Log File Preferences

Intermapper writes information to log files about various events. Use the log files to review the events surrounding a particular problem, helping you to troubleshoot the problem more effectively.

To view an existing log file:

From the Logs submenu of the Windows menu, select the file you want to view.

To view and edit the preferences for log files:

  1. From the Edit menu, select Server Settings. The Server Settings window is displayed.
  2. Click Log Files. A list of log files is displayed in the right panel, showing the current Log File preferences for the selected log file.

Setting Preferences for Log Files

The Log File preferences pane shows a list of currently defined log files with properties for the selected file.

  • To see a brief explanation of the function of a log file, click the log file. The explanation is displayed in the lower panel of the Preferences pane.
  • To add a log file, click Add New Log. The Log File Preferences for the new log file are displayed.
  • To edit a log file definition, select a log file definition. The properties for the selected log file are displayed. The Log File Preferences for the selected log file are displayed.

  • To delete a log file, select a log file definition and click Delete this Log. The log file definition is removed from the list.

    NOTE:   The Audit Log, Debug Log, Event Log, and Outages Log cannot be deleted.

Log File Preferences

The example above shows typical log file preferences (names of the log files and their rotation intervals).

To add a new log file:

  1. Click Add New Log. The Log File preferences for the new log file are displayed.
  2. Set the log file preferences as described below.

To edit preferences for an existing log file:

  1. Select the log file. The Log File preferences for the selected log file appear.
  2. Set the log file preferences as described below.

Setting Log File Preferences

Log File Name - the filename prefix of the log file. This field is limited to 14 characters (see Log File Naming and File Format below.) The file is given a .TXT extension and can be edited with any text editor.

Start New Log File - the frequency and at what point in a log cycle the current log file is closed and a new one is opened. This allows you to break the log files down into convenient sizes and/or time epochs. The following options are available: 

  • Never
  • Once daily
  • Twice daily
  • Once weekly
  • Twice weekly

 Delete log files after __ days/weeks - when selected, forces Intermapper to delete old log files automatically after a certain date.

NOTE:  Each time Intermapper starts a new log file, it checks to see if any log files should be deleted. On platforms where the file creation date is available, it is used to determine whether a log file should be deleted. If the creation date is not available, the file's last modification date is used.

Also send messages to syslog server - specifies that all log file entries are sent to a syslog server. Set the values for the following: 

  • IP Address - the IP address for the syslog server.
  • Facility - select a value to match your local system conventions.
  • Severity - select a value to match your local system conventions.

Redirecting Log Entries

By default, all entries are stored in the built-in Event Log file. You can redirect streams of log entries from Intermapper's remote server, web server, or Telnet server to a particular log file (and syslog server). This can be useful, for example, for sending all web access events to one file and all outage events to a different file.

To redirect a log entry stream:

  1. Create a new log file definition for the file you want to receive the log entries.
  2. From the Edit menu, select Server Settings. The Server Settings window is displayed.
  3. From the left panel of the Server Settings window, select the server (Remote, Web, or Telnet) whose log entries you want to send to a different log file. The panel for the selected server is displayed.
  4. In the Send Log File Entries to menu, select the log file you created to receive the log entries. All log file entries for the selected server are redirected to the new log file.

Log File Naming and File Format

Log files are saved in text format in the InterMapper Settings:Intermapper Logs folder. Each file has a user-defined prefix that describes its function, and ends with a suffix of .yyyymmddhhmm.txt, where the suffix is the (four-digit) year, month, day, hour, and minute when the file was created. The prefix is limited to 14 characters.

Log File Sources

Log information comes from several sources, including the following:

  • Up and down entries for the devices being logged
  • Hits on the built-in web server
  • Connections to the Intermapper RemoteAccess and Telnet server
  • Intermapper's own internal status and error messages

The following built-in log files are always present and cannot be deleted:

  • Audit Log - when you first launch Intermapper, the Audit log file receives records of changes that people make to Intermapper's data model, which includes all of the information Intermapper stores about the monitored network.
  • Event Log - when you first launch Intermapper, the Event log file receives all entries from all sources. You can divert certain streams to other log files.
  • Outages - contains entries that describe the start and end times of outages, as well as their duration. This stream of entries cannot be redirected to any other log file.
  • Debug - displays certain debugging information, as described in The Debug Window.