Chapter 14: Tracking RealProxy Activity

RealProxy can create reports of historical data that let you see trends and gather information. This information is stored in the proxy log. Any error messages are recorded in the error log. This chapter shows how to read those logs, and how to change where the log files are stored.

Proxy Log

The proxy log records the IP addresses of the clients that have connected, the clips they listened to, the times of day they connected, and much more. New information is always appended to the end of the proxy log.

Reading a Proxy Log

To read the contents of the proxy log, you must first look up the values of Logging Style in RealSystem Administrator, as this determines how much information is present in the proxy log. At installation, Logging Style is set to 3.

Logging Style provides information about RealProxy clip-serving activity.

Once you know the values of Logging Style, view the proxy log by opening proxy.log (Windows) or proxy (UNIX) file in a word processor or text editor.

Proxy Log Format

RealProxy stores information about each clip it serves in a separate record. Each record is delimited by a new line. Fields within each record are separated by spaces.

One record is created for every clip served; if the client requests a presentation that includes several clips, one record is created for each clip in the presentation.

The fields that appear within each record depend on the settings for Logging Style. The complete syntax of each record, assuming Logging Style is gathering all possible information (Logging Style is 5) is shown:

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_error_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends [stream_components] start_time server_address average_bitrate packets_sent presentation_id [proxy_info]

	Note
	Although in the rest of this manual, square brackets indicate optional material, the square brackets shown in the proxy log actually appear within proxy log records.

The following table lists the format for each proxy log record:

StatsMask Results

The information gathered by each of the three Statistics Types are listed in this section. Stat1 and Stat2 report information about the RealAudio portion of a clip. Even if a clip includes both RealAudio and RealVideo, these statistics report solely RealAudio information. Stat3 reports information about visitor and client behavior while playing all types of clips or presentations.

When Stats Mask is 0, two square brackets ([]) appear instead of the Stat1, Stat2, and Stat3 sections.

Stat1 Syntax

Statistics Type 1 gathers basic information about how successfully audio clips were received by the client. It also tells what the client used to decode the audio portion of the clip.

Syntax of this portion of the access log record:

[Stat1: packets_received out_of_order missing early late audio_format] 

The table below gives the information collected by this statistic type:

Stat2 Syntax

Statistics Type 2 provides details about the success of clip delivery, giving information about bandwidth requests. Re-sent packets are described in detail here. It identifies which transport type was used to make the connection and which video decoder played the clip. This set of statistics uses the following format:

[Stat2: bandwidth available highest lowest average requested received late rebuffering transport startup format]

The table below explains what information is collected by this statistic type:

Stat3 Syntax

Statistics Type 3 provides detailed information about viewer action while listening or viewing clips. It addresses advanced features of the implementation, notably ads and image maps. You can find out at what point in the clip a viewer clicked on an image map or stopped watching the clip.

If Stats Mask is configured to gather statistics type 3 (Stat3), note that the access log file size will grow rapidly. If you configure Stats Mask to collect this information, be sure to review the log file frequently. This statistics type uses the following format:

[Stat3:timestamp|elapsed_time|action|;] 

Records of activity are separated by a semicolon (;) and are in the following form:

timestamp|elapsed_time|action|;

Thus, the Stat3 record of a visitor pausing, resuming play, and watching to the clip's end would look like the following:

[Stat3:4360|2107|PAUSE|;8401|2107|RESUME|;12608|6321|STOP|;] 

The table below gives the format of the Stat3 records:

LoggingStyle Results

The format of the proxy log under each of the different Logging Style values is shown in the table below:

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_status_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends [proxy_info]

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_status_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends [proxy_info]

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_status_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends [stream_components] start_time server_address [proxy_info]

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_status_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends [stream_components] start_time server_address average_bitrate packets_sent [proxy_info] [proxy_info]

client_IP_address - - [timestamp] "GET filename protocol/version" HTTP_status_code bytes_sent [client_info] [client_GUID] file_size file_time sent_time resends failed_resends presentation_id [proxy_info]

Information Recorded by RealServer

If you are also managing a transmitter RealServer, you know that similar information is recorded in the transmitter's access log. Information about client requests is stored in both the proxy log and the transmitter's access log. Each Server's settings are independent of each other, and the appropriate information is recorded in each Server's log file. For example, RealProxy may be configured to record Logging Style 0, and RealServer may be collecting all the information of Logging Style 5.

Customizing Information Reported by the Proxy Log

RealProxy uses the following settings for the proxy log (you can view these in RealSystem Administrator by clicking General Setup>Logging):

• Logging Style—At installation, this is set to 5.

• Disable Client GUIDs—This setting gathers client software identification.

• Stats Mask—The default value is 3.

• Log Rolling Frequency—Settings for creating new log files at specified intervals. See "Log File Rolling".

• Log Rolling Size—Settings for creating new log files at specified sizes. See "Log File Rolling".

• Proxy Log File—RealSystem Administrator will place files in the Logs subdirectory of the main RealProxy directory. The default file name of the proxy log file is rmaccess.log (Windows) or rmaccess (UNIX). The directory (if any) typed here can be absolute or relative to the base path of the main mount point.

