging for all files in the DAM application UI source folder app/redux/actions. Specifically, the debug string client:debug:app:redux:actions:* is set for the DAM client logger.

This tracing can be enabled either permanently or for just the current HCL Digital Experience 9.5 container session.

HCL Digital Experience 9.5 uses the IBM® WebSphere Application Server trace facilities to create trace information.

If you need detailed trace output of Content Composer or Digital Asset Management to troubleshoot a problem, follow these steps below.

Permanently enable tracing

Procedure

Start WebSphere Application Server.
Open the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console.
Go to Troubleshooting > Logs and Traces > HCL Digital Experience > Diagnostic Trace.
Click Change log detail levels.
Make sure that the check box Enable Trace is selected.
Enter the trace details you would like to enable in the TraceSpecification field.
For example, to trace all events, enter the following value:
```
hcl.logging.content-ui.*=all 
hcl.logging.medialibrary.*=all
```
Save the changes.
Restart HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Container session.

Enable tracing just for the current HCL Digital Experience 9.5 session

Procedure

Click the Administration menu icon. Then, click Portal Analysis > Enable Tracing.
Enter any of the following values in the Append these trace settings field,
For example, to trace all events, enter the following value:
```
hcl.logging.content-ui.*=all 
hcl.logging.medialibrary.*=all
```

Once a trace string has been added or removed in the Tracing portlet, the Digital Experience platform page containing the Tracing portlet application will need to be refreshed in the browser.

Note that WebSphere Application Server will consolidate the trace strings list by removing those strings that are logically contained within others. Therefore, do not be concerned if, for example, you have a string x.y.z.*=all in the list, and it disappears when you add x.y.*=all.