LogDoor has the ability to process several log files concurrently, making possible detailed information for sites and the server as a whole. In this chapter, though, we will initially describe LogDoor as though only one log file is being processed. More sophisticated processing modes will be covered at the end of this chapter in Detailed Information on Sites.
The LogDoor Multi-domain Web Site Monitor is a standalone application which provides real-time, site-specific server access information based on your AppleShare IP, WebSTAR or WebSTAR-compatible log file. This information, which can be accessed over the Web if desired, includes a complete log file and day-by-day access summary reports for root-level sites and files on your server, and a real-time display that includes site-by-site access and a summary of accesses to your server as a whole. LogDoor also processes the log files produced by the HomeDoor Multi-domain Web Service Manager. Since these logs contain information that is somewhat different than that in Web server log files, the way the information is processed and displayed is somewhat different. See HomeDoor-specific processing for details.
LogDoor's processing can be done in real time while the log file is being produced, once a day at a time when traffic to your server is minimal, or off line after the log file has been closed. See LogDoor Tasks for details .
LogDoor processes your log file by root-level sites and files. What LogDoor uses as its root is, by default, the root of your Web server (usually the WebSTAR folder, or a folder specifically designated to AppleShare IP). LogDoor's root can be changed; this functionality is mentioned in Detailed Information on Sites.
NOTE: If you are running the evaluation version of LogDoor, only 10 sites will be supported. A dialog box will be displayed the first time a site beyond the tenth site is encountered. No information will be accumulated, and no log files written, for such sites. Contact Open Door Networks to purchase a fully functional version of LogDoor.
LogDoor is not a complete log analysis application. It is a real-time Web server monitor, providing immediate information on how sites and files on your server are being accessed. In addition to its summary reports, LogDoor outputs site-by-site WebSTAR-compatible log files, allowing you or your site owners to run any WebSTAR-compatible log analysis application to analyze the site logs in any way desired. LogDoor's reporting AppleScript feature aids in the direct integration of such applications with LogDoor itself, providing a complete, integrated log analysis solution.
The LogDoor Model
Figure 1 below shows the basic LogDoor model, which centers around the task file.
Figure 1. LogDoor Model
All LogDoor processing is done through LogDoor tasks and their associated task files. A LogDoor task file holds the processing state of the task itself. This state includes summary data from its processing of the input log file, and the task's configuration. Specifically, each task includes:
The input log file can be any WebSTAR-compatible log file or a HomeDoor log file. WebSTAR-compatible log files include LogDoor output log files. Using LogDoor output log files as input log files is mentioned later in this chapter in Detailed Information on Sites. Details on LogDoor tasks and task files can be found in LogDoor Tasks.
By default, LogDoor writes its output to a folder called "Output" located in the same folder as the task file. The name and location of a task's output folder can be changed using the "Output Files" dialog, and is covered in LogDoor Tasks. LogDoor outputs log files, HTML summary reports and text-based summary reports. A LogDoor task can be configured to output any combination of these, or to turn them off altogether. Further, the output options can be varied on a site-by-site basis. How to configure the output options is covered in Input & Output Log Files and Summary Reports. The hierarchy of LogDoor's output is illustrated in Figure 2 below. See Appendix 2 for output file formats.
Figure 2. Output Files Hierarchy
Note that there are two output folders which do not correspond to actual sites:
Log Files - LogDoor outputs, in real time, one individual site log file for each root-level site, plus a log file for all files at LogDoor's root. Each site log file is written to a specific folder for that site; the log file for root-level files goes into a folder called "Root." Details regarding output log files are found in Input & Output Log Files.
Summary Reports - The LogDoor task also produces, on a periodic basis, a summary report of its to-date processing for each site, and writes that summary to the site's folder within the output hierarchy. This summary comes from the day-by-day, site-by-site information stored within the task file itself.