  If Proxy Log File is blank, RealServer records access information in the proxy.log or proxy file located in the same directory as the RealServer executable file.

  The name of the proxy file will be different if Log File Rolling is enabled; see "Log File Rolling".

To customize the information gathered in the proxy log, you must first decide what types of information you want to gather. Then make the appropriate changes to Logging Style, which collects information about RealServer activity, and to Stats Mask, which gathers statistics about what arrived at the client and viewer behavior while playing the clips.

To gather information with the proxy log, you must first decide what types of information you want to gather. Then make the appropriate changes to Logging Style.

Changing Information Gathered with Stats Mask

Stats Mask supplies more detailed information to the access log. This variable is optional. For a complete description of information collected by each statistics type, and the syntax of the types as they appear in the access log, see the "Statistics Type 1 Information" table, the "Statistics Type 2 Information" table, and the "Statistics Type 3 Information" table.

If you omit a value for Stats Mask, RealServer uses the default value of 3 (gather statistics types 1 and 2).

	Tip
	If Stats Mask is configured to gather statistics type 3, the access log file size will grow rapidly. If you configure Stats Mask to collect this information, be sure to review the log file frequently, or use log file rolling.

Not all versions of RealPlayer supply the information requested by Stats Mask; Statistics type 2 is supplied by RealAudio Player versions 3.0 and later, and Statistics type 3 is supplied by RealPlayer versions 5.0 and later.

Gathering Information with Logging Style

Logging Style has six options, styles 0 through 5. Styles 0 through 4 each includes information of the logging styles with lower numbers. Thus, Logging Style 3 collects the information that's collected by styles 0, 1, and 2, as well as the material gathered by style 3. Logging Style 5 consists of the fields in Logging Style 2, plus the presentation_id field.

A list of information gathered by each value is given below.

Logging Styles 0, 1, and 3 contain some additional information, as described in "Proxy Log Format"

Omitting Client Identifiers

Normally, every proxy log record displays a unique client identification number for each user. However, both users and administrators have the option to omit this information from proxy log records.

If a user elects to withhold his software's unique client number, a string of zeroes appears instead: [00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000].

RealServer's default behavior is to use client identifiers, when available. It will show zeroes for those users who have opted to suppress their client software identifiers.

Regardless of the user's setting, you can instruct RealServer to always show the string of zeroes instead of the actual client identifier. If you choose this option, all proxy log records show zeroes, rather than the actual client identifiers. (This applies only to the logging styles that collect data for the [client_GUID] field—logging styles 2 and higher.)

There is no way to override the client's setting, should the user choose to send only zeroes.

To disable collection of client identifiers:

1. In RealSystem Administrator, click General Setup. Click Logging.

2. From the Disable Client GUID list, select No.

3. Click Apply.

Log File Rolling

Proxy log files can grow indefinitely as they accumulate data. To keep log files to a manageable size, you can limit the proxy log to a weeks's worth of information or a certain file size, and RealProxy will begin a new log file when the limit is reached.

Log file rolling applies only to proxy log files.

To set up log file rolling:

1. In RealSystem Administrator, click General Setup. Click Logging.

2. Indicate where log files should be stored by giving the path and file name in the Proxy Log Path box.

3. Decide whether to limit the log files by time period or by size.

   • To limit by time period, choose the period from the Log Rolling Frequency list. You can save by the hour, day, week, or month.

     In the Log Rolling Interval box, type the number of time periods. For example, if you chose Days from the Log Rolling Frequency list and typed 4 in the Log Rolling Interval box, RealProxy will start a new proxy log every 4 days.

   • To limit by file size, type a number in the Log Rolling Size box. Specify the size in megabytes.

   If you have values in all three boxes, RealProxy will use the size or time period that is reached first.

4. When you're done, click Apply.

Rolled log files are named with the following format:

name.log.datestamp

where:

Disabling Log File Rolling

Choose Never from the Log Rolling Time Period list, and type 0 (zero) for the Log Rolling size.

Error Log

The error log contains both information and error messages about server operation. By looking for patterns of errors, you can troubleshoot and correct possible problems on your site.

View the text of the error log using a word processor or text editor.

The error log is an excellent tool for troubleshooting any problems that may arise with your RealProxy. An entry is made to the error log only when an error occurs. If no errors occur, this file will not exist.

Error messages relating to RealProxy activity appear in the error log. The error log is created when the first error occurs.

If you have an error message in the error log that refers to a fatal error, contact the RealNetworks Technical Support Department for assistance.

To customize where RealProxy creates the error log:

1. In RealSystem Administrator, click General Setup. Click Logging.

2. In the Error Log Path box, type the path and name you want to use for the error log. The default location is the Logs directory of the main RealProxy directory, and the default file name is rmerror.log.

3. When you have finished making changes, click Apply.

Error Log Format

The error log records client connections and RealProxy errors. Each time an error is generated by RealProxy, a record is created in the error log. The error log path is stored in the same directory as the proxy log, indicated by the LogPath variable.

Syntax of the file is as follows:

***date time servername(process_ID): error_message 

where entries are defined below:

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This file last updated on 12/07/00 at 16:37:40.