OBIEE Applications - Set-up and usage of DAC and Informatica Logs

Background There is a large variety of logging information available to can assist in troubleshooting Oracle Business Intelligence (OBIEE) Applications Data Warehouse behavior. This document aims to summarize the available logs, their typical location, how to set them up, how to increase logging detail, and their contents. The logs relate to the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications - Data Warehouse Administration Console (DAC) or to Informatica, the third party ancillary product which is shipped with OBIEE Applications. The final section contains suggestions regarding how to use the logs to troubleshoot unexpected behavior. Caution: Logging can impact performance, and use up large amounts of disk space. The recommendation is to reduce logging in Production, unless you are diagnosing unexpected behavior. Summary The following topics are described in this Technical Note. Use the jumplinks to quickly access a particular topic. Server Logs o DAC Server Logging o Informatica Server Logging ETL Logs o DAC ETL Logs o Informatica ETL Logs Using Log Files to Troubleshoot the DataWarehouse

Server Logs DAC Client and DAC Server Logging Tracing the DAC Server Start Up and Shut Down Processes To display a trace of the DAC Server (startup/stop), in a DOS window, edit the c:\<OBIEEroot>\DAC\startserver.bat as follows: REM set JAVAW=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\javaw.exe set JAVA=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe When the DAC Server is started or stopped, the DOS window which contains the trace information will remain open on the desktop, allowing review of the trace information. Tracing the DAC Client Edit the startclient.bat in similar manner to above.

DAC > Setup View > Output Redirect. If set to TRUE, logging information and standard output and errors are redirected to files in the DAC\log directory (when property is set to True). The file

containing standard output starts with out_ and ends with the .log extension. The standard error messages are in the file starting with err_ and ending with the .log extension. DAC Log Name out_xxx.log err_xxx.log Contents logging information and standard output and errors Default Location OBIEEroot>\DAC\log>

DAC Server Execution Logs DAC console functions create an appropriately named log in the <OBIEEroot>\DAC\log directory. For example import.log, createwtables.log The level of trace detail is set in DAC > Setup View > Server Trace Level.

DAC Server Trace Level (**Case sensitive) SEVERE WARNING INFO CONFIG FINE FINER FINEST

Content Default. Minimal trace detail Start at this level for troubleshooting

Most extensive trace detail

Note: The DAC logger will mark each line with the trace level that generated it. A line in the log marked SEVERE, may not necessarily indicate a severe problem was encountered. SQL Trace DAC > Setup View > SQL Trace. A value of TRUE sends a hint to the database connectivity layer of the DAC server to enable SQL tracing; thus, every SQL statement that is run by the DAC server is spooled to the appropriate output log file. Caution: High output volume, do not set unless specifically requested by Support. Informatica Server Logging The following table contains information about standard Informatica Server logs Informatica Server Log Name Event Log or pmserver.log ((Windows (pmserver.log (UNIX Event Log or pmrepserver.log (Windows) pmrepserver.log (UNIX) pmrepagent.log (Windows) pmrepagent.log (UNIX) Informatica Component PowerCenter Server log Contents Status and error messages Default Location Event log

Repository Server log

Error, Warning, Information, Trace, and Debug messages Error, Warning, Information, and Trace messages

Event log

Repository Agent log

C:\ProgramFiles\Informatica PowerCenter 7.1.2\RepositoryServer\bin

Enabling Informatica Server Logging Start > Programs > Informatica Server > Informatica Server Setup > Configure Informatica Service. Then select the Server tab, select Server Log Output to File button, and define the chosen location, for example C:\Programs\Informatica\pmserver.log. If a folder is not specified, the default folder is C:\Windows\system32.

Start > Programs > Informatica Server > Informatica Repository Server Setup > Configure Informatica Service. Select Output to File button. If a folder is not specified, the default folder is C:\ProgramFiles\Informatica PowerCenter 7.1.2\RepositoryServer\bin Informatica Server Log Severity Levels This is set in the same location as the custom name/location mentioned in section 1.2.1, in the Error severity level for logfiles field. Informatica Server Log Severity Information Trace Debug Informatica error codes and messages For more detail on error codes and messages, and troubleshooting suggestions, refer to Informatica bookshelf supplied on your OBIEE Applications CD > Informatica > Troubleshooting Guide. ETL Logs DAC ETL Logs The DAC log file types below are listed in order of level of detail i.e. summary logs are listed first. Content Provides information, warnings and errors. Start diagnosis at this level As above plus trace As above plus debug

DAC Log Name etl_summary.txt

Contents Summary of the ETL Execution Plan, includes one line per task, shows status, timestamp and error code Summary of ETL execution plan. Includes each task, and also pmcmd workflow command syntax executed, and workflow messages

Default Location > OBIEEroot>\DAC\log s <OBIEEroot>\DAC\lo gs

<Execution Plan Name>.x.log e.g Complete_ETL.5.log Note: Name contains a unique sequence number, and so a record is kept of historical logs <DAC Task Name>.log

Task log showing Informatica PMCMD trace, Informatica workflow log name, connection information to Informatica, userid Task log showing Informatica PMCMD trace, Informatica workflow log name, Informatica session log name, Informatica session summary info

