Monitoring, Logging, and Alerts

This chapter covers OpenDJ monitoring capabilities. In this chapter you will learn to:

  • Access monitoring information over LDAP, over SNMP, and though use of JMX.

  • Monitor directory server status, including the status of directory server tasks

  • Configure directory server logs and interpret the messages they contain

  • Configure email settings for administrative alert notifications

OpenDJ control panel provides basic monitoring capabilities under Monitoring > General Information, Monitoring > Connection Handler, and Monitoring > Manage Tasks. This chapter covers the other options for monitoring OpenDJ.

LDAP-Based Monitoring

OpenDJ exposes monitoring information over LDAP under the entry cn=monitor. Many different types of information are exposed. The following example shows monitoring information about the userRoot backend holding Example.com data:

Interface stability: Evolving (See "ForgeRock Product Interface Stability" in the Reference)

$ ldapsearch --port 1389 --baseDN cn=monitor "(cn=userRoot backend)"
dn: cn=userRoot backend,cn=Disk Space Monitor,cn=monitor
disk-state: normal
objectClass: top
objectClass: ds-monitor-entry
objectClass: extensibleObject
disk-dir: /path/to/opendj/db/userRoot
disk-free: 343039315968
cn: userRoot backend

dn: cn=userRoot Backend,cn=monitor
objectClass: top
objectClass: ds-monitor-entry
objectClass: ds-backend-monitor-entry
cn: userRoot Backend
ds-backend-id: userRoot
ds-backend-base-dn: dc=example,dc=com
ds-backend-is-private: FALSE
ds-backend-entry-count: 176
ds-base-dn-entry-count: 176 dc=example,dc=com
ds-backend-writability-mode: enabled

You can set global ACIs on the Access Control Handler if you want to limit read access under cn=monitor.

SNMP-Based Monitoring

OpenDJ lets you monitor the server over SNMP with support for the Management Information Base described in RFC 2605: Directory Server Monitoring MIB.

SNMP is not enabled by default. SNMP-based monitoring depends on OpenDMK, which you must download separately. OpenDJ directory server that you download from GitHub is built with OpenDMK, but due to licensing OpenDMK is not part of OpenDJ. SNMP is therefore not enabled by default.

To run the OpenDMK installer, use the self-extracting .jar:

$ java -jar ~/Downloads/opendmk-1.0-b02-*.jar
$ cd ~/Downloads/
$ unzip DS-5.5.0.zip
$ java -jar opendj/snmp/opendmk.jar

If you install under /path/to, then the runtime library needed for SNMP is /path/to/OpenDMK-bin/lib/jdmkrt.jar.

Once you have installed OpenDMK, you can set up a connection handler for SNMP by enabling the connection handler, and pointing OpenDJ to your installation of the OpenDMK jdmkrt.jar library:

$ dsconfig \
 set-connection-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "SNMP Connection Handler" \
 --set enabled:true \
 --set opendmk-jarfile:/path/to/OpenDMK-bin/lib/jdmkrt.jar \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

By default, the SNMP connection handler listens on port 161 and uses port 162 for traps. On UNIX and Linux systems, only root can normally open these ports. Therefore if you install as a normal user, you might want to change the listen and trap ports:

$ dsconfig \
 set-connection-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "SNMP Connection Handler" \
 --set listen-port:11161 \
 --set trap-port:11162 \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

Restart the SNMP connection handler to take the port number changes into account.

To restart the connection handler, you disable it, then enable it again:

$ dsconfig \
 set-connection-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "SNMP Connection Handler" \
 --set enabled:false \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

$ dsconfig \
 set-connection-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "SNMP Connection Handler" \
 --set enabled:true \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

Use a command such as snmpwalk to check that the SNMP listen port works:

$ snmpwalk -v 2c -c OpenDJ@OpenDJ localhost:11161
SNMPv2-SMI::mib-2.66.1.1.1.1 = STRING: "OpenDJ 3.5.3..."
SNMPv2-SMI::mib-2.66.1.1.2.1 = STRING: "/path/to/opendj"
...

JMX-Based Monitoring

OpenDJ provides JMX-based monitoring. A number of tools support JMX, including jconsole and jvisualvm, which are bundled with the Sun/Oracle Java platform. JMX is not configured by default. Use the dsconfig command to configure the JMX connection handler:

Interface stability: Evolving (See "ForgeRock Product Interface Stability" in the Reference)

Configure the server to activate JMX access. The following example uses the reserved port number, 1689:

$ dsconfig \
 set-connection-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "JMX Connection Handler" \
 --set enabled:true \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

Add appropriate privileges to access JMX monitoring information. By default, no users have privileges to access the JMX connection. The following commands create a user with JMX privileges, who can authenticate over an insecure connection:

$ bin/dsconfig
   create-password-policy
   --policy-name "Allow insecure authentication"
   --type password-policy
   --set default-password-storage-scheme:PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256
   --set password-attribute:userPassword
   --trustAll --no-prompt
   --hostname opendj.example.com
   --port 4444
   --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
   --bindPassword passwordt
$ bin/ldapmodify --port 1389 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" --bindPassword password
   dn: uid=JMX Monitor,dc=example,dc=com
   objectClass: top
   objectClass: person
   objectClass: organizationalPerson
   objectClass: inetOrgPerson
   cn: JMX Monitor
   sn: User
   uid: JMX Monitor
   userPassword: password
   ds-privilege-name: monitor-read
   ds-privilege-name: jmx-notify
   ds-privilege-name: jmx-read
   ds-privilege-name: jmx-write
   ds-pwp-password-policy-dn: cn=Allow insecure authentication,cn=Password Policies,cn=config

   Processing ADD request for uid=JMX Monitor,dc=example,dc=com
   ADD operation successful for DN uid=JMX Monitor,dc=example,dc=com
   ^C

Connect remotely.

