Testing log file attribute groups

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You can use Agent Builder to test the log file data set (attribute group) that you created. If no attributes are defined for the group, the testing process defines them automatically.

Before you begin

If any attributes are already defined for this data set and you want to define attribtes automatically during testing, use the agent editor to remove all the existing attributes from the data set. For instructions, see Removing attributes.

Procedure

  1. You can start the Testing procedure in the following ways:
    • During agent creation click Test Log File Settings on the Log File Information page.
    • After agent creation, select an attribute group on the Agent Editor Data Source Definition page and click Test Log File Settings. For more information about the Agent Editor, see Using the Agent Editor to modify the agent.

    After you click Test Log File Settings in one of the previous two steps, the Parse Log window opens.

  2. Select the source of the log data for testing:
    • Use attribute group settings: use the file name and location specified in the data source. By default, the data source processes only the information that is added to the log file after the testing process is started. You can use this option if the log file is being updated in real time.
    • Specify a sample file: provide a sample log file. With this setting, the testing procedure parses the entire contents of the log file. With this option, you can test the data source and create the attributes for it immediately, based on an existing sample. Specify the path and name of the file in the Log file name field or use the Browse button to select the file.
  3. Optional: Before you start testing, you can set environment variables and configuration properties.
    For more information, see (Attribute group testing).
  4. Click Start Agent.
    A window opens indicating that the Agent is starting. When the agent starts, it monitors the configured log file for new records
  5. To test your agent's data collection, generate new records in the monitored log file.
    When new records are added to the log file, the agent parses them according to its configuration and updates the corresponding attribute values in its cache.
  6. To simulate a request from Tivoli® Enterprise Portal or SOAP for agent data, click Collect Data.
    The Parse Log window collects and shows any new attribute values in the agent's cache since it was last started. An example data collection is shown in Figure 1
    Figure 1. Parse Log window that shows parsed log file attribute values
  7. Optional: Click Check Results if the returned data is not as you expected.
    The Data Collection Status window opens and shows you more information about the data. The data that is collected and shown by the Data collection Status window is described in Performance Object Status node
  8. The agent can be stopped by clicking Stop Agent.
  9. Click OK or Cancel to exit the Parse Log window. Clicking OK saves any changes that you made.