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How To: Obtain Logs the Easy Way! This article explains how to use the Log App to pull the most frequently used logs.
Prerequisites: Alteryx
Procedure:
Download App LogApp.yxzp (added as an attachment to this article)
Run LogApp.yxzp in Alteryx Designer
Choose a location for the logs to be copied to. In this location, a folder is created called “Logs”. After the files are copied to this location, there is a PowerShell command that zips this folder into a file called “Logs.zip” and then deletes the Logs Folder. The important thing to note here is that PowerShell needs to be working on the machine to zip up these logs.
Select which logs you want to gather. Note: If the issue you are encountering first started occurring very recently, then you should be fine with selecting the past 24 hours, or the last 7 days.
Click Finish. It may take over 10 minutes for the App (including System Information) to move the logs to the folder and Zip them.
Navigate to your selected folder and send the Zip file to Support.
Notes:
You need to make sure there is not a Logs folder or a Logs.zip file in the Directory you chose.
If asked for Service logs in the past 24 hours, and you have no Service logs for the past 24 hours, you will be prompted to rerun the app. The same goes for Gallery and Engine logs, as well as other timeframes.
When choosing specific dates/times, make sure the end date/time is AFTER the start date/time and that the time format is in the correct format (hh:mm:ss)
In a multi-nodal Server setup, you may want to run this on all nodes
Log Files Included:
RuntimeSettings – Location: %ProgramData%\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml - This File holds the configuration settings of your Server. When you set the System Settings on a Server Installation (Controller, Worker, or Gallery node) and click the Finish button at the end, the RuntimeSettings.xml file will be updated with all those settings. (As you can imagine, providing this file is a lot easier than sending a bunch of screenshots). System Info – Location: System Information (msinfo32.exe) -> File -> Save as .nfo - This file contains information about the hardware and software environment of your workstation. Cores, Processors, RAM, and all that system goodness that can determine how to properly configure your Server, so it’s run at its highest possible efficiency. Event Viewer – Location: Event View -> Windows Logs -> Application (System) -> Save All Events As – These files gather Event logs that include errors, crashes, and the like. These logs can also include information on what service or file may have caused an issue, which helps isolate the root cause of the behavior or error. UI Logs – Location: %ProgramData%\Alteryx\ErrorLogs – This folder contains all GUI logs experienced by Alteryx Designer. Anytime the interface of Designer crashes or faces an unexpected error, a log will generate in this folder, containing details on the specific cause of the exception, or at the very least, provide which files crashed or experienced an error. Engine Logs* – Location: **Defined in System Settings -> Engine -> General -> Logging Directory** - Engine logs are basically records of workflow results from anytime the Engine is run. This means anything run from Scheduler and Gallery will populate as an Engine Log. Note - In a multi-nodal setup, the Worker will have the Engine Logs. Service Logs* – Location: **Defined in System Settings -> Controller -> General -> Logging** - Service logs provide information on the AlteryxService, which is the background component that runs the Server. If the AlteryxService goes down for any reason, Alteryx Server will not work. The information recorded in the service logs provides a record of anything the Service is doing, failing or otherwise. Note – If you have SAML enabled, SAML logs will also be gathered with the Service Logs. Gallery Logs* - Location: **Defined in System Settings -> Gallery -> General -> Logging Directory** - Gallery logs contain information on Gallery responses. When an action is taken on the Gallery, the information is logged here.
According to this document, "The important thing to note here is that PowerShell needs to be working on the machine to zip up these logs." However, that is not completely accurate. It uses the "Compress-Archive" command, which was introduced with PowerShell version 5. Our Alteryx Server is running on Windows Server 2012 R2 which is running PowerShell version 4, so this doesn't work as it is. This statement should be changed to read, "The important thing to note here is that PowerShell version 5.0 or higher needs to be working on the machine to zip up these logs."
