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Table of Contents
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How is logging handled?

The Yellowfin & Tomcat log files are extremely useful when troubleshooting issues, or just to find out how things are currently running.

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Log Name

Directory Path

Description

YellowfinInstallLog-YYYYMMDD.log

(where YYYYMMDD is the date of installation)

Directly in Yellowfin application folder

This is the installation log file. It logs information about all the chosen installation options, along with any errors encountered during installation.

YellowfinPatchLog–YYYYMMDD.log

(where YYYYMMDD is the date the update was run)

 Directly in Yellowfin application folder (if an update has been run)

This is the update installation log file. It logs update information (such as updating the database) and will capture any errors encountered. A log file is created each time you run an update.

Yellowfin.log

appserver>logs

This is the Yellowfin application log file. It logs processes/tasks that are run in Yellowfin, such as startup, running reports, exporting items, etc. It will also capture most application errors.

By default, this file will cycle once it reaches 1024KB , and will create up to nine files (eg, Yellowfin.log.1, Yellowfin.log.2, and so on, with the most recent data always stored in Yellowfin.log and the oldest in the filename with the largest number). The size and number of files can be adjusted if required.

Additional information can be logged by enabling debug logging. 

JDBC.log

appserver>logs

This is the Yellowfin configuration database log file. It logs details of the repository database startup and any connection errors.

source.XXXXX.log

(Where XXXXX is the ID of the data source)

appserver>logs

These files contain connection information specific to data sources. Each data source has its own ID, so for each data source, a respective log file exists.

Note that a log file for a deleted data source will remain until you manually remove it.

catalina.YYYY-MM-DD.log

(where YYYY-MM-DD is the date Tomcat was started)

appserver>logs

This is the Tomcat startup log file. It logs any errors encountered while starting the service.

yellowfin-stdout_YYYY-MM-DD.log

(where 'yellowfin-' is the name of the Windows service and YYYY-MM-DD is the date Yellowfin was started)

appserver>logs

Note: This file is ONLY present if you have installed Yellowfin as a Windows service.

This log file logs information that is usually visible in the console log (the black window that opens when you start Yellowfin).

yellowfin-stderr_YYYY-MM-DD.log

(where 'yellowfin-' is the name of the Windows service and YYYY-MM-DD is the date Yellowfin was started)

appserver>logs

Note: This file is ONLY present if you have installed Yellowfin as a Windows service .

This log file captures the same errors as the stdout log file, but without capturing any other processes.

commons-daemon._service.YYYY-MM-DD.log

(where YYYY-MM-DD is the date Yellowfin was started)

appserver>logs

Note: This file is ONLY present if you have installed Yellowfin as a Windows service.

This log file logs information relating to the actual Windows service start.

Catalina.out

appserver>logs

Note: This file is ONLY present if you have installed Yellowfin on a Mac (OS X)/Linux box and you're using the 'Startup (background)' option to start Yellowfin. This log file is NOT created on a Mac/Linux box if you are running Yellowfin via the ‘Startup (terminal)’ option because all info would be logged in the console (as you would see on a Windows box).

This log file logs all information relating to the Yellowfin application process; it captures all errors and processes.


Modifying log files

Log file location

You can modify what information is logged and how log files are treated — including file size, file management and pattern syntax — via the directory Yellowfin/appserver/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/.

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Tip

Before making any changes to the file, we recommend that you back up your existing file and place it in a different location.

If you wish to email these files, you may need to stop the Yellowfin service (especially on Windows) as it will either not allow you to send, or send blank files.


Appenders and loggers

Appenders and loggers work together to deliver log events to log files. An appender defines a pattern for each log line, the destination of the line (file, DB, cloud etc.) and any associated configuration. A logger tells Yellowfin what to log and level of logging. A logger also maps Java class files to the appender that the class should use to write its logs. A number of Log4j2 appenders and loggers already exist and are detailed on the log4j2 appenders page.

RepositoryErrorAppender

RepositoryErrorAppender is a custom Log4j2 appender for saving error log messages to the Events table in the Yellowfin repository database.
Error messages having lesser severity such as INFO or DEBUG are not written. However, more severe error messages, such as ERROR or FATAL, are written to the database.

By default, RespositoryErrorAppender is not used.

Use RepositoryErrorAppender — Yellowfin 8.0.8 and later

To enable the appender:

  1. Add the appender.
  2. Associate the appender with the logger category or root category.

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Code Block
languagexml
<Logger name="com.hof.cluster" level="INFO">
    <AppenderRef ref="repos" />
</Logger>

Use RepositoryErrorAppender — Yellowfin 8.0.1–8.0.7


To enable the appender:

  1. Add the appender.
  2. Associate the appender with the logger category or root category.

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Code Block
languagetext
log4j.category.com.hof.cluster=INFO, repos 

The sourcelog appender

sourcelog is a Log4j appender that logs messages about each source database in their own individual log files.
This appender creates a RollingFileAppender for each source and supports most properties that the RollingFileAppender supports.
The "file" parameter has a %s token, which is automatically replaced with the Yellowfin sourceId.

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By default, the sourcelog appender is enabled.

Locate/modify RepositoryErrorAppender configuration — Yellowfin 8.0.8 and later

If you wish to modify the sourcelog appender, it can be found in the <Appenders> element area of your log4j2.xml file.

Code Block
languagexml
<SourceLog name="sourcelog" fileName="C:/logs/source.%s.log" filePattern="C:/logs/source.%s.log.%i" maxFileSize="1024KB" maxFiles="9">
<PatternLayout pattern="%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} %6p: %m%n" />
</SourceLog>

Locate/modify RepositoryErrorAppender configuration — Yellowfin 8.0.1–8.0.7

If you wish to alter the sourcelog appender, look for the following lines in your log4j.properties file:

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