Debug Mode: How to configure the log tracing levels (for debugging purposes) in Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows

Article:TECH46200

Created: 2009-01-02

Updated: 2012-10-25

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH46200

Article Type
Technical Solution

Product(s)

Show all

Environment

Show all

Languages

Show all

Problem

SFW (Storage Foundation for Windows) writes several logs in real-time for troubleshooting purposes. In some cases, it is necessary to increase the trace level to capture greater detail. The following steps describe how to increase the trace level for different items. Some of these items may not be required for troubleshooting in every case. It is not normally necessary to make these changes unless they are requested by a Symantec Technical Support representative to assist with troubleshooting.

Solution

Note: All registry changes can be reversed by reverting to the original registry values followed by restarting the services that are required for the version of SFW that is installed.

WARNING: Incorrect use of the Windows registry editor may prevent the operating system from functioning properly. Great care should be taken when making changes to a Windows registry. Registry modifications should only be carried-out by persons experienced in the use of the registry editor application. It is recommended that a complete backup of the registry and workstation be made prior to making any registry changes.

-------------------------------

VXEXPLORER - Veritas Log Collection Utility

After the tracing level is increased, a technical support representative may request a new set of VxExplorer log grab once the issue has been reproduced.

VxExplorer is a utility that gathers logs from the system. It can be downloaded within the following Technote Document: TECH83192

Note: It is critical that the latest version of VxExplorer be used unless otherwise noted. Outdated versions of VxExplorer will not gather all of the necessary logs.
Further information on VxExplorer can be found in TECH83192 (see the Related Documents section below).

-------------------------------

FOR SFW 5.0 AND LATER

For SFW version 4.x versions, skip to the 'FOR SFW 4.3 AND EARLIER' section

Note:

1. vxtrace commands take effect immediately without the need to reboot the system or restart SFW services.

2. Registry changes however requires a restart of one or more Veritas services.

Instructions for restarting Veritas services can be found in the following article:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH51494

VXVM Provider (SFW 5.0 and later)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager 5.x\Logs\vm_vxisis.log (For 32 Bit systems) and

C:\Program Files (x86)\VERITAS\Veritas Volume Manager 5.1\logs (For 64 Bit systems)

1. Open a command prompt and run the following:

vxtrace set isislog level=4 reg=y

(Default level for isislog is 6)

The increased trace logging takes effect immediately and no further actions are necessary. Once the 'issue' has been captured, the trace logging level can be reset to the default value by running the following command:

vxtrace set isislog level=default reg=y

In instances where it is expected that Trace Logging will need to run for a long time (or there is concern logs won't be collected for some time after the issue occurs, i.e. overnight), it may be necessary to take further actions to avoid the logs data from being overwritten. By default, the vm_vxisis.log will be renamed to vm_vxisis.log.0 once it reaches ~14mb's. At this time, a new vm_ vxisis.log will be created in written to. Once the new vm_vxisis.log file reaches ~14mb's, it will overwrite the vm_vxisis.log.0 file as SFW only maintains a single backup file. Information on changing this default behavior can be found below:

Note: In most cases, these values do not need to be increases, so unless instructed otherwise by Technical Support, these values should be left untouched.

2. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VERITAS\VRTSobc\pal33\Agents\StorageAgent\Tracing\ (For 32 Bit systems)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VERITAS\VRTSobc\pal33\Agents\__defaults\Tracing\ (For 64 Bit systems)

Set the OVERWRITEMODE value to "Off." (If this value does not exist, please ignore and go to next step)

3. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VERITAS\VRTSobc\pal33\Agents\StorageAgent\Tracing\vxisis (For 32 Bit systems)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VERITAS\VRTSobc\pal33\Agents\__defaults\Tracing\vxisis (For 64 Bit systems)

Change the MAXLOGFILESIZE value to "64." This is a hexadecimal value.
Note: A setting of 64 will produce two ISIS logs, each 50 megabytes in size.

Note: The OVERWRITEMODE and MAXLOGFILESIZE registry changes are not dynamic and require a restart of the Veritas Storage Agent service. If the server being configured is part of a Microsoft Cluster (MSCS/WFC), it will be necessary to ensure that all Volume Manager Diskgroup resources are offline on the node before restarting this service; otherwise, this will cause a cluster fault.