$ jconsole &
Remote process

service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://localhost:1689/org.opends.server.protocols.jmx.client-unknown

Username

uid=JMX Monitor,dc=example,dc=com

Password

password

Connect

Insecure connection

Server Operation and Tasks

OpenDJ comes with two commands for monitoring server processes and tasks. The status command, described in status(1) in the Reference, displays basic information about the local server, similar to what is seen in the default window of the control panel. The manage-tasks command, described in manage-tasks(1) in the Reference, lets you manage tasks scheduled on a server, such as nightly backup.

The status command takes administrative credentials to read the configuration, as does the control panel:

$ status --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" --bindPassword password

          --- Server Status ---
Server Run Status:        Started
Open Connections:         1

          --- Server Details ---
Host Name:                localhost
Administrative Users:     cn=Directory Manager
Installation Path:        /path/to/opendj
Version:                  OpenDJ 3.5.3
Java Version:             version
Administration Connector: Port 4444 (LDAPS)

          --- Connection Handlers ---
Address:Port : Protocol : State
-------------:----------:---------
--           : LDIF     : Disabled
0.0.0.0:636  : LDAPS    : Disabled
0.0.0.0:1389 : LDAP     : Enabled
0.0.0.0:1689 : JMX      : Disabled

          --- Data Sources ---
Base DN:     dc=example,dc=com
Backend ID:  userRoot
Entries:     163
Replication: Disabled

The manage-tasks command connects over the administration port, and so can connect to both local and remote servers:

$ manage-tasks \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --port 4444 \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

ID                         Type    Status
--------------------------------------------------------
example                    Backup  Recurring
example-20110623030000000  Backup  Waiting on start time

Server Logs

By default OpenDJ stores access and errors logs, and a server process ID file under the logs/ directory. For the replication service, OpenDJ also keeps a replication log there. You can also configure a debug log. You can also configure policies about how logs are rotated, and how they are retained. You configure logging using the dsconfig command.

Each log depends on a log publisher, whose type corresponds to the type of log. OpenDJ provides a number of file-based log publishers out of the box, and supports the ForgeRock common audit event framework, sometimes referred to as Common Audit. The ForgeRock common audit event framework provides log handlers for publishing to CSV files, relational databases, and the UNIX system log (Syslog) as described in "Common ForgeRock Access Logs". The framework makes it possible to plug in additional handlers as well.

Access Logs

The access log traces the operations the server processes including timestamps, connection information, and information about the operation itself. The access log can grow quickly, as each client request results in at least one new log message.

The following access log excerpt shows a search operation from the local host, with the first three lines wrapped for readability:

[21/Jun/2011:08:01:53 +0200] CONNECT conn=4 from=127.0.0.1:49708
 to=127.0.0.1:1389 protocol=LDAP
[21/Jun/2011:08:01:53 +0200] SEARCH REQ conn=4 op=0 msgID=1
 base="dc=example,dc=com" scope=wholeSubtree filter="(uid=bjensen)" attrs="ALL"
[21/Jun/2011:08:01:53 +0200] SEARCH RES conn=4 op=0 msgID=1
 result=0 nentries=1 etime=3
[21/Jun/2011:08:01:53 +0200] UNBIND REQ conn=4 op=1 msgID=2
[21/Jun/2011:08:01:53 +0200] DISCONNECT conn=4 reason="Client Unbind"

Notice that by default OpenDJ directory server logs a message for the search request, and a message for the search response.[1] The server also logs request and response messages for other operations that have responses, such as bind and modify operations. The server does not log response messages for all operations, as some operations, such as persistent searches, abandon operations, unbind operations, and abandoned operations, do not have responses. In the preceding excerpt, notice that the log message for the unbind request is followed by a log message for the disconnection.

Common ForgeRock Access Logs

In addition to the default file-based access log formats, OpenDJ directory server supports the ForgeRock common audit event framework. OpenDJ uses the framework to write access logs in formats that are compatible with all products using the framework. The framework uses transaction IDs that make it easy to correlate requests as they traverse the platform. This makes it easier to monitor activity and to enrich reports.

Interface stability: Evolving (See "ForgeRock Product Interface Stability" in the Reference)

The ForgeRock common audit event framework is built around audit event handlers. Audit event handlers can encapsulate their own configurations. Audit event handlers are the same in each product in the ForgeRock platform. As a result, you can plug in custom handlers that comply with the framework without having to upgrade OpenDJ directory server. The ForgeRock common audit event framework includes handlers for logging audit event messages to local files and facilities, as well as to remote systems. Handlers for the following are supported:

  • CSV files, with support for tamper-evident logs.

