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

The following table outlines the tracing options that are used to capture logging and tracing for HCL Digital Experience 9.5 container-based services with container update CF181 and later releases.

This table outlines the server-side tracing available for HCL Digital Experience 9.5 CF181 and later containers.

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 you're using the Experience API, Digital Asset Management, or Content Composer containers (where you have Digital Asset Management and/or Content Composer enabled) and are using a logging driver that logs to a file, you must 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 frequently clean up the logs to prevent running out of disk space.
Client-side browser tracing for these container environments can also be enabled when debugging user interface issues, and is described as follows.
Tip:
  • Transaction log (tranlog).

    With multiple instances of Digital Experience 9.5 containers writing to a shared transaction log (tranlog) directory, data corruption could happen resulting to DX server start-up issues. To avoid data corruption, beginning with CF192, the default deployment creates individual 1 GB PersistentVolumes (pvs) and associated PersistentVolumeClaims (pvcs) for each DX 9.5 instance. This behavior is configured with the following values in the properties file used for deployment.

    • dx.tranlogging: true - Set this value to false so that individual pvs for tranlogs 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 CF181 and later releases. Logging for these applications is enabled hierarchically for as much or as little of the application as needed.
Note: In order to improve runtime performance, beginning with HCL Digital Experience 9.5 Container Update CF192, 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 CF181 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 must be replaced as described here.
app-name

The application name is configured in the Digital Asset Management shared settings. The following values are currently in use:

  • medialibrary - for Digital Asset Management
  • content-ui - for Content Composer
severity
This presents the logger severity level. The values used are:
  • info
  • debug
client-hierarchy
This specifies the subsections of the client application where tracing can be enabled. It is specified in dot-separated trace strings and is converted by the Digital Asset Management to colon-separated trace strings. The exact hierarchy depends on the client application. Examples include:
  • app.*
  • app.redux.*
  • app.redux.actions.*
Example trace strings
Following 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 user interface source folder app/redux/actions. Specifically, the debug string client:debug:app:redux:actions:* is set for the DAM client logger.
This tracing is enabled either permanently or just for 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 in the succeeding sections.

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. Select the Enable Trace check box.
  6. Enter the trace details you would like to enable in the TraceSpecification field.
    For example, to trace all events, use 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 is added or removed in the Tracing portlet, the Digital Experience platform page containing the Tracing portlet application must be refreshed in the browser.

Important: WebSphere Application Server consolidates the trace strings list by removing strings that are logically contained within others. For example, if you have a string x.y.z.*=all in the list, it disappears when you add x.y.*=all