The first failure data capture (FFDC) feature preserves the information that is generated from a processing failure and returns control to the affected engines. The captured data is saved in a log file for analyzing the problem.
FFDC is intended primarily for use by IBM Service. FFDC instantly collects events and errors that occur during the WebSphere Application Server runtime. The information is captured as it occurs and is written to a log file that can be analyzed by an IBM Service representative.
The FFDC configuration properties files are located in the properties directory under the WebSphere Application Server product installation. There are three properties files, but only the ffdcRun.properties file should be modified. The ExceptionFileMaximumAge property is the property that you can use to configure the amount of days between purges before being deleted. The value of the ExceptionFileMaximumAge property should be a positive number.
The FFDC feature does not affect the performance of the WebSphere Application Server product.
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