    OpenDJ supports LDAP and HTTP CSV access logs, which you must configure in order to use.

  • Elasticsearch server.

    You configure the Elasticsearch handler as an external log publisher that logs access messages to Elasticsearch.

  • Relational database using JDBC.

    You configure the JDBC handler as an external log publisher that logs access messages to a relational database.

  • The UNIX system log facility.

    Although it is rarely used for access events, you can configure the Syslog handler as an external log publisher that logs access messages to the UNIX Syslog facility.

The ForgeRock common audit event framework supports a variety of audit event topics. OpenDJ currently supports handling for access events, which are system boundary events such as the initial request and final response to that request. In other words, the implementation in OpenDJ is focused only on access logging. Based on the connection handler for the request, OpenDJ divides access events into ldap-access events and http-access events. To enable common audit-based logging, follow one of these procedures:

To Enable LDAP CSV Access Logs

After you complete the following steps, OpenDJ directory server records LDAP access event messages in files named like logs/ldap-access.csv:

  1. (Optional) If you trust transaction IDs sent by client applications, and want monitoring and reporting systems consuming the logs to allow correlation of requests as they traverse multiple servers, update the global server configuration as described in "To Trust Transaction IDs".

  2. Create an enabled CSV File Access Log Publisher with optional rotation and retention policies as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     create-log-publisher \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File Access Logger" \
     --type csv-file-access \
     --set enabled:true \
     --set "rotation-policy:24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy" \
     --set "rotation-policy:Size Limit Rotation Policy" \
     --set "retention-policy:File Count Retention Policy" \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

    You can view the log publisher properties to check your work as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     get-log-publisher-prop \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File Access Logger" \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt
    Property           : Value(s)
    -------------------:-----------------------------------------------------------
    csv-delimiter-char : ","
    enabled            : true
    filtering-policy   : no-filtering
    key-store-file     : -
    key-store-pin-file : -
    log-control-oids   : false
    log-directory      : logs
    retention-policy   : File Count Retention Policy
    rotation-policy    : 24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy, Size Limit Rotation
                       : Policy
    tamper-evident     : false

    Notice that when setting the CSV File Access Log Publisher properties, you can set the log directory, but you cannot change the log file name, which contains ldap-access.

  3. (Optional) If you require tamper-evident logs, prepare a keystore as described in "To Prepare a Keystore for Tamper-Evident Logs". Then enable tamper-evident capability as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     set-log-publisher-prop \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File Access Logger" \
     --set tamper-evident:true \
     --set key-store-file:config/audit-keystore \
     --set key-store-pin-file:config/audit-keystore.pin \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

    Tamper-evident logging relies on digital signatures and regularly flushing messages to the log system. In high-volume directory deployments with heavy access patterns, signing log messages has a severe negative impact on server performance, reducing throughput by orders of magnitude.

    Make certain that you test the performance impact of tamper-evident logging with realistic access patterns for your deployment before enabling the feature in production.

To Enable HTTP CSV Access Logs

If you have enabled the HTTP connection handler as described in "To Set Up REST Access to User Data", you might want to enable CSV-format HTTP access logs.

After you complete the following steps, OpenDJ directory server records HTTP access event messages in files named like logs/http-access.csv:

  1. (Optional) If you trust transaction IDs sent by client applications, and want monitoring and reporting systems consuming the logs to allow correlation of requests as they traverse multiple servers, update the global server configuration as described in "To Trust Transaction IDs".

  2. Create an enabled CSV File HTTP Access Log Publisher with optional rotation and retention policies as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     create-log-publisher \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File HTTP Access Logger" \
     --type csv-file-http-access \
     --set enabled:true \
     --set "rotation-policy:24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy" \
     --set "rotation-policy:Size Limit Rotation Policy" \
     --set "retention-policy:File Count Retention Policy" \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

    You can view the log publisher properties to check your work as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     get-log-publisher-prop \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File HTTP Access Logger" \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt
    Property           : Value(s)
    -------------------:-----------------------------------------------------------
    csv-delimiter-char : ","
    enabled            : true
    key-store-file     : -
    key-store-pin-file : -
    log-directory      : logs
    retention-policy   : File Count Retention Policy
    rotation-policy    : 24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy, Size Limit Rotation
                       : Policy
    tamper-evident     : false

    Notice that when setting the CSV File HTTP Access Log Publisher properties, you can set the log directory, but you cannot change the log file name, which contains http-access.

  3. (Optional) If you require tamper-evident logs, prepare a keystore as described in "To Prepare a Keystore for Tamper-Evident Logs". Then enable tamper-evident capability as in the following example:

    $ dsconfig \
     set-log-publisher-prop \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password
     --publisher-name "Common Audit Csv File HTTP Access Logger" \
     --set tamper-evident:true \
     --set key-store-file:config/audit-keystore \
     --set key-store-pin-file:config/audit-keystore.pin \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

    Tamper-evident logging relies on digital signatures and regularly flushing messages to the log system. In high-volume directory deployments with heavy access patterns, signing log messages has a severe negative impact on server performance, reducing throughput by orders of magnitude.

