Logging in HTCondor

HTCondor records many types of information in a variety of logs. Administration may require locating and using the contents of a log to debug issues. Listed here are details of the logs, to aid in identification.

Job and Daemon Logs

job event log

The job event log is an optional, chronological list of events that occur as a job runs. The job event log is written on the submit machine. The submit description file for the job requests a job event log with the submit command log . The log is created on and remains on the access point. Contents of the log are detailed in the In the Job Event Log File section. Examples of events are that the job is running, that the job is placed on hold, or that the job completed.

daemon logs

Each daemon configured to have a log writes events relevant to that daemon. Each event written consists of a timestamp and message. The name of the log file is set by the value of configuration variable <SUBSYS>_LOG , where <SUBSYS> is replaced by the name of the daemon. The log is not permitted to grow without bound; log rotation takes place after a configurable maximum size or length of time is encountered. This maximum is specified by configuration variable MAX_<SUBSYS>_LOG .

Which events are logged for a particular daemon are determined by the value of configuration variable <SUBSYS>_DEBUG . The possible values for <SUBSYS>_DEBUG categorize events, such that it is possible to control the level and quantity of events written to the daemon’s log.

Configuration variables that affect daemon logs are

MAX_NUM_<SUBSYS>_LOG TRUNC_<SUBSYS>_LOG_ON_OPEN <SUBSYS>_LOG_KEEP_OPEN <SUBSYS>_LOCK FILE_LOCK_VIA_MUTEX TOUCH_LOG_INTERVAL LOGS_USE_TIMESTAMP LOG_TO_SYSLOG

Daemon logs are often investigated to accomplish administrative debugging. condor_config_val can be used to determine the location and file name of the daemon log. For example, to display the location of the log for the condor_collector daemon, use

$ condor_config_val COLLECTOR_LOG

job queue log

The job queue log is a transactional representation of the current job queue. If the condor_schedd crashes, the job queue can be rebuilt using this log. The file name is set by configuration variable JOB_QUEUE_LOG, and defaults to $(SPOOL)/job_queue.log.

Within the log, each transaction is identified with an integer value and followed where appropriate with other values relevant to the transaction. To reduce the size of the log and remove any transactions that are no longer relevant, a copy of the log is kept by renaming the log at each time interval defined by configuration variable QUEUE_CLEAN_INTERVAL, and then a new log is written with only current and relevant transactions.

Configuration variables that affect the job queue log are

SCHEDD_BACKUP_SPOOL QUEUE_CLEAN_INTERVAL MAX_JOB_QUEUE_LOG_ROTATIONS

condor_schedd audit log

The optional condor_schedd audit log records user-initiated events that modify the job queue, such as invocations of condor_submit, condor_rm, condor_hold and condor_release. Each event has a time stamp and a message that describes details of the event.

This log exists to help administrators track the activities of pool users.

The file name is set by configuration variable SCHEDD_AUDIT_LOG .

Configuration variables that affect the audit log are

MAX_SCHEDD_AUDIT_LOG MAX_NUM_SCHEDD_AUDIT_LOG

condor_shared_port audit log

The optional condor_shared_port audit log records connections made through the DAEMON_SOCKET_DIR . Each record includes the source address, the socket file name, and the target process’s PID, UID, GID, executable path, and command line.

This log exists to help administrators track the activities of pool users.

The file name is set by configuration variable SHARED_PORT_AUDIT_LOG .

Configuration variables that affect the audit log are

MAX_SHARED_PORT_AUDIT_LOG MAX_NUM_SHARED_PORT_AUDIT_LOG

event log

The event log is an optional, chronological list of events that occur for all jobs and all users. The events logged are the same as those that would go into a job event log. The file name is set by configuration variable EVENT_LOG. The log is created only if this configuration variable is set.

Configuration variables that affect the event log, setting details such as the maximum size to which this log may grow and details of file rotation and locking are

EVENT_LOG_MAX_SIZE EVENT_LOG_MAX_ROTATIONS EVENT_LOG_LOCKING EVENT_LOG_FSYNC EVENT_LOG_ROTATION_LOCK EVENT_LOG_JOB_AD_INFORMATION_ATTRS EVENT_LOG_USE_XML

accountant log

The accountant log is a transactional representation of the condor_negotiator daemon’s database of accounting information, which are user priorities. The file name of the accountant log is $(SPOOL)/Accountantnew.log. Within the log, users are identified by username@uid_domain.

To reduce the size and remove information that is no longer relevant, a copy of the log is made when its size hits the number of bytes defined by configuration variable MAX_ACCOUNTANT_DATABASE_SIZE, and then a new log is written in a more compact form.

Administrators can change user priorities kept in this log by using the command line tool condor_userprio.

negotiator match log

The negotiator match log is a second daemon log from the condor_negotiator daemon. Events written to this log are those with debug level of D_MATCH. The file name is set by configuration variable NEGOTIATOR_MATCH_LOG , and defaults to $(LOG)/MatchLog.

history log

This optional log contains information about all jobs that have been completed. It is written by the condor_schedd daemon. The file name is $(SPOOL)/history.

Administrators can change view this historical information by using the command line tool condor_history.

Configuration variables that affect the history log, setting details such as the maximum size to which this log may grow are

ENABLE_HISTORY_ROTATION MAX_HISTORY_LOG MAX_HISTORY_ROTATIONS ROTATE_HISTORY_DAILY ROTATE_HISTORY_MONTHLY

DAGMan Logs

default node log

A job event log of all node jobs within a single DAG. It is used to enforce the dependencies of the DAG.

The file name is set by configuration variable DAGMAN_DEFAULT_NODE_LOG, and the full path name of this file must be unique while any and all submitted DAGs and other jobs from the submit host run. The syntax used in the definition of this configuration variable is different to enable the setting of a unique file name. See the Configuration File Entries for DAGMan section for the complete definition.

Configuration variables that affect this log are

DAGMAN_ALWAYS_USE_NODE_LOG

the .dagman.out file

A log created or appended to for each DAG submitted with timestamped events and extra information about the configuration applied to the DAG. The name of this log is formed by appending .dagman.out to the name of the DAG input file. The file remains after the DAG completes.

This log may be helpful in debugging what has happened in the execution of a DAG, as well as help to determine the final state of the DAG.

Configuration variables that affect this log are

DAGMAN_VERBOSITY DAGMAN_PENDING_REPORT_INTERVAL

the jobstate.log file

This optional, machine-readable log enables automated monitoring of DAG. The page Machine-Readable Event History details this log.