File channel

The File channel collects Venafi Log server events directly to a file in either the untranslated format or translated format. The default option translates the log files in a human readable format.

Untranslated files simply contain the event data; consequently, they are difficult to decipher. However, because these comma-delimited files maintain a consistent field structure across events, you can import these files into spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel to query the log data.

The following is a sample from a untranslated log file:

2130706433,1250570028,1250570028,\VED\Engines\Jupiter,917507,Info,0,\VED\Engines\Jupiter\TLS Protect,,0,0,,
2130706433,1250570029,1250570029,\VED\Engines\Jupiter\TLS Protect,1245202,Info,0,,,10000,0,,
2130706433,1250570029,1250570029,\VED\Engines\Jupiter\TLS Protect,1245197,Info,0,\VED\Policy\Import\cert1.venafi.com,10/05/2009 03:49:24,0,0,,

Translated log files can be visually scanned for content; however, it is difficult to generate reports from these files because there is no delimited field structure—they contain the source, the date and time, and the event descriptions defined in the application’s Log Schema (LSC) file.

The following is a sample from a translated log file:

127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:41: EncryptionDPAPI initialized successfully.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The Venafi Encryption Trust Protection Platform service manager for the engine Jupiter is running in 32 bit mode.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The engine \VED\Engines\Jupiter is loading the service module \VED\Engines\Jupiter\TLS Protect.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The certificate management service module for the engine Jupiter is examining certificates for expiration.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The certificate management service module for the engine Jupiter is examining certificates for notification.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The certificate manager for Jupiter has found 10000 certificates for renewal expiration consideration.
127.0.0.1, 17/08/2009 22:17:42: The certificate manager for Jupiter has found 0 work to do requests for consideration.

The Venafi Log server can use the File channel to create specialized log files for specific types of events.