Logging and tracing for containers and new services | HCL Digital Experience

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 later 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, you must clean up the logs frequently to prevent running out of disk space.
The tables and information above outlines the server-side tracing available for HCL Digital Experience 9.5 CF_181 and later containers. Client-side browser tracing for those container environments can also be enabled when debugging user interface issues, and is described as follows.
Notes:
  • Transaction log (tranlog).

    With multiple instances of Digital Experience 9.5 containers writing to a shared transaction log (tranlog) directory, there is a possibility of data corruption which could result to DX server start-up issues. To avoid data corruption, beginning with CF_192, the deployment by default creates individual 1 GB Persistent Volumes (pvs) and associated Persistent Volume Claims (pvcs) for each DX 9.5 instance. This behavior can be configured with the following values in the properties file used for deployment.

    • dx.tranlogging: true - Set this value to false so that individual Persistent Volumes (pvs) for transaction logs are not created at the deployment time.
    • dx.tranlogging.reclaim: Delete - Kubernetes setting for handling volumes when the deployment is removed.
    • dx.tranlogging.stgclass: gp2 - Kubernetes default storage class for the environment. This is dependent on the Kubernetes flavor. If the value is empty, the default is gp2.
    • dx.tranlogging.size: 4G - Size of the volume created. If the value set is invalid for the underlying storage environment, the default is 1G.
  • Logging configuration for the DX core
    • dx.splitlogging: true - Value examples (true, false, and empty). If the value is empty, the default is false.
    • dx.logging.reclaim: Delete - Setting for handling volumes when the deployment is removed.
    • dx.logging.stgclass: dx-deploy-stg - Storage class is dependent on the Kubernetes flavor. If the value is empty, the default is gp2.
    • dx.logging.size: 2G - Maximum logging size. If the value is empty, the default is 1G.
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 later releases. Logging for these applications can be enabled hierarchically for as much or as little of the application as is desired.
Note: In order to improve runtime performance, beginning with HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Container Update CF_192, the DX Docker core image is revised so that the /opt/HCL/wp_profile/temp directory is a now a symbolic link to /opt/HCL/PortalServer/temp. This means that the output usually written to /opt/HCL/wp_profile/temp (including servlet cache, extensionregistry storage, and osgi_instance_location data) now writes to /opt/HCL/PortalServer/temp. Accessing this new temp location is possible only from within the DX container as the /opt/HCL/wp_profile/temp directory no longer exists in the persisted profile file system.
Prerequisite: Install and configure Content Composer and Digital Asset Management to your Digital Experience 9.5 CF_181 and later deployment.
Trace string format
The trace strings must use the following format. Any 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 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 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 depends 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.
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

  1. Start WebSphere Application Server.
  2. Open the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console.
  3. Go to Troubleshooting > Logs and Traces > HCL Digital Experience > Diagnostic Trace.
  4. Click Change log detail levels.
  5. Make sure that the check box Enable Trace is selected.
  6. 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
  7. Save the changes.
  8. Restart HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Container session.

Enable tracing just for the current HCL Digital Experience 9.5 session

Procedure
  1. Click the Administration menu icon. Then, click Portal Analysis > Enable Tracing.
  2. 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 must be refreshed in the browser.

Note that WebSphere Application Server consolidates 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.