Server Event Log Provides Detailed Warnings, Errors, Auditing and More

Verbose event log keeps you updated on current TOP Server status

TOP Server’s detailed event log is a valuable troubleshooting tool, listing informational messages, warnings, and errors for you when you are having an issue.  This applies whether an issue is configuration related, on the client or on the device side of the TOP Server communications. The Event log is available in the TOP Server Configuration User Interface and can be exported/saved to text files, persisted with user-configurable rollover settings, and even accessed by alarm management applications using OPC A&E.

Display only the information you want in the event log

There are a number of configurable display options in the TOP Server Configuration Window that allow you to adjust the level of reporting for events in the log.

By default, all possible events will be logged to your TOP Server event log.  However, if you find that you don't really need Informational or Security events, you can easily hide them.

Once your system is up and operational, for instance, you many also want to disable viewing Information Events so that you only see Warnings and Error messages in the Configuration interface.

Advanced event log settings

There are a number of advanced settings you can control for the event log in the TOP Server Administration Settings. The event log specific settings are located in the "Event Log" section.

The Connection settings are for the port connections used by the TOP Server Configuration to access the Event Log. If your IT department requires a specific port, you can adjust the port used here.

Additionally, the TOP Server event log can be persisted in multiple ways for flexibility in troubleshooting in different scenarios:

• Memory - this mode maintains event records in active memory only and does not persist events to a log file.
• Single File (Default) - this mode is the standard method that TOP Server has always used to persist event records to memory in a single log file, first in first out.
• Extended Data Store - this mode allows spanning of event record logs to multiple files to ensure no critical events are lost for long-term troubleshooting purposes.
  • Max single file size (KB) - specifies the maximum size for each individual log file after which the Event Logger should span to a new file. Size range is from 100 KB to 10,000 KB.
  • Min days to preserve - specifies the age of events to be preserved prior to file deletion. Range of time files can be preserver is from 1 day to 90 days.

When troubleshooting a problem it can be useful to increase the number of max records to make sure you don’t overwrite important events too often. The Log file path lets you select where you want the Log file to be saved. You can also copy the log file from one PC onto another and use this path to open it from another PC or on a network drive.

OPC AE Simple Events supported

Additionally, access to the event log messages by OPC AE clients is included (OPC AE access to Conditional alarms and events data for devices requires the optional OPC AE plug-in).

This is referred to as OPC AE Simple Events. OPC AE clients can be notified based on the type of Event Log event.  For example, if TOP Server received a communications error from the device or an information event that would show that someone has changed or restarted the Server, these events can be accessed by the AE client.