How to increase the number of log file versions in 11.34 for a linux Client in CommandCenter

This can be done by viewing each individual log on a client. Navigate to Protect → Files Servers or to Manage → Servers → Remove the Infrastructure filter, select your client from the list, go to it, then click the Action Button represented by the Three Dots in a Circle → View Logs. 
 
Select the log you want to see, and increase debug and log retention on it. Here is an example from our lab of clBackupChild on Linux. It is in the top right corner.

To do this on a massive scale, you can add clients to a Server Group, previously known as Client Computer Groups, and add the respective Additional Settings.
 
https://documentation.commvault.com/additionalsetting/details?name=%22%3CLogFileName%3E_DEBUGLEVEL%22&id=2447
https://documentation.commvault.com/additionalsetting/details?name=%22%3CLogFileName%3E_MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS%22&id=504
https://documentation.commvault.com/additionalsetting/details?name=%22%3CLogFileName%3E_MAXLOGFILESIZE%22&id=508
 
I do not have administrator rights in the lab, so I cannot guide you specifically, but you can navigate to Manage → System → somewhere around there should be Additional Settings, or Settings → Additional Settings. You can try searching Additional Settings in the top search bar in the Command Center.

https://documentation.commvault.com/2024/essential/adding_setting_for_servers_and_server_groups.html

Add an Entity Setting and set it to the Server Group. You can add, as an example, the following.

Add the Setting 1 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupChild_DEBUGLEVEL

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 6

--- Apply to: the Server Group

Add the Setting 2 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupParent_DEBUGLEVEL

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 6

--- Apply to: the Server Group

Add the Setting 3 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupChild_MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 200

--- Apply to: the Server Group

Add the Setting 4 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupParent_MAXLOGFILESIZE

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 25

--- Apply to: the Server Group

And because the Logging only applies for a week, if you want to apply it for more than seven days, you have to use the _UNTIL additional setting.
https://kb.commvault.com/article/81376
 

Add the Setting 5 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupParent_MAXLOGFILESIZE_UNTIL

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 1812914366

--- Apply to: the Server Group
 

Add the Setting 7 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupChild_MAXLOGFILEVERSION_UNTIL

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 1812914366
--- Apply to: the Server Group

Add the Setting 8 on Entity.

--- Name: clBackupChild_DEBUGLEVEL_UNTIL

--- Category: EventManager

--- Type: Integer

--- Value: 1907608766
--- Apply to: the Server Group

Note that the Command Center automatically adds the Category and Type… most of the time. It should add it for at least the three main logging settings, DEBUGLEVEL, MAXLOGFILESIZE and MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS, maybe for the DEBUGLEVEL_UNTIL, MAXLOGFILESIZE_UNTIL and MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS_UNTIL too, but I have not tested that.

 
I skipped on most of the settings, but you would generally avoid MAXLOGFILESIZE, and only use DEBUGLEVEL and MAXLOGFILESIZE, and if you want to keep them for more than seven days, use DEBUGLEVEL_UNTIL and MAXLOGFILESIZE_UNTIL in addition, with the value in Unix Epoch Time.
 
Hope that helps and is not too annoying to set up. By the way, the _UNTIL one is also true for the old CommCell Console, if you want to keep debug level, or just general log retention configurations for more than a week.

Thank you for the detailed description. My question has been more than answered. I retested it in my lab and found all necessary fields to fill in. I knew how to set keys and was able to open the necessary menu items in Command Center, even if the names always changed slightly. (from reg key→ additional settings → now: settings )

Using templates to set keys (you call it “Add an Entity Setting”) is not so common for me but I will note for future use. I found it before in qscripting but valued it as too oversized to just increase the number of versions of e.g cvd.log of one client.

I have been working with Commvault since version 9 and have become very accustomed to the Commcell Console. Since with 11.34 the Command Center is partly propagated as the "one and only" solution, it is time to change.

Since we have not found anything like this at BOL, our team is currently creating a table (Task, in Commcell Console, In Command Center). So this will not be the only question.

Thank you very much

Alex Deaconu wrote:

This can be done by viewing each individual log on a client. Navigate to Protect → Files Servers or to Manage → Servers → Remove the Infrastructure filter, select your client from the list, go to it, then click the Action Button represented by the Three Dots in a Circle → View Logs. 
 
Select the log you want to see, and increase debug and log retention on it. Here is an example from our lab of clBackupChild on Linux. It is in the top right corner.

  

 

When these changes are made to a log file, do they revert back after some time?

Thanks,
Scott
 

Yes. No matter if you do it in the CommCell Console, Command Center Additional Settings, or the Debug Level button in an open log in the Command Center, when you first apply a setting, you will get a hidden registry key, the _UNTIL entry mentioned above, with the value set to one week after the current time, in Unix Epoch Time format.
 
https://documentation.commvault.com/2023e/expert/configuring_log_file_settings_in_commcell_console.html
 

• When you change this setting, it resets to the default value after 7 days.

This is mentioned just under debug level, but in actuality, this is being applied to all settings. Here is an example from a debug level set on June 11. I configured Debug 8 and File Versions 50.

linux-1touch-client\etc\CommVaultRegistry\Galaxy\Instance001\EventManager\.properties
sr_DEBUGLEVEL 8
sr_DEBUGLEVEL_UNTIL 1718708040
sr_MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS 50
sr_MAXLOGFILEBACKUPS_UNTIL 1718708040

With 1718708040 translating to Tuesday, June 18, 2024 10:54:00 AM GMT. That is when the Debug Level and File Version options will be reset to default.

Now another “last” question in this context: How can I set the "log file settings" forever?

At our large customers, important logs are already overwritten over the weekend. The aim would be to permanently increase the number of versions for some heavy load processes e.g cvd or CVMA.

With Commserve and Windows I can handle this via the Process Manager, but how do I do this with Linux?

Is there a better solution than setting the Unix epoch time in the distant future? I think I tested NOT to set
_UNTIL  or delete it from the settings, in a previous release with no success.

I am not sure how Process Manager handles the logs, since I deal mostly with Unix. On a Linux CommServe, you would use the same additional settings, with _UNTIL and just set it to a random large date, like set it to expire the logging in 2054. By that time, you would have probably gone through a lot of CommCell migrations, maybe even the default retention would change, who knows.
 
For the _UNTIL value, you could use 2665311720, which roughly translates to June 17, 2054.

Is there a plan to make that more intuitive? It’s no obvious way to change log retention for old school commcell console users for sure. 

@lborek The registry key options have been available for a very long time, I believe V10 and earlier. That is how the logging was handled, before the introduction of the Logging Tab in the CommCell Console.
 
The ‘intuitive’ way is to use the View Logs tab in the Command Center, where you can set the debug level and the number of logs. Other than this one, I am not sure if there is any plan to add a global logging setting, like we have the global additional settings under Manage → System → Settings.
 
Like I have mentioned above, even log retention, at least for Unix systems, will get changed back to its default after seven days since it was set, because of the _UNTIL key.