Service logs are logs written in a binary format. You cannot view
a service log directly using a text editor. You should never directly edit
the service log, as doing so will corrupt the log.
Before you begin
To move
a service log from one machine to another, you must use a mechanism like FTP,
which supports binary file transfer. You can view a service log in two ways:
- It is recommended that you use the Log
Analyzer tool to view the service log. This tool provides interactive
viewing and analysis capability that is helpful in identifying problems.
- If you are unable to use the Log Analyzer tool, you can use the Showlog
tool to convert the contents of the service log to a text format that you
can then write to a file or dump to the command shell window.
Why and when to perform this task
Run the showlog script to view the contents of the service log as
described in the following procedure.
Steps for this task
- Open a shell window on the machine where the service log resides.
- Change the directory to install_root/bin where install_root is
the fully qualified path where the WebSphere Application Server product is
installed.
- Run the showlog script.
showlog.bat
showlog.sh
- Run the following showlog script with no parameters to display
usage instructions.
showlog.bat
showlog.sh
![[UNIX]](../../unix.gif)
Display the service log contents to the
shell window. showlog service_log_filename
If
the service log is not in the default location, you must fully qualify the service_log_filename
- Format and write the service log contents to a file.
showlog service_log_filename output_filename
If the service log is not in the default location, you must fully qualify
the service_log_filename