Viewing, querying, and configuring server logs
Server logs can be viewed, queried, configured, and deleted through the View Logs module in ArcGIS Server Manager. For a description of the information you may encounter when troubleshooting the server through logs, see the sections below.
Logging levels
Events logged with the server can vary in their level of detail from Severe, which indicates a problem that requires immediate attention, to Verbose, which is a detailed, informative message generated through regular use of the server. You can use the Log Filter drop-down list to aggregate the display of logged events to a specific log level.
By default, the log level is set to Warning. You can change the default logging level by choosing Settings in the View Logs module. The log level determines the number and types of events that are written to the server logs.
The following are the log levels:
Log level | Description |
|---|---|
Severe | Serious problems that require immediate attention. This level only includes severe messages. |
Warning | Moderate problems that require attention. This level also includes severe messages. |
Info | Common administrative messages of the server, including messages about service creation and startup. This level also includes severe and warning messages. |
Fine | Common messages from use of the server, like names of operation requests received. This level includes severe, warning, and info messages. |
Verbose | Messages providing more detail about how the server is fulfilling an operation, such as noting that each layer in a map service was drawn successfully, how fast the layer was drawn, and how long it took the server to access the layer's source data. This level includes severe, warning, info, and fine messages. |
Debug | Highly verbose messages designed for developers and support technicians who want to obtain a better understanding of the state of the server when troubleshooting. This level should not be used in a production environment, as it may cause a significant decrease in server performance. |
Off | Logging is turned off. Events are not logged with the server. |
Logging properties
Events logged by the server include a number of properties, such as the log level, the time at which the event occurred, and the machine on which the event occurred, which can help you troubleshoot your ArcGIS Server site more effectively.
By default, only the Level, Time, Message, and Source properties display in the log message window. If you want to add or remove properties from the display, choose Columns.
Tip:You can reorder columns by dragging and dropping column headings in the event log display. You can also sort columns by clicking them.
The following properties are associated with each event logged by the server:
Property | Description |
|---|---|
Level | The level of detail of the message in relation to other messages. |
Time | The time at which the logged event occurred. |
Message | The message associated with the logged event. |
Source | The server component that logged the event. |
Machine | The GIS server machine on which the event occurred. For example, the server may log an error that it failed to update the location of the configuration store. Only those messages that apply to statistics recorded for a specific machine include a machine property. |
Code | The result code associated with the message. This can be helpful for looking up the message in the help system. |
Time Elapsed | The time it took (in milliseconds) for the event that is being logged to be completed. For example, the export web map image event has an elapsed time to indicate the amount of time it took to export the web map image. |
User Name | The name of the user who submitted the request resulting in the log message. This property is useful to help you track individual user activity when security is enabled. |
Process | The process ID that logged the event. |
Thread | The server process thread that generated the message. |
Method Name | The method call on the service that resulted in the log message. |
Log age
Events logged with the server are organized chronologically, with the most recent event displayed first. To query events logged within a specific time frame, select the desired increment from the Age filter.
Keep in mind that the query will only return logs that are within the time frame you specified your ArcGIS Server site to retain logs on disk. The default is 90 days. For example, if you configured your site to keep logs for 5 days, selecting Last Week from the Age filter will only return logs from within the last 5 days.
Tip:You can specify how long the server keeps logs on disk by clicking the Settings button on the View Logs module. For more information, see Specifying server log settings in Manager.
The following are descriptions of the time increments you can select from the Age filter:
Time increment | Description |
|---|---|
Last 15 Minutes | Displays events logged within the last 15 minutes. |
Last Hour | Displays events logged within the last hour. |
Last 6 Hours | Displays events logged within the last six hours. |
Last 24 Hours | Displays events logged within the last day. |
Last Week | Displays events logged within the last week, or within the time frame you specified the site to retain logs on disk. |
Since Startup | Displays events logged since the last time the server was restarted, or within the time frame you specified the site to retain logs on disk. |
All | Displays all events logged since ArcGIS Server was installed, or within the time frame you specified the site to retain logs on disk. |
Log source
The source of the logged event can be either a service or the server itself. Events associated with services display the name and type of the service as the source property. Events associated with the server display the name of the framework component that logged the message as the source property.
For example:
- An event related to the SampleWorldCities map service appears as SampleWorldCities.MapServer.
- After successfully creating a server cluster in your site, Admin is displayed as the component that logged the message.
To query a specific service or server framework component, choose the name of the service or component from the Source filter. For a description of the sources that appear for logged events, see the table below.