LogDoor produces a detailed, configurable report of accesses to files and sites at the root of your server as a whole, plus day-by-day summary reports for accesses to sites at the root of your server. You can choose how often to output reports, or turn them off altogether. The overall report can be extensively customized. In addition, LogDoor can invoke an AppleScript when each site's report is being written, providing a means to further customize that site's report or even to pass the site's data to a full log file post-processing application for further analysis. All of LogDoor's output can be made Web-accessible, allowing you as Webmaster to make this information easily available to those responsible for each site. Using the security mechanisms of your server, this information can also be password-protected as desired. See Web Output in Appendix 1 for details on making LogDoor output Web-accessible.
Reports are fully covered in Summary Reports.
When a task is opened, LogDoor automatically opens a status window for that task. This status window provides visual displays of accesses to sites and the state of processing. If the task is processing a log file as that log file is being produced, the status window's information is in real time. The status window has six sections:
The status window is configurable in several ways:
Details of the controls contained in the status window can be found in LogDoor Windows.
LogDoor maintains an activity window displaying its most recent processing activity. For AppleShare IP users there are two additional windows pertaining to AppleShare IP plug-ins. These windows are also covered in LogDoor Windows.
To create a new LogDoor task, run LogDoor by double-clicking the LogDoor icon. You will be asked to provide a name for the new task file. The task status window will appear. To select the log file for the task to process, click on the Input Log File icon in the task status window, or choose "Input File" from the Task menu. The input log file can be the same one which is currently being produced by your Web server or HomeDoor, but in this case LogDoor may need to be running on the Macintosh where that log file is being produced. With the AppleShare IP Web server, LogDoor automatically finds the server's log file when a new task is first created.
Normally the LogDoor task will create its output files in a folder called "Output" in the same folder as the task file. To change where the output should be produced, or to change the names or types of output files, you can click on the Output Files icon in the status window, or select "Output Files..." from the Task menu. See the Task Default Output Options section of the "Input & Output Log Files" chapter for details of the Output Files dialog box.
To start the LogDoor task, click on the Processing icon or select "Run" from the Task menu. The LogDoor task will begin processing the log file you selected. The task will by default create, in the output folder you indicated, one folder for each root-level site that it encounters. The task will by default write the log file for each site to the site's folder and periodically write HTML and text-based summaries of the processing it has performed for the site to the site's folder. See Input & Output Log Files and Summary Reports for details of the task's output.
While running, the task's status window's activity graph will display hits and errors vs. time, and the status window's site list will display a site-by-site summary of the information it has processed, plus overall totals. You can suspend LogDoor processing by clicking the Processing icon or selecting "Suspend" from the Task menu. The task will stop running and close all of its output log files. Since the task's site-by-site summary reports are only written out periodically, you may also wish to select "Write Summaries Now" from the Task menu to ensure that the site summary reports are up to date. To resume processing, click the Processing icon again or re-select "Run" from the Task menu.
The LogDoor task will process the input log file until it has read through that file completely, at which time it will indicate that the file is 100% processed. The task will then continue scanning that file for additional information added to it, and process that information as it comes in. You can terminate this scanning by suspending processing, by closing the task (select "Close Task" from the File menu) or by quitting LogDoor.
By default, LogDoor provides summary information for each site in the Web server's root. Data for root-level files will, by default, be displayed under a special site item called "Root." To display access data for each root-level file under its own item, see Task Options in the LogDoor Tasks chapter.
A LogDoor task will display the total number of hits, visits, bytes transferred and errors for sites at its root level, but not provide details about the files and folders within those sites. However, by using LogDoor's virtual root feature, and LogDoor's ability to run multiple tasks concurrently, it is possible to obtain detailed information about files and folders within a site. To get detailed information on a site, select that site in the task's status window and from the Task menu choose Item, then "Create Task for Site Item...". A new task is created which uses the site's folder within the Web hierarchy for the task's root, and the site's output log file for the task's input log file. Files and folders (subsites) within the site's folder will appear in the new task's status window's site list and in the new task's summary reports, and the activity graph will show hits and errors vs. time for that site. If detailed information were desired for a folder within the subsite, the process could be repeated.
See the Detailed Site Information chapter for details.
LogDoor 2.0 supports Apple Events and AppleScript in three distinct ways:
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