<OBIEEroot>\DAC\lo gs

<DAC Task Name>_DETAIL.log

<OBIEEroot>\DAC\lo gs

Informatica ETL Logs Informatica ETL Log Name <Informatica Workflow Name>.log Contents Includes Port, Repository Name, Folder Name, Userid, and Informatica Session Name Default Location C:\Program Files\Informatica\Infor matica PowerMart 6.2.1 OEM for Siebel Server\WorkflowLog 1 s C:\Program Files\Informatica\Infor matica PowerMart 6.2.1 OEM for Siebel - Server\Sesslogs2

<Informatica Session Name>.log

Server Mode, Server Code Page, Session Cache size, Source and Target

The Informatica Bookshelf shipped with OBIEE Applications , contains examples and detailed explanation of session log content to help beginners search the index for Session Log The amount of detail in the session log depends on the tracing level that you set. You can define tracing levels for each transformation (Properties) or for the entire session. By default, the PowerCenter Server uses tracing levels for the session which are configured in the mapping in Workflow Manager > Edit Task > Override Tracing.

By default, the PowerCenter Server saves workflow logs in a directory entered for the server variable $PMWorkflowLogDir during the PowerCenter Server registration, and names the workflow log workflow_name.log. You can change the default directories at the server level by editing the server connection in the Workflow Manager menu > Server Configuration > Advanced You can also override these values for individual workflows or sessions by updating the workflow or session properties 2 By default, the PowerCenter Server saves session logs in a directory entered for the server variable $PMSessionLogDir in the PowerCenter Server registration and names the session log session_name.log. You can change the default directories at the server level by editing the server connection in the Workflow Manager, as above. You can also override these values for individual workflows or sessions by updating the workflow or session properties

Informatica Session Trace Level Terse

Content PowerCenter Server logs initialization information as well as error messages and notification of rejected data. Recommended. Do not use higher levels unless specifically requested by Support. PowerCenter Server logs initialization and status information, errors encountered, and skipped rows due to transformation row errors. Summarizes session results, but not at the level of individual rows. In addition to normal tracing, PowerCenter Server logs additional initialization details, names of index and data files used, and detailed transformation statistics. In addition to verbose initialization tracing, PowerCenter Server logs each row that passes into the mapping. Also notes where the PowerCenter Server truncates string data to fit the precision of a column and provides detailed transformation statistics. When you configure the tracing level to verbose data, the PowerCenter Server writes row data for all rows in a block when it processes a transformation.

Normal

Verbose Initialization

Verbose Data

Using Log Files to Troubleshoot the DataWarehouse Server startup troubleshooting When you encounter unexpected behavior with server startup, use the DAC and/or Informatica Server Logs listed above. For Informatica, start by reviewing the pmserver.log How do I use the available logs for troubleshooting ETL execution ? Background to ETL Troubleshooting The DAC console controls and manages each ETL. It runs an Execution Plan for the ETL, which contains Tasks. Excerpts of information recorded in the DAC logs are displayed in the DAC console > Current Run > Tasks and Task Details Tabs. This means that you can choose to use the DAC Execution Views to drill down on unexpected behavior, or you can use the DAC logs. DAC Tasks are implemented: By executing Informatica Workflows or By executing non-Informatica internal tasks, such as UPDATE_ETL_PARAM Internal.

To troubleshoot, check which type of Task has failed by using DAC > Execute > Current Run > Task > Execution Type How do I use the available logs ? Use DAC console/Logs to: Obtain an overview of the ETL execution To find out which Informatica workflow and sessions (and their logs) to use if you need to find more detailed info. To diagnose non-Informatica ETL Tasks. Use Informatica logs to: Find detailed information about Informatica Tasks - Workflows and Sessions A typical ETL investigation process would be: 1 Start off with default logging levels, to avoid system resource overload 2 Review the DAC Execution > Current Run > Tasks and Tasks Details Review the Tasks, filtered by Failed Tasks (colored pink) Note the Task Name, Execution Type, and Task Phase Review the Task Details, filtered by Failed Tasks. Sort the Failed tasks to find the one that failed first. Note the Task Name (same as above), Name (=Informatica workflow name), and End Timestamp. Double click on the Status Description column, which will in give you further information, in context of the type of task which failed. For example if an Informatica session was being executed (Task Execution Type= Informatica), and has failed, it will give the session name, on the other hand, if the DAC task that failed was internal, it will not be relevant to give an Informatica session name.

Note: Alternatively you could use the DAC logs, starting with the etl_summary, to obtain similar info. Hints: If a session fails, its parent workflow will fail (behavior governed by Informatica parameter "fail parent if this task fails" ) Bear in mind that DAC tasks are commonly executed in parallel. Therefore you may find that > 1 task has failed, but there is a common underlying cause.

3 Check the DAC and Informatica Server Logs Using the End Timestamp (see above) as a guide, check the DAC server logs and the Informatica server logs listed above - ETL may have failed due to a problem with DAC or Informatica server environment, such as a connection failure 4 For Execution Type Informatica, review Informatica ETL logs Informatica Workflow logs Informatica Session logs

5 Informatica logs - error codes and messages For more detail and troubleshooting suggestions, refer to Informatica bookshelf supplied on your OBIEE Applications CD > Informatica > Troubleshooting Guide.