You can configure logging for the InterAction API. This is used to log errors and warnings for use in troubleshooting issues. You configure logging in the Logging Configuration dialog box and view the logs in the Log Viewer.
You can configure separate log settings for the REST API, and .NET API.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| IP Based Logging Settings | Summarizes the log settings for each InterAction application and IP location. You can use different settings for different applications and servers. See Setting Logging Options for a Particular Application and Location (IP Filters). |
| General Logging Settings: | |
| Log Destination | Identifies the location where logs should be stored. You can store the logs in the InterAction database or in separate log files. |
| Database | Select this to store the log entries in the database. You can view this information using the log viewer. |
| File System - Local Directory Path | Select this to store the log entries in a separate log file. The file is stored in the specified path. This is local to the machine on which InterAction Administrator is installed. |
| Purge Logs after X days | Indicates the number of days logs should be kept before they are automatically purged. Purging logs is especially important if you are storing them in the database. |
Logging Configuration Dialog Box
IP Based Logging Settings
The IP Based Logging Settings section of the Logging Configuration dialog box summarizes the settings for each application and IP location. In this context, application can be one of the following API-related applications:
- InterAction REST API Server
- InterAction .NET API
Furthermore, for each application you can specify an IP address. This lets you identify a specific computer or server for the log settings.
Three log settings are provided out-of-the-box, one for each of the above applications. These are each configured for All Addresses. In most environments this is sufficient; if you have multiple servers you may want to add a new IP filter and set up logging for each specific server. This is only necessary if you need to define different settings (such as different logging levels) for the different locations.
IP filters allow system administrators to configure different logging levels for different machines in your environment. This may be useful when troubleshooting an issue on an individual’s machine.
Setting Logging Options for a Particular Application and Location (IP Filters)
You can create logging options for a specific application and location by creating or editing an IP filter. This is done using the Add/Edit IP Filter dialog box.
IP Filter Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Application | Identifies the API-related application for which you want to log errors and warnings. |
| IP Address | Identifies the IP address of the server for which you want to log errors and warnings. |
| Logging Priority | Specifies the level information to log. See “Logging Priority for details. |
| Logging Categories | Specifies categories you can use for logging extra information. This is intended for use by technical support when troubleshooting issues. Normally you should leave the Logging Categories field blank unless directed to enter a category by support. |
| Expiration Time | Specifies a date and time when the filter should expire. After this date and time has passed, the filter is ignored and no more log entries are saved based on it. If you need to re-enable it, you can edit the filter and change the expiration time. |
Logging Priority
The following table summarizes the available log priorities.
Logging Levels
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Error | Logs API exceptions and errors. |
| Warning | Includes the Error level and also logs system warnings. |
| Information | Includes the information in the Warning level and also additional administrative information, such as the IP addresses of the machines connecting to the server that triggered the error. |
| Debug | Includes all the data from the Information level, along with technical details useful in debugging issues, such as timings, the number of threads, and more information. Since this level can record a large amount of data, it should only be used as a temporary log when troubleshooting a specific issue. Set expiration to 30 minutes or less to ensure that this logging does not continue at this level. |
| Developer | Includes all the data from the Debug log, along with more detailed response information. As with Debug, this should only be used for short periods of time and should be set to expire within 30 minutes. |
Logging Categories
Logging Categories are used to record additional information in the log. This is intended for use by technical support when troubleshooting issues. Normally you should leave the Logging Categories field blank unless directed to enter a category by support.
You can enter multiple categories for a particular filter. Enter the categories separated by commas (,).
Viewing the Logs
You can view log entries stored in the database using the log viewer.
- From the main entity list in InterAction Administrator, double-click InterAction API Configuration.
- Choose View Logs.
-
Select a time frame by adjusting the To and From dates. The time frame cannot be longer than one week.
- Choose Go to display the log entries within the selected date range.
- To export the log data to a file, choose Export.
- You can export the data as a .CSV file or an Excel file.
- If you export to an Excel file, you must have Microsoft® Excel® installed.
- When you are finished viewing the log information, choose Close to close the log viewer.