nettlgen.conf(4)

Log Record

The log record defines static information used to configure logging defaults such as the name of the log file and whether to turn console logging on or off. Note that only the last log record encountered in the file is used; prior log records are ignored. Users can alter the network log information to suit their particular needs using the nettlconf command. For the network log information changes to take effect, the system administrator must stop and restart the network tracing/logging facility using the nettl command.

Log record fields are as follows:

The Console Logging Flag determines if console logging is to be enabled when the network tracing/logging facility is started. Console logging is used to display log messages on the system console using criteria specified in the file named by Console Filter File. If there is no console present or console logging is not desired this feature can be turned off using the nettlconf command. During system bootup, the Console Logging Flag is always updated to reflect the value of the NETTL_CONSOLE variable in the /etc/rc.config.d/nettl file.

If more information is desired than the special terse form used for console logging, turn off console logging and start a formatter with an options file specifying the filters to use (see netfmt(1M)).

The Log Port Size defines the number of outstanding messages possible in the log queue. For logging, 256-byte buffers are used. The number chosen here indicates how much space to allocate in kilobytes. The default size is 8192 bytes (specified by 8), which is split into thirty-two 256-byte blocks. The first block is reserved by the system, leaving 31 blocks for log messages. Each log message starts on a new block, taking 64 bytes of overhead. In addition, each block takes 8 bytes of overhead. The largest message that can be stored using the default size is 7624 bytes ((31 * 256) - (31 * 8) - 64). Most log network messages are fairly small, so choosing 8K of buffer is sufficient for the network logging facility to keep up with a large volume of messages.

The Maximum Log File Space determines the maximum logging file space to be allowed. Log files are split into two parts. When an individual log file reaches one-half of the maximum specified here, the network logging system deletes any existing old file, renames the current file to the old file, and starts a new file. The default specification allows for 1 Megabyte of total network log file storage (each file does not exceed 500K bytes). Since logging is usually infrequent and network log messages are fairly small, this should be more than adequate for all needs. The rate at which the file space fills up depends on what level of network logging is turned on for each subsystem, the volume of network traffic, frequency of connections, etc; and is very difficult to predict.

The Console Filter File specifies the name of the file containing formatter filters used for console logging. This file contains filters that control the logged information displayed on the console. The syntax of this file is the same as the filter configuration files that are used with the netfmt command. See netfmt(1M) for more details on filter configuration files.

If the console filter file does not exist, the specified file is created with a default set of filters which will display DISASTER messages on the console. If the console filter file does exist and contains a time_from filter, the time_of_day and day_of_year fields in the filter will be updated every time nettl is started.

The Console Filter File field is optional. If omitted the default file /var/adm/conslog.opts will be used.

KL Record

KL record fields are as follows:

The KL Minimum and Maximum Queue Size define the number of outstanding messages possible in the kernel log queue. The default size is 1000.

The Maximum Log File Space determines the maximum logging file size to be allowed. Log files are split into two parts. When an individual log file reaches the maximum specified here, the kernel logging system deletes any existing old file, renames the current file to the old file, and starts a new file. The default specification allows for 1 Megabyte of the kernel log file storage for one file. The rate at which the file space fills up depends on what level of kernel logging is turned on for each subsystem, the load of the system, number of central processor units (CPUs), and is very difficult to predict. One can use suffixes K and M to specify whether the size is to be in Kilo or Mega bytes. For instance, 16K = 16384 and 4M = 4096K.

The Write To Disk Flag determines if writing kernel logging messages to disk is to be enabled when the kernel logging facility is started. Writing to disk is used to preserve the information stored inside kernel logging messages on the non-volatile storage and to have a permanent log of kernel activity.

Subsystem Record

The subsystem record defines the information for that subsystem, and has ten fields including the tag field. The fields are separated by colons (:); thus no field can contain a colon. An empty field can be represented by the string NULL. NOTE: the information in the subsystem records should only be changed by the subsystem using the nettlconf command during system installation. Users should not change this information unless directed by a Hewlett-Packard support representative.

Subsystem record fields are as follows:

The recommended setting for the default logging level is set by the products' configuration scripts. The available classes are Disaster (8), Error (4), Warning (2), and Informative (1). Classes can be combined by adding the numbers; thus Disaster and Error together become 12. It can be changed by the user if another level of logging is desired on initialization. NOTE: for KL subsystems, logging is enabled for all classes with greater severity than the logclass value in the SS line.

The logging level can also be changed at run time using nettl -log command for subsystems serviced by NetTL facility and using kl -l command for subsystems serviced by KL facility.

If the subformatter library file name does not contain an absolute path, it is assumed to be under /usr/lib. The subformatter library must be a shared library.