Log configuration of distributed applications

Abstract

A method of configuring a logging utility includes generating, by a computer system, at least one message based on a model of logs from at least two software components of a multi-component application and sending, by the computer system, the message to at least one of the two software components for configuring a logging utility of the corresponding software component.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of configuring a logging utility, the method comprising:
 generating, by a computer system, at least one message based on a model of logs from at least two software components of a multi-component application; and   sending, by the computer system, one of the messages to at least one of the two software components for configuring a logging utility of the corresponding software component.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configuring directs the logging utility to suppress logging of a certain event. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configuring directs the logging utility to begin logging a certain event that is not currently being logged. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configuring directs the logging utility to generate compressed logs. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving the logs from the software components if the logging utility was determined not to be successfully configured; and   filtering out some of the retrieved logs based on the model.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising compressing the remaining retrieved logs. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the filtering comprises:
 determining whether records of the retrieved logs correspond to respective states of the model;   determining whether two of the states have occurred within a predetermined period of one another; and   filtering out the determined records if the two states have not occurred within the predetermined period.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the model includes a state derived from at least two related records of the logs. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the state indicates tokens of the related records that are determined to be common among the records and excludes tokens that are determined to be uncommon. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the state further includes indexes of each token within its respective record. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the model includes a second state derived at least two other related records, and each state includes a unique identifier. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the logs are XML based, plain text, or stored in a relational database. 
     
     
         13 . A method configuring a logging utility, the method comprising:
 retrieving logs from at least two software components of a multi-component application;   generating states to form a model of the retrieved logs, wherein each state is representative of at least two related records of the logs;   editing the log model to perform at least one of (i) removing at least one of the states, (ii) merging at least two of the states into a single state, and (iii) sub-dividing one of the states into at least two separate states; and   configuring a logging utility of at least one of the software components based on the edited model.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the configuring causes the logging utility to suppress logging of a previously logged event when the removing or merging is performed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the configuring causes the logging utility to generate a log for an event that is not currently being logged when the sub-dividing is performed. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein one of the states indicates tokens shared by the corresponding records and their indexes within these records. 
     
     
         17 . A method of configuring a logging utility, the method comprising:
 deriving a log model from logs of at least two software components of a multi-component application;   editing the log model to perform at least one of (i) removing one state of the model, (ii) merging two states of the model into a single state, and (iii) sub-dividing one state of the model into at least two separate states; and   configuring a logging utility of at least one of the software components based on the edited model.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the configuring causes the logging utility to suppress logging of a previously logged event when the removing or merging is performed. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the configuring causes the logging utility to generate a log for an event that is not currently being logged when the sub-dividing is performed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , where one of the states is representative of at least two related records of the logs.