Summary

This article describes how to configure diagnostic tracing in FlexNet Manager Suite using *.trace files.

This style of tracing can be generated by many processes that run in the application server, beacon, and agent components. It is primarily used when the normal logging solutions do not provide enough information, even with debug settings enabled.

Trace configuration file location per component

This style of diagnostic tracing is configured using a *.trace configuration file. The name and default location of the file varies for different components as per the following table.

How to configure tracing

1. Take a backup copy of the configuration .trace file for the component you wish to trace.
   
   
2. Open the relevant .trace file in a text editor.
   
   
3. Find the "filename=..." line and specify a valid full path to a file to hold generated tracing. Create the specified directory if it does not already exist exist.
   
   
4. Unless massive amounts of tracing are being generated and you don't need to know the latest tracing that has been output at any point in time, it is generally recommended to change the "flush_freq=16" setting to "flush_freq=0" in order for tracing output to be flushed to the disk after every line of output.
   
   
5. Remove the "#" (comment character) from the start of appropriate trace class lines in the .trace file to specify what classes of tracing information should be generated. Usually a Flexera technical support team member will inform you of what classes to enable here. For example, uncomment the line "+Inventory" to generate tracing related to inventory gathering or processing.
   
   
6. Save the updates to the .trace file.
   
   
7. If you are seeking to generate tracing from a long-running process, you may need to stop and restart the relevant process to pick up changes in the .trace file. As an example, if you are tracing beacon processes you may need to restart the Flexera Beacon Engine Windows service.
   
   
8. Perform the problematic action again to cause tracing to be generated.
   
   
9. Inspect the generated tracing details in the file specified by the "filename=" setting.
   
   
10. Once done, revert the configuration changes that were made to the .trace file to avoid generating further tracing output.

Note: Generated trace files can grow quickly, and be very large. Consider compressing trace files before sending them on to anybody else.

Related articles and resources

• Sections in the Gathering FlexNet Inventory guide:
  • Adopted: Troubleshooting Inventory
  • Core deployment: Troubleshooting Inventory
  • FlexNet Inventory Scanner: Troubleshooting Inventory
  • Zero-footprint: Troubleshooting Inventory
  • Agent third-party deployment: Troubleshooting Inventory
• FlexNet Manager Suite Logging Reference
• Gathering diagnostic tracing from a FlexNet inventory agent process on Unix-like operating systems