To restart the Storage Agent service, please run the following two commands from a command prompt:

net stop vxvm

net start vxvm

VOLD Provider (SFW 5.0 and later)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager 5.0\Logs\voldlog0.txt

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\VolumeManager

Change the value of VoldLogMax to "64." This is a hexadecimal value.

2. Open a command prompt and run the following:

vxtrace set voldlog level=4 reg=y

(Default level for voldlog is 0)

vxtrace set voldlog level=default reg=y

VVR (SFW 5.0 and later)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager 5.0\Logs\vradmind.log_A

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VRTSobc\pal33\Agents\StorageAgent\constants

Create a new DWORD value called LOG_LEVEL and set the value to "A", this is a hexadecimal value.

After the tracing is increased, a technical support representative may request a VxExplorer. VxExplorer is a utility that gathers logs from the system. It can be downloaded from the following link:

ftp://ftp.veritas.com/pub/support/vmtools

Note: It is critical that the latest version of VxExplorer be used unless otherwise noted. Outdated versions of VxExplorer will not gather all of the necessary logs.

Further information on VxExplorer can be found in TechNote 281570 (see the Related Documents section below).

VEA Provider (SFW 5.0 and later)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Object Bus\Logs\vxisis.log

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

Change the TRACELEVEL value to "4."

Note: For 64bit operating systems the registry key is

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

2. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\

Set the OVERWRITEMODE value to "Off."

3. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

Change the MAXLOGFILESIZE value to "64." This is a hexadecimal value.

Note: A setting of 64 will produce two ISIS logs, each 50 megabytes in size.

In order for these changes to take effect, it will be necessary to restart the 'Veritas Storage Agent' and the 'Veritas Enterprise Administrator Service' services. If the server being configured is part of a Microsoft Cluster (MSCS/WFC), it will be necessary to ensure that all Volume Manager Diskgroup resources are offline on the node before restarting this service, otherwise, this will cause a fault. To restart the Storage Agent service, please run the following four commands in the following order:

net stop vxvm

net stop vxob

net start vxob

net start vxvm

--------------------------------------------

FOR SFW 4.3 AND EARLIER

Note: After making the following registry changes, it is necessary to restart one or more Veritas services. Instructions for restarting Veritas services can be found in the following article:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/288483

ISIS (SFW 4.3 and earlier)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\VERITAS\Veritas Object Bus\Logs\vxisis.log

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

Change the TRACELEVEL value to "4."

Note: For 64bit operating systems the registry key is

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

2. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing

Set the OVERWRITEMODE value to "Off."

3. Browse to the following registry key:

HKLM\Software\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\Tracing\vxisis

Change the MAXLOGFILESIZE value to "64." This is a hexadecimal value.

Note: A setting of 64 will produce two ISIS logs, each 50 megabytes in size.

In order for the above registry changes to take effect, it will be necessary to restart the 'Veritas Enterprise Administrator Service' service. If the server being configured is part of a Microsoft Cluster (MSCS), it will be necessary to ensure that all Volume Manager Diskgroup resources are offline on the node before restarting this service, otherwise, this will cause a fault. To restart the Storage Agent service, please run the following four commands in the following order:

net stop vxob

net start vxob

VOLD Provider (SFW 4.3 and earlier)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\VERITAS\Veritas Volume Manager 4.3\logs\voldlog0.txt

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\VolumeManager

Change the value of VoldLogMax to "64." This is a hexadecimal value.

2. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\VolumeManager\VoldOptions

Note: This entry may already exist. If it does not, it can be added manually as a REG_SZ value. The value should then be modified by adding "-x5" to the end of the string.

For example, the current value will probably look like this:

-x "C:\Program Files\VERITAS\VERITAS Volume Manager 4.3\logs\voldlog"

It should be changed to this:

-x "C:\Program Files\VERITAS\VERITAS Volume Manager 4.3\logs\voldlog" -x5

(add [space]-x5 to the end of the path AFTER the quotation mark).

net start vxob

VVR (SFW 4.3 and earlier)

Note: The default location of this log file is C:\Program Files\VERITAS\Veritas Volume Manager 4.3\logs\vradmin.log_A

1. Browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VxSvc\CurrentVersion\constants

Create a new DWORD value called LOG_LEVEL and set the value to "A", this is a hexadecimal value.