Introduction

ChrisG · ‎Jun 30, 2020

Introduction

This article details log files and locations that are used to within the FlexNet Manager Suite product.

If you see a log file that you are not expecting or are having trouble finding a log file on a particular computer, make sure you have considered the following key points:

The web, batch and inventory server components may be installed all on one server, or installed across 2, 3 or even more servers.
It is possible to install beacon components on the batch server.
Some components and associated logs are shared between the beacon and inventory agent. Shared components are fully detailed below.
The inventory agent components may be installed on any of the servers.

Many log files are created using the log4net logging framework, and so common log4net configuration options can be used in log4net .config files. These .config files are typically placed in a base folder which is specified in the registry as explained below, or in some cases they may be placed alongside the associated executable.

Other log file locations are specified directly by registry entry values.

Application and beacon server logging

Logging location

The default base directory containing log4net .config files for FlexNet Manager Suite application server components and generated log files is C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Compliance\Logging\.

This base directory may be overridden by setting the registry entry HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Compliance\CurrentVersion\LoggingBaseDirectory.

Logging configuration

.config files are installed in the logging base directory for many application server components. Each .config file is an XML document containing log4net configuration settings. In many cases the actual location for holding log files references the property %property{ComplianceLoggingPath}. This property is expanded to be the LoggingBaseDirectory path.

The .config files in LoggingBaseDirectory can be edited using a text editor to adjust the logging level. Open the relevant .config file and find the <root> element. Adjust the <level value="INFO"/> line with the desired logging level. Typical options are ERROR, WARN, INFO and DEBUG.

Logging from application server components

The following table provide default logging configuration details for various application server components & subsystems.

