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How to set up TOP Server Logs for Extended Data Store

The TOP Server Extended Data Store allows TOP Server to log events to disk and span across multiple files - in order to capture events for a longer time period than could be saved in memory. An Extended Data Store can be set up for three different log types: Event Logs, OPC Diagnostics Logs, and Communications Diagnostics Logs. An Extended Data Store log may be requested by the Software Toolbox Technical Support Team in order to capture diagnostics for troubleshooting - when the problem is not easily replicatable, occurs inconsistently, occurs at random times, and/or is self-resolving to where capturing it in logs manually may prove difficult or impossible.

When enabled, the Extended Data Store logs have the potential to create and fill a large number files on your hard drive and can quickly use a large amount of disk space. Because of this, it is strongly recommended that Extended Data Store only be enabled during troubleshooting and be disabled after. Unless regular pruning is done, extended data store files should not be left running long term. 

 
Here is the configuration procedure:
 
  1. Enable Logs in TOP Server.
    1. To capture Event Logs, the TOP Server Event Logger service needs to be running.
    2. To capture the OPC Diagnostics, it needs to be enabled in the TOP Server Configuration:
      • Right-click on Project in the tree and open Properties.
      • For OPC DA, set Enable Diagnostics Capture to Yes on the OPC DA tab.
      • For OPC UA, set Log Diagnostics to Yes on the OPC UA tab.
    3. To capture the Communications Diagnostics, it needs to be enabled on each Channel in the TOP Server Configuration:
      • Right-click on the Channel name in the tree and open Properties.
      • In the General tab, set Diagnostics Capture option to Enable.
      • Repeat for each Channel that you are interested in capturing the Communications Diagnostics for.
  2. Right-click on the TOP Server Administration icon located in the System Tray. If the Administration icon is not present in the System Tray, run server_admin.exe located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Software Toolbox\TOP Server 6
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Go to the Event Log Tab.
  5. Change Persistence Mode to Extended Data Store for the log type(s) of interest. The settings for each individual log type are independent of the settings for the other log types and can/should be set individually as appropriate.
  6. Specify the Log file path to be the location when the persisted files are stored.
  7. Set the Max single file size (KB). The valid range is 100 to 10000 KB. The default setting is 1000 KB. This is the size after which the current log file will be closed, and a new file will be created.
  8. Set the Min. days to preserve. The valid range is 1 to 90 days. The default setting is 30 days. 
  9. Click Apply and click OK to close window.