Snow Commander writes detailed activity logs to text files on the application server for troubleshooting and support cases. Logs are set to INFO level by default, which limits the data recorded. For deeper insight during investigations, you can enable DEBUG level logging and redirect specific logs to separate files.

An easy way to provide the logs to Flexera Technical Support is to run the Commander diagnostics and share the zipped output by attaching them to a case you've opened.

Enabling DEBUG Logging

To enable debug logging, edit the appropriate xml file from the list below using a text editor like notepad or notepad++:
 

* Older installs may use vCommander as the folder name rather than Commander. 

The xml files contain both active loggers that by default record information and inactive loggers which need to be turned on before they will record anything. You can tell which are active because the inactive ones are enclosed inside XML comments.
 

Example 1 - SAML SSO

By default the logging for SAML SSO is enabled at INFO level:

<!--
    #############
    ## SSO 
    #############
            
<Logger level="TRACE" name="org.springframework.security"/>
<Logger level="TRACE" name="PROTOCOL_MESSAGE"/>
-->
<Logger level="INFO" name="org.springframework.security.saml.log.SAMLDefaultLogger"/>

To update the SAML SSO logging to record information at DEBUG level, you would edit the section this way:

<!--
    #############
    ## SSO 
    #############
            
<Logger level="TRACE" name="org.springframework.security"/>
<Logger level="TRACE" name="PROTOCOL_MESSAGE"/>
-->
<Logger level="DEBUG" name="org.springframework.security.saml.log.SAMLDefaultLogger"/>

Notice that the Logger level has been updated from INFO to DEBUG. 

Example 2 - Service Deployments

By default the detailed logging for service deployments is disabled. You can tell because the lines with the Logger level are enclosed an XML comment:

<!--
    #############
	## Service deployments
    #############
        
    <Logger level="DEBUG" name="servicedeployments"/>
-->

To enable the logging, edit the file so that the comments no longer enclose the lines with the Logger level defined: 

<!--
    #############
	## Service deployments
    #############
   -->
    <Logger level="DEBUG" name="servicedeployments"/>

Throughout the file, comments also provide guidance on when it's appropriate to turn up the logging level to DEBUG or TRACE:


Available Loggers

The following loggers may be enabled during the course of an investigation, but are not enabled by default. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a list of commonly used loggers. Flexera Support will typically provide customers with details about which loggers should be enabled during an investigation.
 

Redirect Logs

In the event that you need split off a logger to its own file to make the logs easier to read, follow the process below. 

1. Open the appropriate log4j2.xml file and locate the section enclosed between the <Appenders> ... </Appenders>.
2. Add the following content between the Appender tags to define the new filename to which logging will be redirected. In the example below, the logging for is being sent to a file named billing_records.log. Use a meaningful name value, as you will be creating references for each logger using this name to redirect logs to the defined filename. 

<RollingFile fileName="${sys:catalina.home}/logs/billing_records.log" filePattern="${sys:catalina.home}/logs/billing_records-%i.log" ignoreExceptions="false" name="billingrecords">
  <PatternLayout>
    <Pattern>%d [%t] [%-5p] %c{3} - %m%n</Pattern>
  </PatternLayout>
  <Policies>
    <SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy size="10 MB"/>
  </Policies>
  <DefaultRolloverStrategy fileIndex="min" max="1000"/>
</RollingFile>

3.  For each logger you want to capture in the named file, update the logger from:

<Logger  level="INFO" name=billingrecords.generation" />

<Logger additivity="false" level="DEBUG" name=billingrecords.generation">
  <Appender-Ref ref="billingrecords" />
</Logger>

See Also

• Configuring Log File Count and Size