Component / Subsystem	Location under C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Compliance\Logging	Application server type(s)
Web UI Events from core parts of the the web interface. Typically contains details from red error bars that appear in the UI, with an error ID in the log matching the ID shown in the UI.	WebUI\WebUI.log	Web
Batch processor service Events from the "FlexNet Manager Suite Batch Processor" Windows service. The batch processor service receives jobs from the scheduler, runs the job and then sends a message to indicate success back to the scheduler. This log shows details of tasks being run by the batch processor, including what command line is used to launch the task.	BatchProcessScheduler\ BatchProcessor.log	Batch
Batch process scheduler service Events from the "FlexNet Manager Suite Batch Process Scheduler" Windows service. The scheduler service picks up messages from Microsoft Message Queue queues to trigger tasks add tasks to a queue, and then sends the tasks to the batch processor service for processing. Logging shows when a task is received, sent for processing, and when the batch processor indicates the task has been completed.	BatchProcessScheduler\ BatchProcessScheduler.log	Batch
Batch process task execution Events from the BatchProcessTask*.exe executables. Rarely useful but should be checked when troubleshooting batch processor issues. Logs when a task is queued with the batch processor and also logs the output when you run BatchProcessTaskConsole.exe manually to list tasks.	BatchProcessTask\ BatchProcessTask.log	Batch
Compliance import Import of inventory from data sources into the compliance database and license reconcile operations. The compliance import process can create folders on the batch server with a GUID name and containing an import log file. These log folders and files are normally deleted before the associated import process completes. However sometimes this cleanup is not performed (such as if an import is terminated prematurely) and the folder is left behind. It is generally safe to delete such folders which are old (say 7 days or more).	ComplianceReader\ importer-[ddmmyyyy]-[pid].log <GUID>\ importer-[ddmmyyyy]-[pid].log	Batch
Beacon services Logs events relating to beacons which report to this server (through the "inventory-beacons" virtual directory in IIS). (Not to be confused with logging from locally installed beacon components.) Some examples of information captured in these log are: Generating and sending updated discovery export files to beacons Triggering inventory imports after a 3rd party inventory package is uploaded from a beacon triggering a business adapter import after an adapter zip file is uploaded from a beacon Generating and distributing new InventorySettings.xml files when the ARL gets updated	InventoryBeacons\ beacon-services.log	Batch
Content library updates (2018 R2 and later) Logging from content library update processes details the steps taken to download and update content.	Content\mgsImportRecognition.log, recognition.log and importPURL.log	Batch
Content library updates (prior to 2018 R2) Log files for library updates processes are stored in the %TEMP% folder of the user who launched MgsImportRecognition.exe. To determine where logs will be stored, you will need to identify which user account launched the MgsImportRecognition.exe process. If the library update has been triggered by the scheduled task on the batch server, this will typically be the account used to run the "FlexNet Manager Suite Batch Processor" Windows service. If MgsImportRecognition.exe is executed manually, then the log will be in the temp folder of the running user.	C:\Windows\Temp for processes invoked using the SYSTEM identity OR %TEMP% of the service account	Batch
Web resolver dispatcher This log captures events from the web resolvers about the import into the database of various data files that are uploaded from beacons. The most common types of files processed include ActionStatus, ActiveDirectory, ActivityStatus, BeaconStatus, ClientAccess, Discovery, Inventories, Logs and Usage Data. This does not include uploads of 3rd party inventory (SCCM etc) and business adapter imports.	WebResolvers\dispatcher.log	Inventory
Web resolver activity status Similar to the dispatcher log, this log captures events from the web resolver about the import of information into the database. This log is specifically for .activity files. Activity files form a lot of the information you see on the System Tasks page in the UI. If you're troubleshooting a problem with the System Tasks page, this log can definitely be useful.	WebResolvers\activitystatus.log	Inventory
Beacon status Similar to the dispatcher log, this log captures events from the web resolver about the import of information into the database. This log is specifically for .bstat files.	WebResolvers\beaconstatus.log	Inventory
FlexNet Manager Suite to ServiceNow Export logs The path for this log file is configured in the file <InstallDir>\DotNet\bin\ ServiceNowExport\ fnmp_servicenow_export.exe.config.	C:\Temp\Log\log.log
SAP reader Captures information about the import of SAP inventory. On the batch server, generally a zip file containing SAP inventory is uploaded from a beacon, which is then unzipped and imported into the FNMS database. Be sure to also check SAPReader.log on the beacon.	SAPReader\SAPReader.log	Batch
SAP reconciliation Logging from the batch process that recalculates a SAP license position.	SAPReconciliation\ SAPReconciliation.log	Batch
SAP portal Events from the SAP Portal UI.	SAPPortalUI\SAPPortalUI.log	Web
Single sign-on SAML or OAuth 2.0 single sign-on (SSO) logging. Logging related to requests to the identity provider that can be used in conjunction with the WebUI log for troubleshooting SSO issues.	OAuth\sso.log	Web
Compliance API Logging from an internal SOAP web API service. This web service is used for various integrations between Flexera products.	FNMSWebAPI\fnmswebapi.log	Web
Baseline imports Logs from baseline purchase import operations.	BaselineImport\<GUID>\ BaselinePurchaseCreation.log	Batch
Business data imports Logs from business adapter imports. Typically a business adapter will run on a beacon which will read information from the source and create a zip file with the data which is uploaded to the batch server. Then the batch server unzips this file and processes the information into the compliance database. Be sure to check beacon logs too when troubleshooting business adapters.	BatchDataImport\ BusinessImport.log [AdapterName]-[GUID].log	Batch
Shadow host process launcher Instead of the batch processor launching executables directly, it actually launches ShadowHost.exe which then takes care of launching the target executables. This logging captures information from ShadowHost processes. Examples of tasks captured include: Compliance import and reconcile operations Business adapter imports with MGSBI.exe ServiceNow exports Database maintenance tasks SAP imports ARL imports Note that these logs are mostly useful if you would like to see command lines used to invoke various processes, or if executables completely fail to launch. If an executable launches but then fails, you will generally find the log file from that process more useful. For example if a compliance import process is started successfully but then fails to complete, check the Compliance Import logs. ShadowHost logging also enables some interesting logging from both batch process services. For example you can see database queries made by these services. Tip: ShadowHost logging can be enabled by adding a new DWORD registry entry HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Compliance\ CurrentVersion\ ShadowHostTracingEnabled with the value 1.	ShadowHost\*.log	All
Cognos package import Importing the Cognos/Flexera Analytics package is a one off configuration task. Results are logged in this file.	CognosPackageImport\ CognosPackageImport.log	Batch

Logging from beacon server components

The following table provide default logging configuration details for various beacon server components & subsystems.

