Accessing log files available via console

Most of the BMC Client Management log files can be directly accessed at different locations in the console.

Some log files can be accessed directly via the modules of the respective device. All these are located under the Agent Configuration > Module Configuration node of the respective device.

To download the log files

1. Select Device Topology > Your Managed Device> Agent Configuration > Logging.
2. Go to the Agent Log File tab and click Download.

A zip file containing the log directory of the BMC Client Management agent is downloaded.

The following log files are available to access via console:

Asset discovery log

The asset discovery scanner also keeps its own log files of its activities, therefore any logs concerning an asset discovery can only be found on the respective scanner. They are located in directory Installation Directory/client (or master)/log/AssetDiscovery/scan . Here you can find a number of different log files, each concerns the execution of a specific script on a specific device, the main log file of a scan is user.log , it contains all the general information about the scan execution.

It is possible to directly access the log file of a specific scan in the Device List tab of the Asset Discovery > Scanners > Your Scanner > Module Configuration node, or the Device List tab of the Device Topology > Your Device > Agent Configuration > Module Configuration > Asset Discovery node.

Audit log

Logging of auditing operations is not included in the general logging in the mtxagent.log file, it is written in its own specific log file, the mtxagent_audit.log , which is located next to the general log file in the /log directory of every client. The tab Audit Log File of the Agent Configuration > Logging node of a device displays the contents of this log file in its right window pane for inspection.

On the master it logs everything that is executed in the console therefore it can become very large, on the client it is used to log remote control sessions and direct access.

Main BMC Client Management agent log

The tab Agent Log File of the Agent Configuration > Logging node of a device displays the contents of the general CM log file mtxagent.log in its right window pane for inspection. This file is located in the Installation Directory/master/log directory.

Operational rules log

Logging of operational rules is not included in the general logging in the mtxagent.log file, it is written in its own specific log file, the OperationalRules.log , which is located next to the general log file in the Installation Directory/master/log directory.

The Agent Log File tab of the Device Topology > Your Device > Agent Configuration > Module Configuration > Operational Rules node shows if there are any operational rules associated with the remote device and if yes displays among other information the log file for the selected device concerning the execution of all assigned rules. The tab Agent Log File displays the contents of this log file in its right window pane for inspection.

If you are looking for the log of a specific operational rule on a specific device you can find it directly under the Assigned Objects node of either the device or the rule. When opening the log via the View Log File  menu item in the Operational Rule Log File window, only the part pertaining to the currently selected device-operational rule relation is shown.

Patch manager log

Logging of patch groups is not included in the general logging in the mtxagent.log file, it is written in its own specific log file, the <PatchGroupID>.log , one per patch group, which is located in the Installation Directory/master/log/Patches directory.

It is possible to directly access the log file of a specific client assigned to the currently selected patch group under the Patch Management > Your Patch Group > Assigned Objects > Devices node.

Reboot log

This file logs all operations concerning the reboot of a device, that is, when a reboot was launched by whom or which module, what pop-up window is shown on the screen, which options were available, which options were chosen by the local user, and so on.

Log entries of device reboot operations are included in the general agent log file, the mtxagent.log file, however for easier referencing they are also written to a specific log file, the reboot.log , which is located next to the agent log file in the /log directory of every client. This specific log file is required in addition, because the a mtxagent.log file is started anew on the device every time the agent is restarted, which is, of course, the case when a reboot occurs. This this information is no longer available in the console, there you can only see the contents of the newest mtxagent.log file. The reboot is not reinitiated after a reboot, thus it keeps all reboot messages and makes them available in its tab in the console.

Whenever a reboot window is assigned to a device, a message displays in the reboot log file. If the reboot window is immediately activated the message is: The reboot window "RebootWindowName" is currently permitting reboots, the agent is attempting to display the pop-up to the user and request a reboot. If not, the message is: The reboot window "RebootWindowName" is currently prohibiting reboots, the reboot window opens again on Monday at 9pm, no reboot will occur until then. If the assigned reboot window prohibits rebooting at the time when a reboot request arrives, a log message indicates that and also provides the next allowed time-slot for a reboot. If reboot windows allow rebooting but the maximum number of reboots is already reached, a log message is also written. These messages are displayed only once in the log because the reboot check is done every minute.

The agent maintains a counter for the number of reboots that already be effected during the day, this counter is reinitialized every day. When a reboot is performed the agent adds a new entry to the log displaying the number of reboots remaining after the current one is executed. ( Reboot: Reboot is performed. 2 of the allowed 5 reboots are remaining for today. )

If the reboot is cancelled because an application is in full screen mode a new entry is also added to the log file.

The tab Reboot Log File of the Agent Configuration > Logging node of a device displays the contents of this log file in its right window pane for inspection.

Rollout log

Logging of rollouts is not included in the general logging in the mtxagent.log file, it is written in its own specific log file, the mtxsetup.log , one per rollout configuration per target device. All these log files are located under the Installation Directory/client/log/Rollout/Session/<RolloutID>/<TargetDeviceID> directory of the Rollout Server. The <TargetDeviceID> is a specifically generated ID for the rollout-target assignment and has nothing to do with the GUID or the internal database ID of the assigned device.

It is possible to directly access the log file of a specific rollout via the View Log File  menu option of the Targets of the Rollouts > Servers > Your Rollout Server > Your Rollout node.

Database SQL log

The database SQL log file contains the log records produced during the logging process in an SQL server database. These logs are included in Vision64Database.log and it is configured in the Vision64Database.ini file under the Debug section. This file is configured using the standard direct access (the Agent Configuration log) popup. For a master, the log includes additional text fields. Since this log uses the standard INI mechanism, modifications may require up to 30 seconds to take an effect. 

The tab Database SQL Log File of the Agent Configuration > Logging node of a device displays the contents of this log file.