Chapter 12. Logging and Reporting Problems

This chapter provides information on how to log and report problems in Red Hat Satellite Server, including information on relevant log files, how to enable debug logging, how to open a support case and attach the relevant log tar files, and how to access support cases within the Satellite web UI.

You can use the log files and other information described in this chapter to do your own troubleshooting, or you can capture these and many more files, as well as diagnostic and configuration information, to send to Red Hat Support if you need further assistance.

12.1. Debug Logging

Debug logging provides the most detailed log information and can help with troubleshooting issues that can arise with Satellite 6.5 and its components. It is also possible to enable or disable individual loggers for selective logging.

12.1.1. Enabling Debug Logging

In the Satellite CLI, enable debug logging to log detailed debugging information for Satellite 6.5.

Procedure

  1. Edit the /etc/foreman/settings.yaml file.

    1. Change the logging level to "debug": 

      :logging:
  :level: debug

    2. Select individual logging types: 

      :loggers:
  :ldap:
    :enabled: true
  :permissions:
    :enabled: true
  :sql:
    :enabled: true

      For more information about loggers, see Section 12.1.2, “List of Loggers and Default Values”.

  2. Restart Satellite services: 

    # satellite-maintain service restart

12.1.2. List of Loggers and Default Values

The complete list of loggers with their default values 

:app:
    :enabled: true
:ldap:
    :enabled: false
:permissions:
    :enabled: false
:sql:
    :enabled: false

12.1.3. Log Files Provided by Satellite

Red Hat Satellite provides system information in the form of notifications and log files.

Table 12.1. Log Files for Reporting and Troubleshooting

Log FileDescription of Log File Content

/var/log/candlepin

Subscription management

/var/log/foreman

Foreman

/var/log/foreman-proxy

Foreman proxy

/var/log/httpd

Apache HTTP server

/var/log/foreman-installer/satellite

Satellite installer

/var/log/foreman-installer/capsule

Capsule Server installer

/var/log/libvirt

Virtualization API

/var/log/mongodb

Satellite database

/var/log/pulp

Celerybeat and Celery startup request messages. After startup is complete, messages are logged to /var/log/messages.

/var/log/puppet

Configuration management

/var/log/rhsm

Subscription management

/var/log/tomcat6 and /var/log/tomcat

Apache web server messages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, respectively.

/var/log/messages

Various other log messages related to pulp, rhsm, and goferd.

You can also use the foreman-tail command to follow many of the log files related to Satellite. You can run foreman-tail -l to list the processes and services that it follows.

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, you can use the journal for more extensive logging information. For more information, see Using the Journal in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator’s guide.

12.1.4. Utilities for Collecting Log Information

There are two utilities available to collect information from log files.

Table 12.2. Log Collecting Utilities

CommandDescription

foreman-debug

The foreman-debug command collects configuration and log file data for Red Hat Satellite, its back-end services, and system information. This information is collected and written to a tar file. By default, the output tar file is located at /tmp/foreman-debug-xxx.tar.xz.

Additionally, the foreman-debug command exports tasks run during the last 60 days. By default, the output tar file is located at /tmp/task-export-xxx.tar.xz. If the file is missing, see the file /tmp/task-export.log to learn why task export was unsuccessful.

For more information, run foreman-debug --help.

There is no timeout when running this command.

sosreport

The sosreport command is a tool that collects configuration and diagnostic information from a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system, such as the running kernel version, loaded modules, and system and service configuration files. The command also runs external programs (for example: foreman-debug -g) to collect Satellite-specific information, and stores this output in a tar file.

By default, the output tar file is located at /var/tmp/sosreport-XXX-20171002230919.tar.xz. For more information, run sosreport --help or see What is a sosreport and how can I create one?.

The sosreport command calls the foreman-debug -g and times out after 500 seconds. If your Satellite Server has large log files or many Satellite tasks, support engineers may require the output of sosreport and foreman-debug when you open a support case.

Important

Both foreman-debug and sosreport remove security information such as passwords, tokens, and keys while collecting information. However, the tar files can still contain sensitive information about the Red Hat Satellite Server. Red Hat recommends that you send this information directly to the intended recipient and not to a public target.