Note:The Admin, Server, Rest, and Soap sources described below are aggregated under the Server Framework level in the Source filter. To query these sources, select Server Framework from the Source drop-down filter.
Source | Description |
|---|---|
Admin | Indicates that the message has been logged by the administrative API. The administrative API is the server tier that allows you to administer your server, for example, create the site, add machines and services, configure clusters, and so on. |
Server | Indicates that the message has been logged by the portion of the server framework that is responsible for creating instances of services. |
Rest | Indicates that the message has been logged by the server's REST handler. The Rest component logs messages at all levels. |
Soap | Indicates that the message has been logged by the server's SOAP handler. The Soap component logs messages at all levels. |
<servicename>.FeatureServer | The source is a feature service. |
<servicename>.GeocodeServer | The source is a geocode service. |
<servicename>.GeoDataServer | The source is a geodata service. |
<servicename>.GeometryServer | The source is a geometry service. |
Geometry.GeometryServer | The source is the preconfigured geometry service that is installed with ArcGIS Server. |
<servicename>.GlobeServer | The source is a globe service. |
<servicename>.GPServer | The source is a geoprocessing service. |
CachingTools.GPServer | The source consists of the preconfigured caching tools installed with ArcGIS Server. |
PrintingTools.GPServer | The source is the preconfigured PrintingTools service installed with ArcGIS Server. |
PublishingTools.GPServer | The source consists of the preconfigured publishing tools installed with ArcGIS Server. |
<servicename>.ImageServer | The source is an image service. |
<servicename>.JPIPServer | The source is a JPIP service. |
<servicename>.KmlServer | The source is a KML service. |
<servicename>.MapServer | The source is a map service. |
<servicename>.MobileServer | The source is a mobile data service. |
<servicename>.NAServer | The source is a network analysis service. |
<servicename>.WCSServer | The source is a web coverage service. |
<servicename>.WFSServer | The source is a web feature service. |
<servicename>.WMServer | The source is a workflow manager service. |
<servicename>.WMSServer | The source is a web map service. |
<servicename>.WMTSServer | The source is a web map tile service. |
<servicename>.WPSServer | The source is a web processing service. |
<servicename>.SchematicsServer | The source is a schematics service. |
<servicename>.SearchServer | The source is a search service. |
SampleWorldCities.MapServer | The source is the preconfigured SampleWorldCities map service installed with ArcGIS Server. |
Search.SearchServer | The source is the preconfigured search service installed with ArcGIS Server. |
Search_indexer.GPServer | The source is the preconfigured search service's accompanying _indexer geoprocessing service. |
<searchservicename>_indexer.GPServer | The source is the search service's accompanying _indexer geoprocessing service. |
Events logged with a specific machine
Each GIS server participating in your site maintains its own set of logs that are specific to that machine. To query events logged with a specific GIS server machine, choose the desired machine from the Machine filter.
Paging through server logs
When you execute a query in the View Logs module, the log message window displays 1,000 of the most-recent messages that match your query. The time frame of these messages is reported at the bottom of the log message window.
If your query returns more than 1,000 messages, you can page to the next set of records by clicking the Older button at the bottom of the log message window. Similarly, you can page forward in time by clicking the Newer button.
When paging through records, the log message window is not automatically updated to account for new messages that may have been logged after your query was executed. To obtain the most recent results for your query, click Query on the View Logs module.
Viewing the logs in a printer-friendly format
After executing a query, you can view the logs in a printer-friendly format by clicking the Printer Friendly View link. This opens a new browser window (or tab) that displays the logs in HTML. You can use this view to print the logs, save the HTML to disk, or copy and paste the logs into a document or spreadsheet. In this manner, you can share your log messages with others in your organization and, if necessary, Esri technical support.
The printer-friendly view only displays the last query you executed, the current view of the log message window, and any logging properties you specified. However, if you sorted or reordered columns in the event log display, the HTML view returns the columns to their original state when the query was first executed. If desired, you can copy and paste the logs into a spreadsheet and use the tools in the application to sort and reorder the columns.
Deleting logs
If you want to delete the logs, click Delete Logs. This deletes all the log messages from each GIS server participating in your site. You'll be prompted to confirm your decision to delete all the logs after your click Delete Logs.
When debugging a specific scenario that is causing issues with your server, deleting the logs can help you isolate the issue. For example, if you are attempting to determine the drawing performance of a particular layer in a map service, it may be helpful to delete the log, send a request to the map, and then update the log message window to display the request event. In this manner, the log is cleared of any other events, which allows you to focus on debugging the map service.