Question
How do you enable logging in Deployment Server?

Answer
 

How to enable Deployment Server logging

It is not necessary to enable all the logs listed below for every issue reported to Deployment Server support specialists. Gather the logs (noted by numbers 1 – 11) below as appropriate.  A few 6.x examples are given below:

Aclient / Axengine Communication:  Gather logs 5, 6, and 7
Bootworks / Axengine Communication: Gather logs 5, 6, and 9
DSINFO:  This utility can be useful to gather all server side logs that are enabled PLUS environment information.

1) MSINFO32

This utility is used to gather information about server and client computers. This is a Microsoft Utility.

Click on Start > Run and then type in MSINFO32.

Once open, click on Action and then select Save as System Information File. Make sure it is on the top icon for Windows 2000 systems.

2) Installation of Deployment Server 6.x

A file called Trace.log is created and will apply to 6.x versions of DS.

1. Go to Start > Run.
2. Enter Regedit.exe in the open field and click on OK.
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Altiris\.
4. Right-click on the Altiris folder select New > Key.
5. Change the name of the key to Debug.
6. Right-click on the Debug folder and select New > String Value.
7. Name the string debug by right-clicking on the newly created value, choosing Rename, and changing the name to debug.
8. Double-click on the debug value created in steps 6 and 7.
9. Enter a value of 1 in the value data field.
10. Click on OK.
11. Exit the Registry Editor.
12. Reboot the computer.

DS 6.x also has a utility called DBinstaller.exe that generates a log if the SQL scripts fails during the install.

3) RapidDeploy (RDeploy.exe, RDeployt.exe)

Enabled by default, a log called RD******.LOG is generated when errors occur during regular RDeploy.exe operations.

The last six characters after RD are the last characters of the clients computer’s MAC address. The logs are stored in the .\deployment server\rdeploy\<appropriate subdirectory>.

4) PXE logging 6.x

These logs are used mainly to troubleshoot the PXE services when the services fail to start, etc.

1) From the Deployment Server console, choose PXE Configuration from the Tools pull-down menu.

2) Select the Data Logs tab.

3) Enable the desired PXE log files and set the error level and log file destination.

4) Click the Save button at the bottom.

Note:  Even though some PXE logging may be turned on, log files are not always generated. The PXE logs do not have a size limit and may grow very large; therefore it is advised to make sure that the PXE logging is disabled after use.

5) Server Side Logging (Axengine log)

To enable engine (axengine.exe) logging in Deployment Server:

1. Open the Altiris Deployment Server applet in the Windows Control Panel.
2. Click on the Options... button.
3. Click on the Debug tab.
4. Mark the box titled Engine Debug Logging.
5. To aid in data gathering, increase the Max File Size field to 20480 and increase the Logging Level to 5.
6. Mark the box titled Log Agent Communication with Engine and increase the Max File Size to 1024.
7. Click on the Apply button. Logging will begin immediately.
8. Click on the Okay button.
9. Click on the Okay button to close the configuration window.

The log file can be found in the eXpress share under the name axengine.log.

6) AClient communications to server 6.x (server-side client logs)

Enabling these logs allows a comparison of the server-side AClient logs to the client-side AClient logs.

1. Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel and then double-click on Altiris Deployment Server.
2. Click on Options.
3. Click on the Debug tab.
4. Enable the Log Agent Communication with Engine option.

This will create a log file for each client in the C:\Program Files\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\temp\msgs\ directory. The log files are named according to the computer ID, which can be found by right-clicking on the computer in the DS Console and then selecting Properties > General.

7) AClient Logging 6.x

Enable this log to troubleshoot communication issues with the Axengine.exe.

1. Double-click on the AClient icon in the system tray.
2. Click the Properties button.
3. Select the Log File tab.
4. Check the Save log information to a text file option.
5. Check the Log errors option.
6. Check the Log informational error messages option.
7. Check the Log debugging information option.
8. Increase the maximum size to 512,000 bytes (512 KB).

Take note of the file name for the log file. The default location is C:\Program Files\Altiris\AClient\AClient.log.

8) Bootworks installation log

A log called bwinst.log is generated at the root of the target drive if the installation fails.

9) Bootworks 6.x Logging

Enable Bootworks logging to troubleshoot drive mapping issues, copying of configuration files, etc. when imaging and doing any jobs at the DOS level.

Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT in either the Embedded Bootworks Partition or the Bootworks Boot Disk.

Find the statement that says:

REM set DEBUG=-logC:\bootwork.log.bat

and take the REM statement out of this line, so it looks like this:
 

set DEBUG=-logC:\bootwork.log

It is also possible to get an individual bootwork log file for each system by using the following command line arguement:

set DEBUG=-logpath<directory>  (e.g. set DEBUG=logpathf:)

The logs that are created will be named according to the MAC address of the machine.

If using a Bootworks Boot Disk then change the path to be A:\bootwork.log. If the path is left as C:\bootwork.log, then no log file will be generated unless the C:\ on the computer is recognized at the DOS level (which means it must be formatted in fat16 format which is not common).

If PXE is being used, go into the PXE Configuration Utility. Select the PXE boot being used, such as Managed PC, Initial Deployment, etc. and then click Make Boot Files. From that point modify the existing PXE boot configuration or create a new configuration. 

Edit the autoexec.bat to change:

REM set DEBUG=-logC:\bootwork.log

to look like:

set DEBUG=-logf:\bootwork.log

Note that the log file path has been changed to f:\ because the memory space that PXE boots from is lost after the PXE boot is done; this setting will put the Bootworks log onto the network share point.

Also note if there are multiple clients booting PXE at the same time, all clients will be attempting to modify the same bootwork.log file and so the entries will not be unique.

10) RapidInstall

An RInstall.log file may be generated if an error occurs.

RapidInstall can be forced to log by running the RIP package with a VB:4 switch. The log file will show up under the %temp%\altiris\rinstall directory.

11) Applicable NS Logs

Sometimes it is necessary to use the ce.log and an.log files to troubleshoot Deployment Solution’s integration within Notification Server. Consult the appropriate Notification Server troubleshooting documents for additional information.