Logs, sending elsewhere

[manowell]

I can't see where the ISY994i allows for sending to remote syslog or anything like that.  Is there a script or agent for Windows or Linux that would make periodic collection and aggregation easier than manually cutting and pasting?

[Teken]

I can't see where the ISY994i allows for sending to remote syslog or anything like that.  Is there a script or agent for Windows or Linux that would make periodic collection and aggregation easier than manually cutting and pasting?

 

The easiest method is to use Node Link on a RPi to capture the above.

[manowell]

The easiest method is to use Node Link on a RPi to capture the above.

 

I have Pis, but not exposure yet to Nodes, node servers, or node links. Where should I start reading?  From other threads, I was figuring that might be my next topic.

[paulbates]

Look at the nodelink subforum.

Nodelink (on a pi and isy v5) will syslog out for its supported devices, and its isylogger node will send isy variables and program statutes to syslog.. having said that it is not a general syslog facility where you dice and slice what you want to log. But, it's worth investigating.

 

Another angle: A few years ago Xathros documented writing from network resources directly to a syslog file. Very clever. Look at post 4

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/16861-isy-log-on-ios-or-web/?p=149308

 

Paul

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gduprey]

UDI has says they have no plans to support remote syslog support.  I think this is pretty unfortunate.  It's one thing to write explicit event logging via Node API and/or REST, but that only works when you're not suffering a more systemic problem. 

I have a very remote ISY where twice in the last 6 months, it's just stopped responding.  It replies to pings, but all ports show as closed and you cannot get to port 80 or 22 on it at all.  Power cycle fixes it, but of course, also clears the system log.

If there were a syslog option that dumped all system reporting (not just stuff someone explicitly logged), it would at least provide a clue as to what is going wrong.  Explicit event reporting only works for things you expect.  Remote system logging would be a huge boon both for day to day management of remote units and to provide at least some possible insight for when things just go wrong (which admitedly, is incredibly rare for the ISY, but.....)

 

[paulbates]

Both event and error logs are available through the portal and can be cleared through the portal.  You might find an answer there, either by using or logging into it with scripted automation.

Paul

[gduprey]

True, though it depends on the ISY/portal being able to talk to each other.  I don't know enough about to portal to know if event logs are continually streamed to it or it "polls" the ISY when it needs the data.  If they are continuously streamed, then this could be a good solution (at least you can see the last few things that happened before things went south).  If it's a polled solution, then when things do go wrong, you/portal is unlikely to be able to get through as the ISY is down/dead/unhappy.

The real huge benefit for rsyslog style operation is the stream of actions/events/notices so that even if that stream stops, you at least know what was going on just before it did.

And again, in general, the ISY is a rock and the least likely thing to not be working.  But in a few edge/odd-ball cases, when it goes dark (yet still responds to pings), you have nothing to check/review/etc.  And given how incredibly infrequent this is, waiting/watching is likely not going to bring any help.

Gerry

[mwester]

After some thought, I find I am in strong agreement with @gduprey -- logging of events should be a central concept for home automation.  I can see that perhaps the ISY isn't up to the traffic commonly generated with rsyslog, so it makes sense that the ISY delegate the logging to another device (rather like it delegates custom device support to node servers such as polyglot and nodelink).  And now that I mention polyglot, it makes sense that node servers should likewise log to the same rsyslog server -- and the Linux system hosting the polyglot server would be a fine place for such a service (rsyslogd) to reside...

So, strong +1 for this idea -- rsyslog support for the ISY to log to a remote server.  Should be fairly easy to do, since it already has the rest of the protocol stack -- perhaps as part of the network module?

[Michel Kohanim]

@gduprey,

More important that your request for syslog is: why are the units stop responding? Please send your error log to support@universal-devices.com. Also, make sure you don't have UPnP box checked (Configuration | System | Network).

You can always subscribe to ISY and be sent events in real time. There's no need for polling. This said, however, I think what you are looking for is an SNMP type of thing.

With kind regards,
Michel

[gduprey]

I can't send any logs (which was kind of the whole point of this) as when the unit does stop, it needs a power cycle to come back and that clears the logs.  

If there was an rsyslog, I'd at least have logs until things died.

And again, this has happened only twice in 8 months, so it's not common or a easy to reproduce - I have zero idea what went wrong and of course, cannot pull logs once it does go wrong.

When you say I can subscrib to events, you mean normal REST device/program/variable events?  Or system logging events (i.e. what you'd see int he event viewer).  If there was a way to pull/subscribe to the system event view log, that would likely handle most of what I'm looking for.

Gerry

[Michel Kohanim]

@gduprey,

I do not think we are talking about the same things. By logs I mean Tools | Error Log and Tools | Log. If these two are wiped out, then the problem is the SD Card. Are they wiped out?

You can subscribe to ALL ISY events which includes those you see in the event viewer. That's what the Admin Console does. This said, again, if your logs are wiped out, the issue is much more serious and probably SD Card related.

With kind regards,
Michel

[gduprey]

Honestly, it's been a bit of a mess with this one as the install is remote and I have been having complications.  I'll try to get in to take a look.

But I'm excited that you can subscribe to the events!  Can you give me a sample REST syntax and/or pointer to what to look at?  That is fantastic and I'll be adding logging ability top the base management app ASAP!

Gerry

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi gduprey,

They are all in the SDK which I am sure you already have: 

https://www.universal-devices.com/isy-developers/ 

You can either use SOAP or Websockets to subscription. 

With kind regards,
Michel

[MWareman]

I feel that having an admin option to specify an IP address and port then having the ISY send log event to that as UDP datagrams, xml or JSON formatted would be a huge benefit, without much performance overhead (or, frankly, much code needed..).

 

We’d be able to use any number of systems to store or display the logs, much like many of us are doing with the Weatherflow system..

 

[Michel Kohanim]

@MWareman, apologies for tardy reply.

I generally agree with the concept and will definitely look into it.

With kind regards,
Michel