Configuring Logging Options

Based on the planning you have completed in Planning Your Logging Strategy, you must now configure the log options for each affected service.


Configuration Step 1: Opening the Appropriate Log Options Dialog Box

  1. For each service you are logging, open the Log Options dialog box in the browser-based management tool.

    Refer to the services you selected in Planning Step 1: Determining Your Logging Requirements.

    The following table gives the path for each service:

    Service Path

    Transparent/Forward

    Cache > Client Accelerator > Enable Logging for Client Acceleration > Log Options

    Web Server Accelerator

    Cache > Web Server Accelerator > Insert > Enable Logging for This Accelerator > Log Options

    Clustered Services

    Cache > Cluster > Forward or Transparent or Accelerator > Enable Logging > Log Options

    Content Filtering

    Cache > Filtering > Enable Filter Logging > Log Options

The following sections discuss each of the areas within the Log Options dialog box. For further information, see Log Options Dialog Box.


Configuration Step 2: Selecting a Log Format

  1. In the Log Options dialog box, specify the log format for the service based on the planning you did in Planning Step 2: Selecting a Log File Format and Optimizing the Log Entry Size.

    Remember that each bit of information you log increases the size of each log entry, thus affecting the rate at which logging disk space is used.


Configuration Step 3: Specifying Rollover Options

  1. In the Log Options dialog box, specify how the appliance rolls over the log files for the service based on the planning you did in Planning Step 3: Calculating Log Rollover Requirements.


Configuration Step 4: Specifying Handling of Older Files

You must schedule the regular download and deletion of log files to avoid running out of log disk space.

Whenever possible, we recommend you use the FTP log push feature for this task. However, you can also manage log files manually using the browser-based management tool or the appliance's Mini FTP Server. See Manually Downloading and Deleting Log Files.

The appliance also provides three options for dealing with old files as a failover precaution.

Ideally Excelerator will never actually use the old file option you select because you will schedule the downloading and deleting of log files so that the system never becomes full.

Two of these options automatically dispose of older files to avoid the disk full condition. The third option is not recommended for most situations.

To specify how the appliance handles older files, complete the following:

  1. In the Log Options dialog box, select an old file option that matches your requirements. (To review option specifics, see the bullet list above.)

    As with log format and rollover options, you can specify different old file options for each service. We recommend, however, that you avoid potential confusion by using the same old file settings for each service.

  2. (One time only) Click FTP Log Push > configure the FTP log push options.

    For help with setting options in the FTP Log Push Configuration dialog box, refer to Using FTP Push to Automatically Download and Delete Log Files, then return to this procedure.

  3. In the Log Options dialog box, double-check the Old File Options settings against either your FTP log push configuration or your schedule for manual download and deletion to ensure that log files won't reach the deletion threshold (number or age) prior to a scheduled download and deletion.

  4. If you need to configure log options for other services, return to Configuration Step 1: Opening the Appropriate Log Options Dialog Box; otherwise, continue with the next section.


Configuration Step 5: Monitoring and Refining Your Logging Strategy

As with all appliance operations, you should monitor what is happening with your logging strategy over time and make adjustments and refinements if necessary.

When you monitor your logging strategy, you should ensure that: