Trace Collection

To analyze trace files of a Cisco CallManager system locally on an administrator PC, it is necessary to collect trace files from the Cisco CallManager file system and copy them to the PC of the administrator. Instead of manually copying all trace files from all servers of the cluster, you can use the Trace Collection tool, which automates this process.

If you want to analyze trace files from multiple servers on your local PC, use the Trace Collection tool to transfer the trace files to your local PC, where they can then be analyzed by the Bulk Trace Analysis tool or a text editor. There are three steps involved, as illustrated in Figure 32-12:

Step 1.	When traces are enabled, Cisco CallManager writes trace information to the local trace files.
Step 2.	The Trace Collection tool can be used to download all trace files (including XML trace files) from all Cisco CallManager systems in the cluster.
Step 3.	The Bulk Trace Analysis tool allows analysis of XML trace files at the administrator PC. You can view text files using a text editor.

Figure 32-12. Remote Analysis of Trace Files

 

The Trace Collection Tool

The Trace Collection tool allows you to collect trace information for any Cisco CallManager service of any Cisco CallManager throughout the cluster, including the time and date of the trace for that service. You can run this tool on any PC on the network because it is available from the Cisco CallManager Install Plugins window.

After the Trace Collection tool is installed on the PC, enter the IP address, username, and password for Cisco CallManager. As soon as the connection to the server is established, the window shown in Figure 32-13 opens.

Figure 32-13. Trace Collection Tool

Three tabs are available in the Cisco CallManager Trace Collection Tool window. Each has its own function, as described in Table 32-3.

Table 32-3. Tab Functions in the Cisco CallManager Trace Collection Tool Window

Tab	Function
Select CallManager Services	Provides a grid of services for the Cisco CallManager nodes in the cluster. Choose all or some of the services for which traces should be collected by checking the appropriate check boxes.
Select CallManager Applications	Provides the list of Cisco CallManager applications for which traces can be collected. Choose all or some of the applications in this tab.
Select System Traces	Provides a list of all system logs from which data can be selected.

Note

The Back and Next buttons shown in Figure 32-13 move you between the three tabs.

After selecting the desired system logs, define the date range for the data to be selected to help minimize the amount of data that needs to be collected. You can then click the Collect Traces button for the application to start downloading and compressing all files locally to the PC. All files are added to the system primary hard drive (C:) to an archive named CiscoCallManagerTraceCollection.zip.

Caution

Selecting all kinds of data from all Cisco CallManager servers on the system leads to extremely long download times, extensive file-compression processing, and large compressed files.