Article

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Authors:
Chendil Kumar
Vishwanath Kavalar

Abstract

Chendil Kumar and Vishwanath Kavalar explain how to view DirXML traces in IDM Designer 3.0.

Contents

• Introduction
• Viewing DS Trace Log File
• Viewing Live DirXML Trace
• Limitations

Introduction

The DS Trace feature in Novell IDM Designer enables you to view the live DirXML Traces. The DS Trace is similar to iMonitor.

You can use the DS Trace in two ways:

• Viewing DS Trace log file
• Viewing Live DirXML Trace

Viewing DS Trace Log File

The DS Trace can be used to view the DirXML trace logs from external files with .log and .rft formats.

To view the DS Trace from the log file:

1. Click Tools Menu > DS Trace.
2. Click, the Load trace log file icon. Browse and select the DS Trace log that you want to view.

Click to view.

Figure 1: Sample DS Trace; viewed from the log file

After opening, you can review the DS Trace log file. You can:

• Use the Start time, End time, and Event drop-down lists to filter the trace file. This narrows the display of the trace file data and you can easily locate specific information.
• Use , the Clear Filter button to clear an existing filter.
• Use , the Search icon to find a specific string in the DS Trace log file. Clicking the Search icon opens the Find / Replace dialog box.
  
  NOTE: The Replace option is currently not supported since the DS Trace is only for viewing.
• You can view the Live DirXML trace from an existing window. For this, use , the Connect to serve icon. When prompted, provide the Identity Vault credentials.
• Use , the Save trace icon to save the log file to a file. By default, the file is saved in a .log format with the trace contents.

Viewing Live DirXML Trace

You can view the live DirXML Traces for any eDirectory in your Identity Manager environment.

The following are the two scenarios where you can view the live DS Trace:

The Identity Vault Is In Your Current Designer Project

1. In the Outline view or the Modeler, select an Identity Vault object, then select Live > DS Trace.
   Alternatively, right-click the Identity Vault object, then select Live > DS Trace.
   A login dialog box appears.
2. In the Login Credentials dialog box, specify the Hostname (or the IP address), Username and Password that are necessary to connect the Identity Vault.
   By default, the Secure Connection option is selected. Specify the LDAP port number if the service is running on a non-default port.
   For example,

   Hostname is 10.18.19.238 or 10.18.19.238:39 or mytree or myserver.company.com.
   Username is admin.novell or cn=admin, ou=novell 
   
   

3. Review the live DS Trace session as required. You can:
   
   • Use , the Stop Trace icon to stop a live DS Trace session.
     By default, the DS Trace session is running. You can stop and resume whenever you need.
   • Use , the Resume Trace icon to restart a live DS Trace session that you have earlier stopped. It is not available for DS Trace log files.
   • Use , the Connect to Server icon to launch the Login Credentials dialog box, which you can use to authenticate to the server where you want to run DS Trace.

The Identity Vault Is Not In Your Current Designer Project:

1. From the main Designer tool bar, select Tools > DS Trace.
2. In the DS Trace view, click the Connect to server icon.

   

   Click to view.

   Figure 2: DS Trace viewed from the live DirXML

3. In the Login Credentials dialog box, specify the directory Host name (or IP address), Username, and Password necessary to connect to the appropriate Identity Vault and then click OK.
4. Select Secure Connection if you need to use SSL to connect to the Identity Vault server.
   You can open a DS Trace session to a different Identity Vault server at any time by clicking Connect to server and providing the appropriate authentication credentials.
5. Review the live DS Trace session as needed.
6. Use , the Clear trace to clear the log in the trace window.

The Live DS Trace allows saving the current trace logs in standard Rich Text Format (.rtf). Any external text editor that supports color displays the log file in colors as seen the live DS Trace view.

You can set the preference settings for the number of the lines displayed in the trace window and enable the auto-scroll display. The number of lines can be configured between 1000 to 10000. The auto-scroll displays the latest log contents in the window based on the number of lines set in the preferences. For example, if the number of lines is set to 1000 and the trace log generated at a time is 1500 lines, then the latest 1000 lines of the logs are displayed in the window.

To set the preference value,

Go to Window > Preferences > Novell > Designer > DS Trace or click on the Configure Trace icon in the Live DS Trace window

Click to view.

Figure 3: Configuring DS Trace preferences

In the Live DS Trace window, trace files are displayed in different colors based on the color code format. The Success operation is displayed in Green, Failure in Red, and the Warning messages are displayed in Yellow color. The default log messages are displayed in Cyan color.

For example,

Hostname: 164.19.19.238:390
Username: admin.novell
Password: ******

Limitations

1. Viewing the DS Trace log file in Designer is displayed in black and white color even though the file might contain colors(RTF file). Only the Live DS Trace logs are supported by color code conventions.
2. If Identity vault credentials are already populated and the LDAP is running in different port number then, the right click on Identity Vault Live > DS Trace does not work. You still have to enter the credentials.
3. The Live DS Trace window displays only the latest log details in the DirXML traces at the given point of time. The earlier trace logs details cannot be scrolled back. Also, if the number of lines for auto-scroll is set ton lines and the trace logs generates more than that at a given point of time, then only the latest N lines are displayed in the trace window.(N is the value set in preference page)

Disclaimer: As with everything else at Cool Solutions, this content is definitely not supported by Novell (so don't even think of calling Support if you try something and it blows up).

It was contributed by a community member and is published "as is." It seems to have worked for at least one person, and might work for you. But please be sure to test, test, test before you do anything drastic with it.