Beginners guide to SS Logger?

[Anon Anon]

Hello.
Are there any handy beginners guides that explain about logging within spectrum, and SSLogger? Basically, what components and files are involved. When you would and wouldn't use SSLogger and so on.

We have a number of existing spectroservers with a text models file in the SSLogger directory listing interfaces that we gather statistical data on, but I'm looking at setting up an entirely new server now and need to know what I'm doing and understand why.

The SSLogger user guide that I'm looking at says that you can use SSLogger instead of the native logging and goes on to explain how to set it up - creating two files called modelfile and datafile . On our existing servers I can see there's an sslogger process running, but it doesn't seem to have been set up as per the instructions so I'm not sure what's going on. Unfortunately the person who set up the old servers didn't document anything so I don't have any records to check.

Thanks

[Bill_Wol4th]

Hi Alex,
The SSlogger user guide is the best we have. I have not been able to locate any other documentation on SSlogger.
Best regards,
Bill

[Anon Anon]

Alex,

Are you having any difficulty in setting up the sslogger ?
Let us know where you are down

kalyan

[Anon Anon]

As I said, the instructions I've got don't seem to match how our existing servers are configured at all.

I'll have to re-read them again when it's quiet.

[Bill_Wol4th]

Hi Alex,
If you can provide some specifics we may be able to assist.
Thank you,
Bill

[Anon Anon]

Hello.
I've checked a few of our existing servers, and where the guide says "you can turn off CA Spectrum native logging by setting the stat_logging_disabled flag to TRUE in CA Spectrum's /SS/.vnmrc file" , this doesn't seem to have been done.

In addition, as part of the process of enabling SSLogger, the guide says "Create a text file called “modelfile” in the CA Spectrum SSLogger directory." which isn't there, though there is a "models" file, and loads of files with model in the name, which appear to relate to the various interfaces/devices where we are gathering data.

As a result I'm pretty confused.

[Anon Anon]

Hi Alex,

Have been using SSLogger for years. We have a whole performance system built around it. We have a script that generates the modelsfile each night based on special global collections. We have also written script to interpret each log file and pump both meta data about the devices and performance data into a sql database. This is then used for displaying graphs. We are currently replacing it with CAPC and the Data Aggregator as our section is all admins not developers.

If I get time before I go on leave I will post up the script that generates a modelsfile from a global collection.

In order to answer some of your questions firstly native logging has nothing to do with ssllogger. Can't remember much about it.

Note I am not at work at the moment so this is off the top of my head.

For sslogger you will have three main files: a config (this has stuff like where your dat file and models file is, how often should it rollover logs, etc), a dat file which we call sslogger.dat (it define the attributes you want collection and how often for each model type - in our case we define the attributes to be collected for a global collection) and finally you need a modelsfile which we call sslogger.model. We generate this automatically each night based on the device that are in the global collection.

I will upload a sample sslogger.dat with cisco stuff in it, a dummy sslogger.models file, a config file and the script we use to auto generate the sslogger.models file. It will be a use at your own risk thought however even if you don't use the script directly you will be able to get some guidance from it.

[aroma08]

Hi Andrew

 

I need your help on a similar requirement, i am working on a POC and have to showcase SSlogger funtionality.

I have configured SSlogger to collect Device performance attributes and Port performance attributes, which are being logged in ASCII file, since this is a MSP environment the requirement at present is 

 

1. How do i collect data for specific interfaces and not all interfaces on a Switch/Router

2. How do i add devices in my model file "mydevices.dat" automatically which can be populated from the Spectroserver database or Global collection

3. Is there any limit on the no: of devices which can be polled using SSlogger

4. What is the size limit of the ASCII file

 

Information and extended help would be beneficial to achieve the POC objective.

 

Thanks  

Manish

[Anon Anon]

Bumping this back to the top...

I've created a models file, and copied an sslogger.dat file from an existing working server. I can load those into SSLoggerConfig and add an interface from one of my modelled devices ok.
So far so good, but when I log into the SRG web page and load the default report tree, I'm only getting a selection of "Top N Reports", and if I try and open any of them I get "No Data in Report - Check XML Template".
If I create a new report tree including "By Device" , "By MdelType" and so on, and then load it I don't get any of these extra types available to select - just the same "Top N Reports".

Obviously I'm missing something here, but I don't know what.
Any suggestions would be good.