    Make certain that you test the performance impact of tamper-evident logging with realistic access patterns for your deployment before enabling the feature in production.

To Prepare a Keystore for Tamper-Evident Logs

Tamper-evident logging depends on a public key/private key pair and on a secret key that are stored together in a JCEKS keystore. Follow these steps to prepare the keystore:

  1. Create a password for the keystore.

    The following example uses the default file name. If you use a different filename, then you must edit key-store-pin-file property when configuring the log publisher:

    $ echo password > /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin
    $ chmod 400 /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin
  2. Generate a key pair in the keystore.

    The CSV event handler expects a JCEKS-type keystore with a key alias of Signature for the signing key, where the key is generated with the RSA key algorithm and the SHA256withRSA signature algorithm.

    The following example uses the default file name. If you use a different filename, then you must edit key-store-file property when configuring the log publisher:

    $ keytool \
     -genkeypair \
     -keyalg RSA \
     -sigalg SHA256withRSA \
     -alias "Signature" \
     -dname "CN=opendj.example.com,O=Example Corp,C=FR" \
     -keystore /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore \
     -storetype JCEKS \
     -storepass `cat /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin` \
     -keypass `cat /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin`
  3. Generate a secret key in the keystore.

    The CSV event handler expects a JCEKS-type keystore with a key alias of Password for the symmetric key, where the key is generated with the HmacSHA256 key algorithm and 256-bit key size.

    The following example uses the default file name. If you use a different filename, then you must edit key-store-file property when configuring the log publisher:

    $ keytool \
     -genseckey \
     -keyalg HmacSHA256 \
     -keysize 256 \
     -alias "Password" \
     -keystore /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore \
     -storetype JCEKS \
     -storepass `cat /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin` \
     -keypass `cat /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin`
  4. Verify the contents of the keystore:

    $ keytool \
     -list \
     -keystore /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore \
     -storetype JCEKS \
     -storepass `cat /path/to/opendj/config/audit-keystore.pin`
    
    Keystore type: JCEKS
    Keystore provider: SunJCE
    
    Your keystore contains 2 entries
    
    signature, Nov 27, 2015, PrivateKeyEntry,
    Certificate fingerprint (SHA1): 4D:CF:CC:29:...:8B:6E:68:D1
    password, Nov 27, 2015, SecretKeyEntry,
To Enable External LDAP or HTTP Access Logging

External LDAP or HTTP access event logging lets you use an Elasticsearch handler to log to an Elasticsearch server, a JDBC handler to log to a relational database, a Syslog handler to log to the UNIX Syslog facility, or a custom handler to consume the events in some other way. The configuration depends on the handler, and is provided as a JSON file that corresponds to the handler.

Follow these steps:

  1. (Optional) If you trust transaction IDs sent by client applications, and want monitoring and reporting systems consuming the logs to allow correlation of requests as they traverse multiple servers, update the global server configuration as described in "To Trust Transaction IDs".

  2. If necessary, prepare the data store:

    • For an Elasticsearch server, create a mapping in the index for the messages.

    • For the relational database that the JDBC handler connects to, create the necessary schema and tables.

      See the examples in the db directory inside the opendj/lib/forgerock-audit-handler-jdbc.jar file.

    The columns and fields of the audit event messages correspond to the fields in the logs generated by the CSV audit handler.

  3. Create the JSON configuration file for the external handler, and copy it to the config directory for the OpenDJ directory server.

  4. (Optional) For LDAP access logging, create an External Access Log Publisher

    The following example creates a JDBC LDAP access log publisher:

    $ dsconfig \
     create-log-publisher \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "JDBC LDAP Access Log Publisher" \
     --type external-access \
     --set enabled:true \
     --set config-file:config/jdbc-handler.json \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt
  5. (Optional) For HTTP access logging, create an External HTTP Access Log Publisher

    The following example creates a JDBC HTTP access log publisher:

    $ dsconfig \
     create-log-publisher \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "JDBC HTTP Access Log Publisher" \
     --type external-http-access \
     --set enabled:true \
     --set config-file:config/jdbc-handler.json \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt
  6. (Optional) For a custom access logger, follow these general steps:

    1. Copy the .jar file for the custom audit event handler to /path/to/opendj/lib/extensions.

    2. Prepare the JSON configuration file for the custom handler.

    3. Create an External Access Log Publisher or External HTTP Access Log Publisher configuration as appropriate for the custom access logger.

To Trust Transaction IDs

Client applications using the ForgeRock common audit event framework send transaction IDs with their requests. The transaction IDs are used to correlate audit events for monitoring and reporting that trace the request through multiple applications.

Transaction IDs are sent over LDAP using an internal OpenDJ request control. They are sent over HTTP in an HTTP header.

By default, OpenDJ directory server is configured not to trust transaction IDs sent with client application requests. The default transaction ID is used instead. The default transaction ID is zero: 0.