Component / Subsystem	Location under C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Compliance\Logging
Active Directory import This log captures the execution of Active Directory imports which are configured on the 'Active Directory Imports' page in the Beacon UI. This log captures the LDAP connection being established with the domain controller and the import of Active Directory information. The import produces an .actdir file which is uploaded to the inventory server. Be sure to also check the Dispatcher log on the inventory server to make sure the data is successfully processed into the database.	ActiveDirectoryImport\ADImport.log
Beacon engine service This log captures events from the Beacon Engine Service. This is one of the main log files on a beacon server and captures information about a lot of the background activities performed by a beacon. An example of some of the main events that are captured include; downloading and loading beacon policy, downloading updates to discovery & inventory rules, download discovery export file, downloading updated importer xml files.	BeaconEngine\BeaconEngine.log
Beacon IIS app Captures events from the beacon's web server component. The beacon web server generates and serves agent policy, settings, and upgrade files and accepts incoming files from agents.	BeaconIIS\BeaconIIS.log
Compliance Reader logs Captures events from compliance reader imports reading data from external systems. To see the configured imports on a beacon you can look at the 'Inventory systems' page in the Beacon UI.	ComplianceReader\importer-[ddmmyyyy]-[pid].log
Compliance upload Logs events about the upload of inventory extracted from external databases and business adapter data. ComplianceUpload.exe is launched by the 'Upload third party inventory data' scheduled task. This process does not include the upload of files received from FlexNet inventory agents agents (such as inventory .ndi files and others).	ComplianceUpload\upload.log
Discovery and inventory rules Logs events from the execution of Discovery & Inventory rules. You can see the configured rules in the Beacon UI on the 'Rules' page. Each rule execution will generate a new GUID (the task's unique SessionUID) which is used in the directory path when storing the log files. Tip: When troubleshooting, sort the InventoryRule logging folder by the last modified date to find the most recently created folder after triggering rule execution manually in the Beacon UI.	InventoryRule\<GUID>\*.log
Inventory Beacon UI and processes Captures events from the BeaconUI and various other tasks performed by the local inventory beacon. The BeaconEngine.log will generally be the main log to look at when troubleshooting a beacon but it's worth checking this too.	InventoryBeacon\inventorybeacon.log
Package retriever Download of upgrade and adoption packages. Log file location configured through the registry entry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\PackageRetriever\CurrentVersion\LogFile	%TEMP%\ManageSoft\ packageretriever.log %TEMP% is the temporary directory of the user running the process, or C:\WINDOWS\Temp for SYSTEM-run processes.

The beacon also shares a number of components with the agent. See the FlexNet inventory agent logging section below for details of logging from these components.

Other server logging

Internet Information Services (IIS) logs

IIS logs all incoming and outgoing web requests. The logs show the resource that was requested, requestor IP, HTTP status code etc. See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/magazine/dn519926.aspx for more information.

Location: Typically %SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC1\u_ex[yymmdd].log

The location can be configured by navigating to the 'Default Web Site' node in IIS Manager, then double click on 'Logging' on the right page.

Windows Event Viewer

Various components involved in an operation FlexNet Manager Suite system create entries in Windows Event Viewer which can be relevant and helpful for troubleshooting.

FlexNet inventory agent logging

Logging location

FlexNet inventory agent logs are typically stored under:

On Windows: C:\Windows\Temp\ManageSoft for processes invoked using the SYSTEM identity, or C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\ManageSoft for processes invoked as a named user

Tip: When connecting to a computer using Remote Desktop, watch out for temporary session folders which may contain logs, e.g. 'C:\Users\TonyM\AppData\Local\Temp\6\ManageSoft'. RDP generates a temporary session folder by default for %TEMP%. Make sure you are looking at the correct log by checking the timestamps.
On Unix-like operating systems: /var/opt/managesoft/log

Logging configuration

Agent log file locations can be overridden by specifying the LogFile agent preference for different agent components.

