Log files for troubleshooting

The grid.log and processes.log files are the primary tools used in troubleshooting issues in the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio application. You should accurately configure logging prior to submitting log files to BMC Customer Support for assistance with an issue.

BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio primarily uses the grid.log file and the processes.log file to troubleshoot. The information contained in the log files depends on the logging levels configured in Grid Manager for grid.log and BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio for processes.log.

grid.log file

When troubleshooting issues, the grid.log is the most important log file in BMC Atrium Orchestrator. The grid.log file is used for troubleshooting CDP issues, adapter issues, and BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio issues. When a test scenario results in an issue being reported, it is crucial to have an excerpt of this log, starting from the point that the test scenario started, to the point that the failure occurred, in order to troubleshoot the problem.

The file is located in the \BAO_HOME/tomcat/logs directory.

BAO_HOME is the directory where the BMC Atrium Orchestrator server was installed

You can use a text editor to view the file. In the following figure you can see a sample grid.log file.

The grid.log file is created when you initially start the peer. If the file is not created after the grid has been operational for more than five minutes, either the installation was not successful or the logging parameters have been changed in Grid Manager.

The level of detail in the grid.log file depends on the logging level selected in Grid Manager. By default the logging level is set to WARN. For troubleshooting issues, the logging level should be set to DEBUG. The DEBUG setting can result in a significantly larger file, because the grid.log file records more extensive information about the grid and the components running on it. The maximum size of the grid.log file is 4.1 MB. Once a grid.log file is 4.1 MB, BMC Atrium Orchestrator renames the grid.log file to grid.log.# and creates a new grid.log file. It is possible for several sequentially numbered grid.log.# files to exist.

processes.log file

In BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio, the processes.log file contains messages generated by testing or debugging processes and is located in the STUDIO_HOME/logs directory.

STUDIO_HOME is the directory where BMC Atrium Development Studio was installed.

You create the processes.log file when you set the logging properties for an activity in the Logging tab process property panel in BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio. The information in the processes.log file is the same output displayed in the test console when you test processes in BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio.

processes.log example

This processes.log example recorded the Operator Dialog, and input and output parameters. As you read through the log, you can see that some of the log information was recorded after the activity executed. The log contains information about the Operator Dialog activity.

This example shows a processes.log with an error message generated by a missing context item.

Example of a processes.log file with an error