1.0 Generic Log Adapter
1.1 Last record not processed when Generic
Log Adapter runs continuously
1.2 Problems invoking the Generic Log
Adapter configuration file
1.3 Limitation when parsing WebSphere®
Application Server logs on UNIX
1.4 Limitation when parsing WebSphere
MQ Error logs on UNIX
1.5 Problems parsing log files using
runregex_showlog_example.bat/sh
1.6 Incorrect data returned by DB2®
Diagnostic Log Rules Parser
1.7 Parsing some logs generates incorrect
time zone information
1.8 Invalid Extended Data Elements generated
1.9 Generic Log Adapter scripts not
readable on z/OS
1.10 *Generic Log Adpater AIX®
errpt example script runregex_errpt_example.sh does not work on AIX
1.11 Continuous monitoring of log files
with static parsers is not supported
1.12 Generic Log Adapter logging
information and limitations
1.13 No validation done on log file type
1.14 Limitation parsing WebSphere
Application Server activity.log files
1.15 Limitation parsing log files
generated in a different locale
1.15 Editor panes empty when running
static parser adapter files
1.17 Problems unzipping with Windows®
XP unzip utility
When the Generic Log Adapter is continuously monitoring a log file it will not process the last record if there is no end pattern specified. The last record will only be processed when the Generic Log Adapter is shutting down.
To ensure that the last record is processed during monitoring, provide an end pattern for the records in the Generic Log Adapter configuration file.
1.2 Problems invoking the Generic Log Adapter configuration fileThe Generic Log Adapter configuration file is not invoked properly when it is called using the gla.bat batch file.
This can be resolved by using an absolute path for the configuration file. e.g. gla.bat c:\mypathname\static.adapter .
1.3 Limitation when parsing WebSphere Application Server logs on UNIXWhen parsing the WebSphere Application Server binary activity or service logs on UNIX® platforms using the Generic Log Adapter, the user must have equal or greater privileges than the installer of WebSphere Application Server.
To work around this limitation, the binary activity or service log should be moved to a directory with the same privileges as the user of the Generic Log Adapter before parsing the log.
1.4 Limitation when parsing WebSphere MQ Error logs on UNIXWhen parsing WebSphere MQ Error logs on UNIX platforms using the Generic Log Adapter, the user must have equal or greater privileges than the installer of WebSphere MQ.
To work around this limitation, move the MQ Error logs to a directory with the same privileges as the user of the Generic Log Adapter before parsing the logs.
1.5 Problems parsing log files using runregex_showlog_example.bat/shWhen trying to use the runregex_showlog_example.bat and the runregex_showlog_example.sh to parse a WebSphere Application Server activity log, the WebSphere Application showlog utility cannot be found.
To work around this problem, edit the file regex_showlog_example.adapter in the rule editor and update the Sensor Converter property to point to the proper directory location of WebSphere Application Server.
1.6 Incorrect data returned by DB2 Diagnostic Log Rules ParserWhen parsing DB2 Diagnostic Log files with the rules-based adapter configuration, the log file messages in the parsed output include extraneous colons.
There is currently no workaround for this problem.
1.7 Parsing some logs generates incorrect time zone informationParsing some logs generates incorrect time zone information.
Only log files with timestamps containing time zone information will produce parsed data with creationTime values having the correct time zone. If the timestamps in a log files do not contain time zone information the Generic Log Adapter will generate creationTime values with incorrect time zone information.
1.8 Invalid Extended Data Elements generatedThe Generic Log Adapter will generate an invalid extendedDataElements Common Base Event element for a log record if there is no rule that matches for either the name or type value. The extendedDataElement should not be generated if there is no name or type parsed from the log record but the Generic Log Adapter will generate one with the value field only.
To work around this problem, ensure that rules are supplied that will cause all three fields - name, value, type - of the extendedDataElement to be matched.
1.9 Generic Log Adapter scripts not readable on z/OS®Unzipping runtime.zip and rules.zip on z/OS sometimes produces unreadable script files.
To avoid this problem, ensure the procedure below is followed when unzipping runtime.zip and rules.zip on a z/OS system.
unzip -a runtime.zip*1.10 Generic Log Adpater AIX errpt example script runregex_errpt_example.sh does not work on AIX
unzip -a rules.zip
unzip -o rules.zip *.adapter
The Generic Log Adpater AIX errpt example script runregex_errpt_example.sh does not work on an AIX system.