On Windows:

These preferences are stored in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\<Component>\CurrentVersion.
LogFile preference values usually include a reference to a variable like $(TempDirectory), which expands to the system temporary directory for the user that the associated process is running as. This is why you may see the location of files change depending on the user who ran a process. Under normal operating conditions agent processes typically run as the local SYSTEM account whose $(TempDirectory) is C:\Windows\Temp. When an agent process is invoked manually it will run as your own user account.

On Unix-like operating systems:

The preferences are stored in a virtual registry in the /var/opt/managesoft/etc/config.ini file.

Logging from inventory agent components

The following table provide default logging configuration details for various inventory agent components.

Component	Log file
Installation (ndlaunch.exe) Captures events relating to the agent downloading and applying policy, client settings, schedule, failover settings and update packages.	installation.log
Inventory (ndtrack.exe) Captures events from the inventory gathering process, including hardware and software inventory details.	tracker.log
Policy (mgspolicy.exe) Log file for the download and application of agent policy.	policy.log
Scheduling (ndschedag.exe) Log file for the application and execution of agent schedule events.	schedule.log
Security service (mgssecsvc.exe) Captures events from the "Flexera Inventory Manager security service" Windows Service. This service has two plugins, the usage agent and VDI endpoint plugin. Note: This log file is difficult to relocate, and has no registry preference. Configuration may be possible with a .config file alongside mgssecsvc.exe.	securityservice.log
Upload (ndupload.exe) Captures events from the ndupload process which is used to upload all types of files which can generated by the agent. Upload logging associated with an inventory gathering (ndtrack) process appears in the tracker log. If an upload by the tracker process fails, logging from subsequent upload attempts of the same inventory file will appear in the upload agent log. The upload agent is heavily used by beacons as well as managed devices, inspecting upload agent logs on beacons is often useful for troubleshooting upload problems.	uploader.log
Docker monitor (fnms-docker-monitor.exe) Monitors Docker to identify containers from which inventory should be gathered. Note: The path and filename of this log file cannot be modified from its default value.	fnms-docker-monitor.log
Usage Captures events from the usage agent which meters running applications. The usage agent runs under the 'Flexera Inventory Manager security service' Windows service.	usageagent.log
VDI Captures events from the VDI endpoint agent. Only relevant on Citrix XenDesktop devices (Windows only).	vdi.log

Other specialized agent logs

Adoption logs

Logging from the initial installation of an agent when a device is being adopted through execution of a Discovery & Inventory rule. Adoption logs may be useful when valid credentials have been provided for the beacon and it has managed to connect to the device successfully, but the installation subsequently fails.

Location:

C:\Windows\Temp\adoption.log (Windows)
/var/tmp/flexera/log/ndinstlr.log and ndinstlrsh.log (Unix-like operating systems)

Windows Installer log from the agent installation

This is the Windows Installer log file for the agent install. Created by default only when using the setup.exe to install the agent.

Location: %TEMP%\FlexNet Inventory Agent.msi.log (Windows only)

Tip: To generate a Windows Installer log file if you are invoking msiexec directory to install the agent, you can use a command line like the following:

msiexec.exe /i "FlexNet Inventory Agent.msi" /l*v "%TEMP%\FlexNet Inventory Agent.msi.log"

If you want to capture a Windows Installer log for an adoption or other automated install, you can enable Windows Installer logging system wide on a device by adding the following registry entry (you may need to create the key):

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\Logging = voicewarmupx

FlexNet Manager Suite Logging Reference

Introduction

Application and beacon server logging

Logging location

Logging configuration

Logging from application server components

Logging from beacon server components

Other server logging

Internet Information Services (IIS) logs

Windows Event Viewer

FlexNet inventory agent logging

Logging location

Logging configuration

Logging from inventory agent components

Other specialized agent logs

Adoption logs

Windows Installer log from the agent installation

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