  • Set the advanced global server property, trust-transaction-ids, to true:

    $ dsconfig \
     set-global-configuration-prop \
     --advanced \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --set trust-transaction-ids:true \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

    At this point transaction IDs are trusted, and can be written to the logs.

Elasticsearch Audit Event Handler Configuration

An Elasticsearch audit event handler logs audit event messages to an Elasticsearch server. This section briefly describes the JSON configuration file for the handler.

The JSON file has the following format:

{
  "class": "org.forgerock.audit.handlers.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchAuditEventHandler",
  "config": {
    "name": string,               // Handler name, such as "elasticsearch".
    "topics": [ string, ...],     // LDAP: "ldap-access"; HTTP: "http-access".
    "connection": {
      "host": string,             // Elasticsearch host. Default: localhost
      "port": number,             // Elasticsearch host. Default: 9200
      "useSSL": boolean,          // Connect to Elasticsearch over HTTPS?
      "username": string,         // (Optional) User name for HTTP Basic auth.
      "password": string          // (Optional) Password for HTTP Basic auth.
    },
    "indexMapping": {
      "indexName": string         // Name of the Elasticsearch index.
    },
    "buffering": {
      "enabled": boolean,         // Buffer messages to be sent? Default: false.
      "maxSize": number,          // Maximum number of buffered events.
      "writeInterval": duration,  // Interval between sending batch of events.
      "maxBatchedEvents": number  // Number of events to send per interval.
    }
  }
}
Using an Elasticsearch Audit Log Handler

This example demonstrates logging an HTTP audit event message to a local Elasticsearch server. To prepare the example, complete these steps:

  1. Install and run an Elasticsearch server on localhost:9200.

  2. Create an audit index in the Elasticsearch server for OpenDJ HTTP audit event messages:

    $ curl --request POST --header "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{
      "settings": {},
      "mappings": {
        "ldap-access": {
          "_source": {
            "enabled": true
          },
          "properties": {
            "timestamp": {
              "type": "date"
            },
            "eventName": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "transactionId": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "userId": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "trackingIds": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "server": {
              "properties": {
                "ip": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "port": {
                  "type": "integer"
                }
              }
            },
            "client": {
              "properties": {
                "ip": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "port": {
                  "type": "integer"
                }
              }
            },
            "request": {
              "properties": {
                "protocol": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "operation": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "detail": {
                  "type": "nested"
                }
              }
            },
            "ldap": {
              "properties": {
                "connId": {
                  "type": "integer",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "msgId": {
                  "type": "integer"
                },
                "dn": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "scope": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "filter": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "attrs": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "nentries": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "authType": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "reqControls": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "respControls": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "additionalItems": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "items": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "attr": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "failureReason": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "idToAbandon": {
                  "type": "integer"
                },
                "maskedResult": {
                  "type": "integer"
                },
                "maskedMessage": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "message": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "name": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "newRDN": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "newSup": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "deleteOldRDN": {
                  "type": "boolean"
                },
                "oid": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "version": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "reason": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "opType": {
                  "type": "string"
                }
              }
            },
            "response": {
              "properties": {
                "status": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "statusCode": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "detail": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "elapsedTime": {
                  "type": "integer"
                },
                "elapsedTimeUnits": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "http-access": {
          "_source": {
            "enabled": true
          },
          "properties": {
            "timestamp": {
              "type": "date"
            },
            "eventName": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "transactionId": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "userId": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "trackingIds": {
              "type": "string",
              "index": "not_analyzed"
            },
            "server": {
              "properties": {
                "ip": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "port": {
                  "type": "integer"
                }
              }
            },
            "client": {
              "properties": {
                "ip": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "port": {
                  "type": "integer"
                }
              }
            },
            "request": {
              "properties": {
                "protocol": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "operation": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "detail": {
                  "type": "nested"
                }
              }
            },
            "http": {
              "properties": {
                "request": {
                  "properties": {
                    "secure": {
                      "type": "boolean"
                    },
                    "method": {
                      "type": "string",
                      "index": "not_analyzed"
                    },
                    "path": {
                      "type": "string",
                      "index": "not_analyzed"
                    },
                    "queryParameters": {
                      "type": "nested"
                    },
                    "headers": {
                      "type": "nested"
                    },
                    "cookies": {
                      "type": "nested"
                    }
                  }
                },
                "response": {
                  "properties": {
                    "headers": {
                      "type": "nested"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            "response": {
              "properties": {
                "status": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "statusCode": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "detail": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                },
                "elapsedTime": {
                  "type": "integer"
                },
                "elapsedTimeUnits": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "index": "not_analyzed"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }' http://localhost:9200/audit
    {"acknowledged":true}
  3. Configure OpenDJ directory server to enable HTTP access as described in "To Set Up REST Access to User Data".

