Obtaining various logs for your Enterprise GIS

Whenever a user runs into some sort of problem with the GIS system, one of the first things to look at would be the relevant logs. These give a more detailed insight into what is happening and where potential problems were encountered. This post will explain exactly how to obtain every type of log in the ArcGIS Enterprise stack.

How can I access the Replica log?

Whenever a replica creation or synchronization process is performed with ArcGIS Desktop, whether it be connected or disconnected, detailed information about the process is recorded in a replica activity log.

The replica log file can be found in the temp directory (as defined by the temp environment variable) of the machine on which the replica operation was executed.

For example: TEMP variable is set to “%USERPROFILE\Appdata\Local\Temp”
Thus, the location the ReplicaLog.dat file would be in Eg. for Windows 7 – “C:\Users\tthompson\AppData\Local\Temp”.

*** New at 10.1, you can choose the location of the file and the level of detail recorded. This option is available from ArcMap 10.1 > Distributed Geodatabase toolbar > Distributed Geodatabase menu > Options > General Tab > Log level.

 

The information in the replica activity log includes the following:

• ERRORS—Errors that occurred while running a process
• WARNINGS—How many warnings occurred while running a process
• Operation Name—The name of the process that was run
• Time Completed—The date and time when the process finished
• Operation Info—General information about the process

The contents of the ReplicaLog.dat file can be viewed directly in a text editor. However, the technical article “HowTo: Get a formatted view of the ReplicaLog.dat file” describes how to get a formatted view of the information in the log. The article can be found at: http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/techarticles/detail/34752  

More information about the operations included in the log can be found via the following web link:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/The_replica_activity_log/002700000043000000/  

Formatted Replica Activity Log Example

ERRORS: 0

WARNINGS: 0

OperationName	Time Completed	Operation Info
Rebuild Connectivity	19/09/2012 2:04:46 PM	Zoning_Polygon_repl
TransferedRelatedChanges	19/09/2012 2:04:46 PM	Zoning_Polygon_repl
TransferingChanges	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON
TransferingDelete	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON
TransferedDelete	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON : 0
TransferingInsert	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON
TransferedInsert	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON : 3
TransferingUpdate	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON
TransferedUpdate	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	ZONING_POLYGON : 0
Rebuild Connectivity	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	Zoning_Polygon_repl
TransferedRelatedChanges	19/09/2012 2:06:56 PM	Zoning_Polygon_repl

Tania T.