Setting Always On logging

This section contains the following topics: 

Historically, if you experienced a BMC Remedy AR System server failure, BMC would request you to enable logging and then wait for the problem to re-occur so that the data could be collected and then an analysis could be performed.

Now, the Always On Logging option helps you to reduce, and in some cases, eliminate the need to enable logging. This option allows BMC to immediately perform an analysis and in some cases, provide a root cause of the failure without having you to enable the logging and wait for the problem to reoccur. The Always On Logging option helps you identify the root cause of issues faster and also helps in improving the support for BMC Remedy AR System server.

Enabling the Always On Logging feature logs several types of information. To understand the different types of log information, see Types of logs. For BMC AR System server, the Always On Logging option is enabled by default and is initiated when BMC Remedy AR System server starts. You can manually enable or disable the option, if required.

You can also enable the Always On Logging option from an user interface. The following video walks you through the Always On Logging feature.

 _{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sklqnVk3l7k}

Configuring Always On Logging option for BMC AR System server

Follow the steps given below to configure the Always On Logging option for BMC AR System server:

1. In a browser, open the AR System Administration Console, and click System > General > Server Information.
   The AR System Administration: Server Information form appears.
2. Click the Always On Logging tab. 
   AR System Administration: Server Information form - Always On Logging tab
   (Click the image to enalrge it.) 
   

3. In the Always On Logging tab, specify the desired values for the given fields:

1. In the File Name field, enter the log file name along with the location path.

2. In the BufferSize (byte) field, enter the log size (in bytes). By default, this option is disabled. If you want to enable this option, enter a value in the BufferSize (byte) field.

3. In the Errors Triggering Log field, enter the required error code . You can enter multiple error codes separated by a semicolon. The log file will record all the information related to the specified error codes. For more information on error codes, see BMC Remedy AR System error messages.

4. In the Maximum Backups field, enter the number of backup files that you need to store.

4. Click Apply.
5. Click Ok.

Important Considerations

The Always On Logging option ensures the following:

• A minimum set of logs is always available either on-demand or at the time of an issue like a server or an operation failure.
• If you have not enabled the server-side logging and the BMC Remedy AR System server failure occurs or any other server related issues occur, the Always On Logging option provides a snapshot of the most recent activity in the server. This snapshot is saved into a file for review and analysis.
• In a server group environment, ARGetServerInfo (GSI) having the operation number 430 saves the logging information for all the servers in the group. The logging information is saved for the server, its plug in server contents, and the thread stack traces of all the processes associated with the respective server.
• If the BMC Remedy AR System server failure occurs, it automatically takes a snapshot. Alternatively, you can also manually trigger a snapshot for other events.
• The Maintenance Utility Log Zipper also collects these logs. You can dump the log file and use the Log Zipper to send a single zip file.

When you enable the Always On Logging option, the logging information is saved on the following conditions:

1. On Demand: You can choose when to save the log information as required. This is applicable to server group environments as well. 
2. On Error condition: This option checks if the error exists in the configured error list and only then save the buffer content in a log file. In a server group environment, logging information is saved on the server on which the error occurred.

Size of the Always On Logging option log file

Always On Logging option allows you to configure the log file size. The log file size is configured using the BufferSize parameter. The default size of the log file is 0 MB. 

Heap memory consumption of Java plug-in server

If you enable the Always On Logging option with the default settings, the heap memory consumption of Java plug-in server is high. To resolve this issue, perform the following steps:

1. Open the armonitor configuration file.
   (Windows) The armonitor.cfg file is located at: <ARSystemInstallDir>\ARSystem\Arserver\Conf folder.
   (UNIX) The armonitor.conf file is located at: /etc/arsystem/serverName folder.
2. Locate the Java plug-in server command and then add the following parameters:

• • -XX:+
    UseConc
    MarkSweepGC
  • -XX:+
    UsePar
    NewGC
• For example:

• "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_51\bin\java" 
  -Xmx512m 
  -classpath 
  -XX:+UseConc
  MarkSweepGC 
  -XX:+UseParNewGC
  "C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\pluginsvr;
  C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\pluginsvr\arpluginsvr91_build001.jar;
  C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\approval\bin\armaskingImpl91_build001.jar;
  C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\arserver\api\lib\arcmnapp91_build001.jar" 
  com.bmc.arsys.pluginsvr.ARPluginServerMain 
  -x <SERVER NAME> -i 
  "C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem

Related topics

To enable Always On Logging for plug-in server, see Setting plug-in server options.