  4. Add a JSON configuration file under for the handler:

    $ cat /path/to/opendj/config/elasticsearch-handler.json
    {
      "class": "org.forgerock.audit.handlers.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchAuditEventHandler",
      "config": {
        "name": "elasticsearch",
        "topics": ["http-access"],
        "connection": {
          "useSSL": false,
          "host": "localhost",
          "port": 9200
        },
        "indexMapping": {
          "indexName": "audit"
        },
        "buffering": {
          "enabled": true,
          "maxSize": 10000,
          "writeInterval": "100 ms",
          "maxBatchedEvents": 500
        }
      }
    }
  5. Configure OpenDJ directory server to use the Elasticsearch audit handler:

    $ dsconfig \
     create-log-publisher \
     --port 4444 \
     --hostname opendj.example.com \
     --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
     --bindPassword password \
     --publisher-name "Elasticsearch HTTP Access Log Publisher" \
     --type external-http-access \
     --set enabled:true \
     --set config-file:config/elasticsearch-handler.json \
     --trustAll \
     --no-prompt

With Elasticsearch and OpenDJ diretory server running, audit event messages for HTTP requests to OpenDJ directory server are sent to Elasticsearch.

The following example requests Babs Jensen’s entry:

$ curl --user bjensen:hifalutin http://opendj.example.com:8080/api/users/bjensen
{
  "_id": "bjensen",
  "_rev": "00000000828dc352",
  "schemas": ["urn:scim:schemas:core:1.0"],
  "userName": "bjensen@example.com",
  "displayName": "Barbara Jensen",
  "name": {
    "givenName": "Barbara",
    "familyName": "Jensen"
  },
  "contactInformation": {
    "telephoneNumber": "+1 408 555 1862",
    "emailAddress": "bjensen@example.com"
  },
  "meta": {},
  "manager": [{
    "_id": "trigden",
    "displayName": "Torrey Rigden"
  }]
}

A search request to Elasticsearch shows the resulting audit event content:

$ curl 'localhost:9200/audit/_search?q=*&pretty'
{
  "took" : 31,
  "timed_out" : false,
  "_shards" : {
    "total" : 5,
    "successful" : 5,
    "failed" : 0
  },
  "hits" : {
    "total" : 1,
    "max_score" : 1.0,
    "hits" : [ {
      "_index" : "audit",
      "_type" : "http-access",
      "_id" : "a5c09e11-cc79-4a34-8dbe-b23cc1a79a8b-30",
      "_score" : 1.0,
      "_source" : {
        "eventName" : "OpenDJ Server-HTTP-ACCESS",
        "timestamp" : "2016-06-07T21:19:23.939Z",
        "transactionId" : "a5c09e11-cc79-4a34-8dbe-b23cc1a79a8b-29",
        "server" : {
          "ip" : "0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1",
          "port" : 8080
        },
        "client" : {
          "ip" : "0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1",
          "port" : 58907
        },
        "http" : {
          "request" : {
            "secure" : false,
            "method" : "GET",
            "path" : "http://opendj.example.com:8080/api/users/bjensen",
            "queryParameters" : { },
            "cookies" : { }
          },
          "response" : {
            "headers" : {
              "Cache-Control" : [ "no-cache" ],
              "Content-Type" : [ "application/json; charset=UTF-8" ],
              "ETag" : [ "\"00000000828dc352\"" ]
            }
          }
        },
        "response" : {
          "status" : "SUCCESSFUL",
          "statusCode" : "200",
          "elapsedTime" : 6,
          "elapsedTimeUnits" : "MILLISECONDS"
        }
      }
    } ]
  }
}

See the Elasticsearch documentation for details on searching and search results.

JDBC Audit Event Handler Configuration

The JDBC audit event handler that responds to events by logging messages to an appropriately configured relational database table. This section briefly describes the JSON configuration file for the handler.

The JSON file has the following format:

{
    "class": "org.forgerock.audit.handlers.jdbc.JdbcAuditEventHandler",
    "config": {
        "name": string,
        "topics": array,
        "databaseType": string,
        "enabled": boolean,
        "buffering": {
            "enabled": boolean,
            "writeInterval": duration,
            "autoFlush": boolean,
            "maxBatchedEvents": number,
            "maxSize": number,
            "writerThreads": number
        },
        "connectionPool": {
            "dataSourceClassName": string,
            "jdbcUrl": string,
            "username": string,
            "password": string,
            "autoCommit": boolean,
            "connectionTimeout": number,
            "idleTimeout": number,
            "maxLifetime": number,
            "minIdle": number,
            "maxPoolSize": number,
            "poolName": string
        },
        "tableMappings": [
            {
                "event": string,
                "table": string,
                "fieldToColumn": {
                    "event-field": "database-column"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

The class field identifies the handler.

The "config" object has the following properties:

"name": string, required

The name of the event handler.

"topics": array of strings, required

The topics that this event handler intercepts.

OpenDJ supports handling access events that occur at the system boundary, such as arrival of the initial request and departure of the final response.

Set this to "topics": [ "http-access" ] or "topics": [ "ldap-access" ].

"databaseType": string, required

The database type name.

Built-in support is provided for oracle, mysql, and h2. Unrecognized database types rely on a GenericDatabaseStatementProvider.

"enabled": boolean, optional

Whether this event handler is active.

Default: true.

"buffering": object, optional

Buffering settings for sending messages to the database. The default is for messages to be written to the log file for each event.

The buffering object has the following fields:

"enabled": boolean, optional

Whether log buffering is enabled.

Default: false.

"writeInterval": duration, required

The interval at which to send buffered event messages to the database.

