error log file has delayed writes?

[WayneW]

Is it expected/common for the error log to not be complete & up to date?

 

For example, the last entry in file

ISY Error Log.v3.3.10__Wed 2013.11.06 11.22.43 PM.txt

is

Wed 2013/11/06 12:30:03 PM System -50001 -11

 

but the last entry in file

ISY Error Log.v3.3.10__Thu 2013.11.07 02.51.47 PM.txt

is

Wed 2013/11/06 02:03:26 PM System -50001 -11

 

How come the 11/06 2:03:26 PM entry isn't in the file created 11/06 11:22:43 PM?

[Xathros]

Is the ISY clock correct?

 

-Xathros

[WayneW]

Yes, the clock on the ISY and the PC are correct. I don't know where the time in the filename comes from from, I assumed it was the ISY, but it could be the local PC. But they seem to match, so i don't think the filename time is the error.

 

And I have seen this happen multiple times where I go look for an SMTP error as I had a hunch I was missing an email, but there was no SMTP error logged, but then a few days later, when it happens again, I now see the error entry for the first SMTP error I was looking for.

[Xathros]

WayneW-

 

I do know that the ISY schedules tasks on a priority basis with I believe, Insteon traffic being the highest. I don't know where in the priority list logging comes in but I think it is possible to delay logging and possibly network resources by keeping the ISY busy with Insteon tasks. It may also be possible to delay logging with IP network tasks as well.

 

Michel-

 

Can you comment on this.

 

-Xathros

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi all,

 

The time for the file is local time on your computer. The last entry the error log depends on when the contents of the logs were flushed. When you do Tools | Log/Error Log, ISY tries to flush everything BUT, for the sake of efficiency, it will not if other file system tasks are pending. And, please note that there are cases that there's really nothing in the log for long spans of time ... i.e. it's not the case that ISY just logs things every minute.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[WayneW]

When you do Tools | Log/Error Log, ISY tries to flush everything BUT, for the sake of efficiency, it will not if other file system tasks are pending.

 

Is there a way to force the flush? Would writing the log file twice in a row give better results? I consider my system to be pretty lightly loaded, so I have no idea what would prevent the log file from getting updated for over 9 hours. I find the 9-24 hour delay a bit of a challenge to interactive troubleshooting, but it is not the end of the world.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Wayne,

 

Is your system lightly loaded or highly loaded? If the former, there's probably nothing to flush. If the latter, we will need to do more investigation.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Xathros]

Wayne-

 

Do you use the custom notification system to write to any file(s) on the ISY webserver? Based on your original post and Michel's comments above, I suspect that entry hadn't been flushed yet (9+ hrs after it occurred) and couldn't be at the time you output the first log due to some other file activity. I also suspect that asking for the log twice in a row may have worked as you speculated.

 

-Xathros

[WayneW]

re: Do you use the custom notification system to write to any file(s) on the ISY webserver?

 

no, I don't use that (yet) and I don't even think that is supported on the version I am using. I haven't made the transition to the 994 and newer software yet.

 

Of course, now that I have changed my SMTP provider to Gmail AND increased the timeout to 5000 ms, I haven't had any SMTP issues in 4 days, so hopefully I won't have a need to look at the error log for a long time.

 

My error log is about 2 MB. Is that an acceptable size? Or is it a best practice to clear it at a certain size?

[Xathros]

Wayne-

 

I believe the ISY has a default 3Mb Log file max size. I'm assuming the error log follows that limit as well but don't know for sure. I usually clear my logs once a month or more frequently if i'm busy building net network resource rules. Aside from a longer delay when exporting the error log, I haven't noticed any downside to allowing the log to grow fairly large.

 

-Xathros

[Michel Kohanim]

Xathros, you are 100% correct.

 

Please note that max file size is the file size with raw data. Once transformed to human readable, it can be much larger than 3 MB.

 

With kind regards,

Michel