Viewing contents of the logs

View the contents of log files to get details about an issue.

Refer to the following example that contains a LOG EVENT message with a severity level of CONFIG from an InstallationTask source class:

The general format of all the log messages in the text file format is:

(<timeOfEvent>),<severityOfEvent>,<sourceOfEvent>,<eventMessageContent>

The severity levels from the highest value to the lowest value are:

SEVERE (appears in red)
WARNING (appears in yellow)
INFO
CONFIG
FINE
FINER
FINEST

The following table describes the main log message types:

Message type	Description
LOG EVENT	Describes the following types of information: The start and end of installation tasks (installer logic and behavior) and installation panels The setting of installation properties. These properties can be set and controlled by the platform, or they can be set based on user input fields. General informative data. The structure and content within the description text varies across products.
PROGRESS EVENT	Describes how much of a task is completed. These messages correspond to progress bar updates and the localized resource keys that are used to determine the messages on the progress bar.
THROWABLE EVENT	Describes failures with stack traces.
Summary section	Provides a summary at the end of the log that contains the same type of data shown on the installation summary panel (for example, whether the installation was successful or unsuccessful, and if unsuccessful, which features failed to install).

To perform a search in the log viewer

In the log viewer, you can perform searches, filter search results, and specify match criteria to refine a search.

In the BMC Helix ITSM Maintenance tool log viewer, click Edit.
Select Find or Filter from the menu and select any of the following search type:
- Find—The log viewer displays all available log entries, but highlights (in blue) the ones that meet the selected filter and match type criteria.
- Filter—The log viewer displays only those entries that meet the selected filter and match type criteria.

To set or change the filter option, right-click the current filter in the Find dialog box, and select the new filter from the list.
The following table lists the available filter options and their associated match types.

Filter option	Available match types
AND	Use this option to create a more complex search condition by combining two or more filter criteria.
OR	Use this option to create a more complex search condition by combining two or more filter criteria.
NOT	Use this option to create a more complex search condition that inverts a single, contained criterion.
Time	= > >= < <= The Match Type panel also includes a calendar to select a date and time field to specify the exact hour, minute, and second.
Severity	SEVERE WARNING INFO CONFIG FINE FINER FINEST
Details	contains startsWith endsWith equals regex
Source	contains startsWith endsWith equals regex
Exception	contains startsWith endsWith equals regex

Note

Use the regex match type to locate log entries that contain a regular expression. For example, if you enter ^LOG* in the Find field, the log viewer searches for all log entries that start with the word LOG.

(Optional) In the Find dialog box, further refine the search by selecting the following options:

Option	Description
Match Type	Filters the search according to the criteria that you enter. The options are: contains startsWith endsWith equals regex (a search based on a regular expression) Select one of these options, and enter a string in the Find field.
Case sensitive	Matches the search case to the case of the string entered in the Find field.
Wrap Search	Continues searching from the first log viewer tab when you click Find Next after searching through the last tab. This option is available only when you select Find in the Edit menu.
Direction	Performs a forward or backward search, relative to the currently selected log entry. Other log sessions might or might not be included in the search, depending on whether Wrap Search is selected.

Click Search to begin searching for all the log entries that meet the search criteria.

Example LOG EVENT messages

The start and end of installation tasks (installer logic and behavior) and installation panels.

This type of message tells you which tasks ran and when they ran. For example, suppose an installation contains several features that you can select to install. Each task encapsulates logic about one feature, so you can see one or multiple tasks that hold all of the logic related to each feature.

The setting of installation properties.

This type of message supplies the user inputs and variables from the properties that control the infrastructure of the overall installer. A subset of the properties relate to the user inputs entered during the installation. You can use that subset to create a silent installation options file.

General informative data.

This type of message describes significant actions that occurred during the installation (for example, important executables that were invoked, significant changes that occurred, and the starting or stopping of Windows services).

Example PROGRESS EVENT message

This type of message identifies the progress of tasks. A task encapsulates a chunk of related logic. Some tasks execute logic that can run for hours. Progress messages give a relative measure of how much of a task has been done. If the no progress message is displayed for a long period of time, it might indicate that an installation has stopped responding.

Example THROWABLE EVENT message

This type of message records exception stack traces. For example, suppose an installation runs 100 SQL commands against a database and halfway through the installation, the database goes down. These messages are useful when commands fail when they are expected to succeed. In this case, the messages display runtime information about the exception scenario that occurred.

Example summary section

This type of message is displayed at the end of an installation, upgrade, or uninstallation. It gives a log-file equivalent of the final summary panel, indicating whether the overall installation succeeded, failed, or finished with warnings. It provides a quick summary of whether the installed product is in a working or broken state.