This interval must be greater than 0 if buffering is enabled.

A duration is a lapse of time expressed in English, such as 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Durations are not case sensitive.

Negative durations are not supported.

The following units can be used in durations:

  • indefinite, infinity, undefined, unlimited: unlimited duration

  • zero, disabled: zero-length duration

  • days, day, d: days

  • hours, hour, h: hours

  • minutes, minute, min, m: minutes

  • seconds, second, sec, s: seconds

  • milliseconds, millisecond, millisec, millis, milli, ms: milliseconds

  • microseconds, microsecond, microsec, micros, micro, us: microseconds

  • nanoseconds, nanosecond, nanosec, nanos, nano, ns: nanoseconds

    "autoFlush": boolean, optional

    Whether the events are automatically flushed after being written.

    Default: true.

    "maxBatchedEvents": number, optional

    The maximum number of event messages batched into a PreparedStatement.

    Default: 100.

    "maxSize": number, optional

    The maximum size of the queue of buffered event messages.

    Default: 5000.

    "writerThreads": number, optional

    The number of threads to write buffered event messages to the database.

    Default: 1.

"connectionPool": object, required

Connection pool settings for sending messages to the database.

The connection pool object has the following fields:

"dataSourceClassName": string, optional

The class name of the data source for the database.

"jdbcUrl": string, required

The JDBC URL to connect to the database.

"username": string, required

The username identifier for the database user with access to write the messages.

"password": number, optional

The password for the database user with access to write the messages.

"autoCommit": boolean, optional

Whether to commit transactions automatically when writing messages.

Default: true.

"connectionTimeout": number, optional

The number of milliseconds to wait for a connection from the pool before timing out.

Default: 30000.

"idleTimeout": number, optional

The number of milliseconds to allow a database connection to remain idle before timing out.

Default: 600000.

"maxLifetime": number, optional

The number of milliseconds to allow a database connection to remain in the pool.

Default: 1800000.

"minIdle": number, optional

The minimum number of idle connections in the pool.

Default: 10.

"maxPoolSize": number, optional

The maximum number of connections in the pool.

Default: 10.

"poolName": string, optional

The name of the connection pool.

"tableMappings": array of objects, required

Table mappings for directing event content to database table columns.

A table mappings object has the following fields:

"event": string, required

The audit event that the table mapping is for.

Set this to access.

"table": string, required

The name of the database table that corresponds to the mapping.

"fieldToColumn": object, required

This object maps the names of audit event fields to database columns, where the keys and values are both strings.

Audit event fields use JSON pointer notation, and are taken from the JSON schema for the audit event content.

Syslog Audit Event Handler Configuration

The Syslog audit event handler that responds to events by logging messages to the UNIX system log as governed by RFC 5424, The Syslog Protocol. This section briefly describes the JSON configuration file for the handler.

The JSON file has the following format:

{
    "class": "org.forgerock.audit.handlers.syslog.SyslogAuditEventHandler",
    "config": {
        "name": string,
        "topics": array,
        "protocol": string,
        "host": string,
        "port": number,
        "connectTimeout": number,
        "facility": "string",
        "buffering": {
            "enabled": boolean,
            "maxSize": number
        },
        "severityFieldMappings": [
            {
                "topic": string,
                "field": string,
                "valueMappings": {
                    "field-value": "syslog-severity"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

The class field identifies the handler.

The "config" object has the following properties:

"name": string, required

The name of the event handler.

"topics": array of strings, required

The topics that this event handler intercepts.

OpenDJ supports handling access events that occur at the system boundary, such as arrival of the initial request and departure of the final response.

Set this to "topics": [ "http-access" ] or "topics": [ "ldap-access" ].

"protocol": string, required

The transport protocol used to send event messages to the Syslog daemon.

Set this to TCP for Transmission Control Protocol, or to UDP for User Datagram Protocol.

"host": string, required

The hostname of the Syslog daemon to which to send event messages. The hostname must resolve to an IP address.

"port": number, required

The port of the Syslog daemon to which to send event messages.

The value must be between 0 and 65535.

"connectTimeout": number, required when using TCP

The number of milliseconds to wait for a connection before timing out.

"facility": string, required

The Syslog facility to use for event messages.

Set this to one of the following values:

kern

Kernel messages

user

User-level messages

mail

Mail system

daemon

System daemons

auth

Security/authorization messages

syslog

Messages generated internally by syslogd

lpr

Line printer subsystem

news

Network news subsystem

uucp

UUCP subsystem

cron

Clock daemon

authpriv

Security/authorization messages

ftp

FTP daemon

ntp

NTP subsystem

logaudit

Log audit

logalert

Log alert

clockd

Clock daemon

local0

Local use 0

local1

Local use 1

local2

Local use 2

local3

Local use 3

local4

Local use 4

local5

Local use 5

local6

Local use 6

local7

Local use 7

"buffering": object, optional

Buffering settings for writing to the system log facility. The default is for messages to be written to the log for each event.

The buffering object has the following fields:

"enabled": boolean, optional

Whether log buffering is enabled.

Default: false.

