info icon

Introduction

This topic describes how to configure XML server tracing when deployed to Kubernetes.

For more information about XML server tracing, see Debug configuration in the Social Program Management XML Infrastructure Guide.

The Social Program Management PDF documentation is available to download from Merative Support Docs.

However, to use it in a Kubernetes environment you will need to perform the steps described in this section.

In summary, you will need to:

Create a new ConfigMap to override the trace setting in the default xmlserverconfig.xml.template file
Optionally you can (for the xmlserver deployment only) create a ConfigMap to override its default log4j properties file.

The Kubernetes commands presented in this topic are generic and assume a helm release name of releasename. To enter the commands in this topic as-is you need to enter the following commands first, substituting <name_space> for the OpenShift project name or AKS namespace for your deployment:

For Openshift:
- Create an alias for the oc command:
  - Bash: alias k='oc'
  - Windows PowerShell: Set-Alias -Name k -Value oc
- Set the default namespace: k project <name_space>
For AKS:
- Create an alias for the kubectl command:
  - Bash: alias k='kubectl'
  - Windows PowerShell: Set-Alias -Name k -Value kubectl
- Set the default namespace: k config set-context --current --namespace=<name_space>

Specifying the XML server trace setting

To enable XML server tracing you need to modify the out-of-the-box setting:

Copy the xmlserver pod’s xmlserverconfig.xml.template file to your local file system using the Kubernetes copy command. For example: k cp <xmlserver-pod-name>:xmlserverconfig.xml.template xmlserverconfig.xml.template -c xmlserver
Edit the local xmlserverconfig.xml.template file to change the TRACE_TRAFFIC value as follows: <TRACE_TRAFFIC>true</TRACE_TRAFFIC>
Delete the existing releasename-xmlserverconfig-template-cm ConfigMap. For example: k delete configmap releasename-xmlserverconfig-template-cm
Create a new releasename-xmlserverconfig-template-cm ConfigMap using your edited copy of xmlserverconfig.xml.template; for example: k create releasename-xmlserverconfig-template-cm --from-file=xmlserverconfig.xml.template The existing releasename-xmlserverconfig-template-cm ConfigMap in the releasename-xmlserver deployment will be replaced with your newly edited file.
You must restart the xmlserver pod(s) for the new setting to be used. You can restart the pod(s) using the Kubernetes delete pod command. For example: k delete pod <xmlserver-pod-name> This will terminate the running pod and start a new pod that reflects the new ConfigMap.

Modifying the log4j properties

The out-of-the-box log4j2.properties file will write the XML server trace output to stdout, which is routed to the pod’s tmp/xmlserver.log file. Optionally, you can provide your own custom log4j properties file. For instance, it can be useful to modify the output layout to indicate the time-of-day and the worker thread processing the XML server job. For example this log4j pattern:

appender.A1.layout.pattern=[%p] %d{ABSOLUTE_MICROS} [%t] [%c{1}] %m%n
Copy to clipboard

will produce output in this format:

[xmlserver] [INFO] 14:01:46,165000 [ThreadPoolWorker-1] [XMLConnectionHandler] - Awaiting job configuration.
Copy to clipboard

as compared to the out-of-the-box format:

[xmlserver] [INFO] [XMLConnectionHandler] Awaiting job configuration.
Copy to clipboard

For more information on specifying log4j patterns see the Layouts section of the log4j documentation.

To modify the log4j2.properties file:

Copy the xmlserver pod’s log4j2.properties file to your local file system using the Kubernetes copy command. For example: k cp <xmlserver-pod-name>:/opt/ibm/Curam/xmlserver/log4j2.properties log4j2.properties -c xmlserver
Edit the local file to specify the desired log4j configuration settings.
Create a ConfigMap using your edited copy of log4j2.properties; for example: k create configmap xmlserver-log4j-props-cm --from-file=log4j2.properties
Edit the xmlserver deployment to specify the new ConfigMap: k edit deployment releasename-xmlserver
- In the subsequent edit session add the entries for the new ConfigMap, matching the name used when creating it; for example:

...
        volumeMounts:
        ...
        - mountPath: /opt/ibm/Curam/xmlserver/log4j2.properties
          name: xmlserver-log4j-props-cm
          subPath: log4j2.properties
...
      volumes:
      ...
Copy to clipboard

You must restart the xmlserver pod(s) for it to reflect the new trace setting. You can restart the pod by using the Kubernetes delete pod command. For example: k delete pod <xmlserver-pod-name> This will terminate the running pod and start a new pod that reflects the new ConfigMap that contains the log4j properties.

Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting problems

Troubleshooting: MustGather