Using ISM Environment Variables

The following environment variables control the size and number of log files that ISM maintains.

Environment Variable

Description

ISM_MAXLOGSIZE

If this variable is not set in the environment of the ISM server, its value is 0, which is interpreted as no limit. That is, the system resource is the limit. If this variable is set, the value set is the maximum log size. When the size of the log reaches this ISM_MAXLOGSIZE value, the log is truncated and it starts over with the next log message.

ISM_MAXLOGVERS

If this variable is set in the environment of the ISM server, the variable specifies the maximum number of activity-log files to be preserved by the ISM server. If this environment variable is not set, the default number of files to be preserved is four. If the variable is set to a null value, the ISM server preserves no activity log files.

ISM_DEBUG_FILE

If this variable is set in the environment of the ISM server, the variable specifies where the XBSA messages should be written. If you do not set this variable, the XBSA messages log is in $INFORMIXDIR/ism/applogs/xbsa.messages on UNIX or c:\nsr\applogs\xbsa.messages on Windows.

When ISM starts up, it checks the length of the activity log. On UNIX, this log resides in the $INFORMIXDIR/ism/logs/daemon.log file. On Windows, the file is %ISMDIR%\logs\daemon.log. If the log file exceeds the threshold that the ISM_MAXLOGSIZE environment variable specifies, the ISM server renames it to daemon.001. If a file named daemon.001 is already present, the ISM server renames that file to daemon.002, and so on, for all other existing log files up to the maximum number that ISM_MAXLOGVERS specifies.

The ISM server does not monitor the size of the XBSA messages log, which resides in a file named $INFORMIXDIR/ism/applogs/xbsa.messages on UNIX. This log resides in a file named c:\nsr\applogs\xbsa.messages on Windows. Use the ISM_DEBUG_FILE environment variable to change the location of the XBSA messages log.

To manage the growth of this file, set the ISM_DEBUG_LEVEL environment variable to 1 (the default) or 0, thereby minimizing or eliminating updates. If you use a higher level of detail, or you want complete assurance that the XBSA messages log can never fill up the disk, you can use the cron utility on UNIX or the Winat facility on Windows to save a periodic snapshot of the file and then truncate it.

For more information about ISM logs, refer to Reviewing ISM Logs. For information about ISM_DEBUG_LEVEL, see Using ON-Bar Environment Variables with ISM below.