To work around this problem, edit the AIX errpt example adapter file GenericLogAdapter\config\AIX\syslog\v4\regex_errpt_example.adapter with the Generic Log Adapter configuration editor and make the following changes:
Note: This has been fixed in V6.0.0.1.
1.11 Continuous monitoring of log files with static parsers is not supportedYou cannot monitor log files continuously with static JavaTM parser classes. Use the rules-based parser, if one exists, to continuously monitor these log files.
1.12 Generic Log Adapter logging information and limitationsWhen Generic Log Adapter executes outside an Eclipse environment, it logs messages and errors to a file called hgla.log. When executing in standalone mode, hgla.log will be created in the current working directory. When executing as part of a remote log import operation using Log and Trace Analyzer, hgla.log will be located on the remote system in the /tmp directory if running on a UNIX or LinuxTM system or in c:\Documents and Settings\userid\Local Settings\Temp if running on a Windows system. Generic Log Adapter logs events with logging levels 10, 20, 30, 50 and 60. The hgla.log file can be imported into Log and Trace Analyzer to diagnose problems encountered by Generic Log Adapter when parsing the log file.
When executing inside an Eclipse environment, for example as part of a local log import operation using Log and Trace Analyzer, Generic Log Adapter does not log messages to the hgla.log file or to any other location.
1.13 No validation done on log file typeNo validation is done by Generic Log Adapter to determine if the type of log file being parsed matches the adapter file configuration. For example, if the log file specified in the sensor configuration in the adapter file is not of the type that the extractor configuration and substitution rules in the parser configuration were designed for, unpredictable results may occur. The parsing may succeed without error but the resulting Common Base Event data will be incorrect. The parsing may fail with error messages indicating incorrect data was encountered.
To work around this problem, ensure that the log file specified in the sensor component configuration is of the correct type.
1.14 Limitation parsing WebSphere Application Server activity.log filesWhen parsing binary WebSphere Application Server activity log files on non-English machines using runregex_showlog_example.bat/sh, the log record data will not be mapped successfully to a Common Base Event. Instead, some log record data may appear in the incorrect field of the Common Base Event.
1.15 Limitation parsing log files generated in a different localeWhen parsing log files that contain timestamps in a locale different than the locale that Generic Log Adapter is executing in, using a rules-based adapter file configured to use the Time Format attribute in the substitution rule for creationTime, the timestamp and other log record data may not be parsed correctly. For example, when parsing an English IBM® HTTP Server access log file on a Japanese machine using config\IHS\access\v1.3.19.3\runregex_example.bat/sh, the creationTime values in the resulting Common Base Events will have a value of zero and the Common Base Event msg field will be blank.
To work around this problem, change the runregex_example.bat/sh file by adding the following JVM parameters to the java command:
-Duser.language=2-char-language-code -Duser.region=2-char-country-code
where the language and country codes are for the locale that the timestamps are in. For the example mentioned, the JVM parameters would be:
-Duser.language=en -Duser.region=US1.16 Editor panes empty when running static parser adapter files
When running a static parser adapter file in the Generic Log Adapter configuration editor, the Extractor Result and Formatter Result panes are empty. This is because a static parser adapter does not contain an extractor and formatter component. However, if the static parser adapter file is configured correctly, the Sensor Result pane should contain data. The output of the static parser sensor is Common Base Events representing the parsed log records. The Sensor Result pane will contain the Common Base Events in string format. If the Sensor Result pane is empty after clicking the Rerun Adapter button, click the Show Log button on the toolbar at the top of the Extractor Result pane to display the sensor output in the Sensor Result pane.
1.17 Problems unzipping with Windows XP unzip utilityWhen installing Generic Log Adapter on Windows XP, there are problems unzipping the Generic Log Adapter rules.zip file with the Windows XP native unzip utility. Some directories and files are not unzipped. As a result of this problem, some log file types cannot be parsed using Generic Log Adapter. To work around this problem, when installing on Windows XP, use another unzip utility such as WinZip or UnZip.
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