The Log Viewer tool enables you to browse and analyze diagnostic log files created by the Active Roles Administration Service as well as event log files created by saving the Active Roles event log in Event Viewer on the computer running the Administration Service. Log Viewer can help you drill down through the sequence or hierarchy of requests processed by the Administration Service, identify error conditions that the Administration Service encountered during request processing, and find Knowledge Articles that apply to a given error condition.
With Log Viewer, you can open an Active Roles diagnostic log file (ds.log) or saved event log file (.evtx), and view a list of:
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Errors encountered by the Administration Service and recorded in the log file.
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Requests processed by the Administration Service and traced in the log file.
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All trace records found in the diagnostic log file.
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All events found in the event log file.
When you select an error in the list, you can choose a command to look for solution in Knowledge Base. The command performs a search in One Identity Software Knowledge Base to list the Knowledge Articles that can provide helpful information on how to troubleshoot the error you selected.
Log Viewer also enables you to:
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Search the list for a particular text string, such as an error message.
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Filter the list by various conditions, to narrow the set of list items to those you are interested in.
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View detailed information about each list item, such as error details, request details or stack trace.
To start Log Viewer, click Start Log Viewer in the Configuration Center main window.
Once you have started Log Viewer, open your Active Roles diagnostic log file or saved event log file by clicking Open on the Log Viewer toolbar, and supplying the path and name of the log file.
By default, Log Viewer displays a list of errors encountered by the Administration Service and recorded in the log file. You can use Log Viewer to look for information on how to troubleshoot a given error: Right-click the error in the list and then click Look for solution in Knowledge Base. Log Viewer performs a search in One Identity Software Knowledge Base to list the Knowledge Articles that apply to the error you selected.
Other tasks you can perform:
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To view a list of requests processed by the Administration Service and traced in the log file, click Requests in the View area on the Log Viewer toolbar.
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To view all trace records found in the diagnostic log file or all events found in the event log file, click Raw log records in the View area on the Log Viewer toolbar.
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To search the list for a particular text string, such as an error message, type the text string in the Search box on the Log Viewer toolbar and press Enter.
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To narrow the set of list items to those you are interested in, click Filter on the Log Viewer toolbar and specify the desired filter conditions.
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To view detailed information about an error, request, trace record or event, right-click the corresponding list item, and click Details.
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To view all trace records that apply to a given request, right-click the corresponding item in the Requests list and click Stack trace. This task is unavailable in case of an event log file.
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To view the request that caused a given error, right-click the error in the Errors list and click Related request. This task is unavailable in case of an event log file.
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To view all trace records that apply to the request that caused a given error, right-click the error in the Errors list and click Stack trace for related request. This task is unavailable in case of an event log file.
SQL Server database replication allows copying and distributing data between different nodes to maintain replicated data.
Active Roles uses the replication functionality of Microsoft SQL Server to copy and distribute configuration data from one Administration Service database to another, and to synchronize data among the databases for consistency.
For more information about replication terminology, the type of SQL Server Replication model that Active Roles uses, and the steps required to configure replication, see the following topics:
Replication
To replicate its configuration data, Active Roles employs the replication capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server. In SQL Server, the term replication refers to a process that copies and distributes data and database objects from one database to another and then synchronizes information between databases for consistency.
Publisher
The Publisher is a database server that makes data available for replication to other database servers. The Publisher can have one or more publications, each representing a logically related set of data. In the Active Roles replication model, the Publisher has only one publication.
Subscribers
Subscribers are database servers that receive replicated data. Depending on the type of replication, the Subscriber can propagate data changes back to the Publisher or republish the data to other Subscribers. In the Active Roles replication model, a Subscriber can propagate data changes to the Publisher and receive replicated data from the Publisher.
Distributor
The Distributor is a server that hosts the distribution database and stores history data, transactions, and metadata. In the Active Roles replication model, the same server is used as both the Publisher and Distributor.
Replication group
In the Active Roles replication model, the Publisher and its Subscribers are collectively referred to as the replication group, with each server in the replication group being referred to as the replication partner.
The replication group is comprised of replication partners that include a single Publisher and can include any number of Subscribers. When data in a replication partner’s database changes, replication ensures that the data changes are propagated to the databases maintained by all the other replication partners.
NOTE: In the SQL Server documentation, replication partners are referred to as synchronization partners.
Standalone database server
When it is initially set up, the Administration Service’s database server is configured as a standalone server that does not belong to any replication group.
Articles and publications
Articles are tables of data, partitions of data, or database objects that are specified for replication. Each publication is a collection of articles from one database. This grouping of multiple articles makes it easier to specify a logically related set of data that is to be replicated together. In the Active Roles replication model, each article is a table of data.
SQL Server Agent
SQL Server Agent hosts and schedules the agents used in replication, and provides a way to run Replication Agents. SQL Server Agent also controls and monitors several other operations outside of replication, including monitoring the SQL Server Agent service, maintaining error logs, running jobs, and starting other processes.
Replication Agents
Replication Agents used with Microsoft SQL Server replication carry out the tasks associated with copying and distributing data. The Active Roles replication model employs the Snapshot Agent and Merge Agents.
Snapshot Agent
The Snapshot Agent prepares schema and initial data files of published tables and stored procedures, stores the snapshot files, and records information about synchronization in the distribution database. In the Active Roles replication model, the Snapshot Agent runs at the Publisher.
Merge Agent
The Merge Agent applies the initial snapshot to the Subscriber, and moves and reconciles incremental data changes that occur. Each Subscriber has its own Merge Agent that connects to both the Publisher and the Subscriber and updates both.
In the Active Roles replication model, the Merge Agents run continuously at the Publisher. Each Merge Agent uploads data changes from its Subscriber to the Publisher, and downloads data changes from the Publisher to the Subscriber.