User trace

User trace is one of two types of optional trace available in WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker. User trace is inactive by default, and must be activated explicitly by a command, or by the workbench, when you need more information than that provided by the entries in the Event Log. For more information about logs, see Logs.

Typically you use user trace for debugging your applications, as it can trace brokers, execution groups, and deployed message flows.

You can use the workbench to control most of the trace activity that you need. The workbench also enables you to start and stop tracing on remote systems.

When you activate user tracing, you cause additional processing for every activity in the component that you are tracing. Large quantities of data are generated by the components. Expect to see some impact on performance while user trace is active. You can limit this additional processing by being selective about what you trace, and by restricting the time during which trace is active.

The user trace log files

When trace is active for any component (including the workbench), information is recorded in binary form. The location of the trace logs is as follows:
Windows
If you set the workpath using the -w option of the mqsicreatebroker command, the location is workpath\log . If you do not specify the broker workpath, the location is install_dir\log, where install_dir is the directory where WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker is installed.
UNIX
/var/wmqi/log
z/OS
/component_HFS/log

The file names reflect the component and subcomponent for which the trace is active. For example, the broker name and unique execution group identifier form part of the file name when you are tracing activity within that execution group.

For example, if you have created a broker called WBRK_BROKER, you might see the following files in the log subdirectory:
WBRK_BROKER.682ec116-dc00-0000-0080-ce28a236e03d.userTrace.bin.1
WBRK_BROKER.682ec116-dc00-0000-0080-ce28a236e03d.userTrace.bin.2

You cannot view these files directly; you must use the commands provided to access the trace information and convert it to a viewable format. See mqsireadlog command and mqsiformatlog command for more details.

Using a Trace node

You are recommended to include a Trace node in your message flows when you are developing and testing them. This option not only gives you the ability to trace messages and activity in the flow, but also allows you to specify an alternate target file for the trace contents to isolate the detail in which you are interested. For details of how to use and configure a trace node, see Trace node.

Related concepts
Logs
Trace