Enabling trace on client and stand-alone applications

When stand-alone client applications (such as Java™ applications, which access enterprise beans that are hosted in WebSphere® Application Server) have problems interacting with WebSphere Application Server, it might be useful to enable tracing for the application. Enabling trace for client programs causes the WebSphere Application Server classes used by those applications, such as naming-service client classes, to generate trace information.

• Using java –D system arguments
  1. Add the following for WebSphere component trace:

     -Dcom.ibm.ejs.ras.lite.traceSpecification=traceSpecString
     -Dcom.ibm.ejs.ras.lite.traceFileName=logName
     -Djava.util.logging.manager=com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WsLogManager
     -Djava.util.logging.configureByServer=true

  2. Add the following for ORB trace:

     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.CommTrace=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output=logName

     Note:

     • The value of logName must be the same for both properties com.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output and com.ibm.ejs.ras.lite.traceFileName.
     • TraceSpecString is a colon-separated list of trace specs (for example, Naming=all:Runtime=all)

     Example

     java -classpath com.ibm.ws.ejb.thinclient_9.0.jar;myClient.jar
     -Dcom.ibm.ejs.ras.lite.traceSpecification=WLM*=all:Naming=all
     -Dcom.ibm.ejs.ras.lite.traceFileName=myClient.log
     -Djava.util.logging.manager=com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WsLogManager
     -Djava.util.logging.configureByServer=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.CommTrace=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output=myClient.log
     -Djava.naming.provider.url=iiop://myserver.com:2809 myClient

• Using the TraceSettings.properties file
  1. Create a TraceSettings.properties file into which trace specifications are entered.

     The file created must be a properties file placed in the class path of the application client or stand-alone process. Create a trace properties file by copying the %install_root\properties\TraceSettings.properties file to the same directory as your client application Java archive (JAR) file.

     The file created must be a properties file placed in the class path of the application client or stand-alone process. Create a trace properties file by copying the app_server_root/properties/TraceSettings.properties file to the same directory as your client application Java archive (JAR) file.

  2. Specify the output location for the generated trace.
     Within the TraceSettings.properties file, use the traceFileName property to designate the trace output location. You must specify this property to generate visible output. Specify one of two options:

     traceFileName=filename

     where filename is the fully qualified name of an output file. For example, traceFileName=c:\\MyTraceFile.log

     traceFileName=stdout

     When specified, output is written to System.out

  3. Specify the trace spec string(s).
     Within the TraceSettings.properties file, specify a trace spec string similar to that available on the server (for example, WLM*=all). To trace multiple components, enter each individual trace string, one per line without any colons (:). For example,

     WLM*=all
     Naming=all

     Note: ORB trace cannot be enabled through the TraceSettings.properties file. Instead add the following system properties to the client startup script or command line invocation:

     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.CommTrace=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output=filename

     If enabling both ORB and WebSphere component trace (for example, Naming=all), ensure the filename specified in com.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output is the same as that specified by the traceFileName property within the TraceSettings.properties file.

  4. Specify the TraceSettings.properties file and logManager properties on the command line.
     Add the following system properties to the startup script or command of the client application.

     -DtraceSettingsFile=filename
     -Djava.util.logging.manager=com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WsLogManager 
     -Djava.util.logging.configureByServer=true

     filename is the TraceSettings.properties file created in step #1.

     The java.util.logging.manager and java.util.logging.configureByServer system properties configure Java logging to use a WebSphere Application Server-specific LogManager class and to use the configuration from the file specified by the traceSettingsFile property. The default Java Logging properties file, located in the Java SE Runtime Environment, is not be applied.

     Example

     java -DtraceSettingsFile=MyTraceSettings.properties 
     -Djava.util.logging.manager=com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WsLogManager 
     -Djava.util.logging.configureByServer=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.CommTrace=true
     -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.Debug.Output=c:\\MyTraceFile.log
     com.ibm.samples.MyClientProgram