Backing up garbage-collection (GC) log files in Microsoft Windows operating environments


If you enable GC logging (for the SAS® 9.4 Web Application Server, the Cache Locator, and so on) in a Windows environment, the GC log is overwritten each time the Java virtual machine (JVM) restarts. There is no workaround for this behavior, and when it happens, important diagnostic information is lost. If you are instructed to enable GC logging by SAS Technical Support, you need to frequently back up the GC log file in order to avoid losing your diagnostic information. You can use the following method to back up a GC log file.

  1. Download this ZIP file to your middle-tier machine and unzip the file.
  2. Within the ..\gcbackup\conf folder that you unzipped, open the wrapper.conf file in a text editor and edit the following variables within that file:
    • set.SASHOME: Set this variable to the path of your SASHome directory that contains the SAS Private Java Runtime Environment instance, as shown in this example:

set.SASHOME=C:\SAS\SASHome

    •  set.GC_LOG: Set this variable to the full path that contains the GC log file that you want to back up, as shown in this example:

set.GC_LOG=C:\SAS\Lev1\Web\Logs\gcSASServer01_1.log

3. Save the modified wrapper.conf file.

4. Open a command prompt and submit a command similar to the following to navigate to the bin directory that is within the gcbackup folder:

cd ..\gcbackup\bin

5. From that directory, submit the following command to install the service:

install.bat

After you install the service, you should see the service named SAS Midtier TS - GC Backup in your Windows Services interface, as shown below:

SAS Midtier TS - GC Backup next to Automatic and Local System

 

6. Right-click that service and select Start. The GC Backup service should now be running.

After you perform these steps, you should see that *.BKUP files are created for the GC log file that you are backing up (the file that you specified in the set.GC_LOG variable) These *.BKUP files are in the same directory as the original GC log file. You should see up to ten *.BKUP files.

If you have any issues running the backup service or if the .BKUP files are not created, see the wrapper.log file in the ..\gcbackup\logs\ folder for troubleshooting information.