"maxSize": number, optional

The maximum number of buffered event messages.

Default: 5000.

"severityFieldMappings": object, optional

Severity field mappings set the correspondence between audit event fields and Syslog severity values.

The severity field mappings object has the following fields:

"topic": string, required

The audit event topic to which the mapping applies.

Set this to access.

"field": string, required

The audit event field to which the mapping applies.

Audit event fields use JSON pointer notation, and are taken from the JSON schema for the audit event content.

"valueMappings": object, required

The map of audit event values to Syslog severities, where both the keys and the values are strings.

Syslog severities are one of the following values:

emergency

System is unusable.

alert

Action must be taken immediately.

critical

Critical conditions.

error

Error conditions.

warning

Warning conditions.

notice

Normal but significant condition.

informational

Informational messages.

debug

Debug-level messages.

Error Logs

The errors log traces server events, error conditions, and warnings, categorized and identified by severity.

The following errors log excerpt shows log entries for a backup task, with lines wrapped for readability:

[06/Oct/2015:16:58:15 +0200] category=... severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=Backup task 20151006165815904 started execution
[06/Oct/2015:16:58:15 +0200] category=TASK severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=Starting backup for backend userRoot
[06/Oct/2015:16:58:16 +0200] category=UTIL severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=Archived backup file: dj
...
[06/Oct/2015:16:58:16 +0200] category=UTIL severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=Archived backup file: tasks.ldif
[06/Oct/2015:16:58:16 +0200] category=TASK severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=The backup process completed successfully
[06/Oct/2015:16:58:16 +0200] category=... severity=NOTICE msgID=...
 msg=Backup task 20151006165815904 finished execution in the state
     Completed successfully

HTTP Access Logs

For the HTTP Connection Handler, OpenDJ maintains a separate access log in logs/http-access. This access log, by default configured as the File Based HTTP Access Log Publisher, uses a different format than the LDAP access log. This HTTP access log uses Extended Log File Format with fields described in Microsoft’s implementation as well.

Interface stability: Evolving (See "ForgeRock Product Interface Stability" in the Reference)

The following default fields are shown here in the order they occur in the log file:

cs-host

Client host name

c-ip

Client IP address

cs-username

Username used to authenticate

x-datetime

Completion timestamp for the HTTP request, which you can configure using the log-record-time-format property

cs-method

HTTP method requested by the client

cs-uri

URI requested by the client

This field is new in 3.5.

cs-uri-stem

URL-encoded path requested by the client

This field is new in 3.5.

cs-uri-query

URL-encoded query parameter string requested by the client

cs-version

HTTP version requested by the client

sc-status

HTTP status code for the operation

cs(User-Agent)

User-Agent identifier

x-connection-id

Connection ID used for OpenDJ internal operations

When using this field to match HTTP requests with internal operations in the LDAP access log, first set the access log advanced property, suppress-internal-operations, to false. By default, internal operations do not appear in the LDAP access log.

x-etime

Execution time in milliseconds needed by OpenDJ to service the HTTP request

x-transaction-id

ForgeRock common audit event framework transaction ID for the request

This defaults to 0 unless you configure OpenDJ to trust transaction IDs as described in "To Trust Transaction IDs".

Missing values are replaced with -. Tabs separate the fields, and if a field contains a tab character, then the field is surrounded with double quotes. OpenDJ then doubles double quotes in the field to escape them.

The following example shows an excerpt of an HTTP access log with the default configuration. Lines are folded and space reformatted for the printed page:

-  192.168.0.15  bjensen   22/May/2013:10:06:18 +0200
  GET  /users/bjensen?_prettyPrint=true                      HTTP/1.1    200
  curl/7.21.4  3    40
-  192.168.0.15  bjensen   22/May/2013:10:06:52 +0200
  GET  /groups/Directory%20Administrators?_prettyPrint=true  HTTP/1.1    200
  curl/7.21.4  4    41
-  192.168.0.12  bjensen   22/May/2013:10:07:07 +0200
  GET  /users/missing?_prettyPrint=true                      HTTP/1.1    200
  curl/7.21.4  5     9
-  192.168.0.12  -         22/May/2013:10:07:46 +0200
  GET  /users/missing?_prettyPrint=true                      HTTP/1.1    401
  curl/7.21.4  6     0
-  192.168.0.15  kvaughan  22/May/2013:10:09:10 +0200
  POST /users?_action=create&_prettyPrint=true           HTTP/1.1    200
  curl/7.21.4  7   120

You can configure the log-format for the access log using the dsconfig command.

In addition to the default fields, the following standard fields are supported:

c-port

Client port number

s-computername

Server name where the access log was written

s-ip

Server IP address

s-port

Server port number

Replication Logs

The replication log traces replication events, with entries similar to the errors log. The following excerpt has lines wrapped for readability:

[22/Jun/2011:14:37:34 +0200] category=SYNC severity=NOTICE msgID=15139026
msg=Finished total update: exported domain "dc=example,dc=com" from this
directory server DS(24065) to all remote directory servers.
[22/Jun/2011:14:37:35 +0200] category=SYNC severity=MILD_WARNING msgID=14745663
msg=Replication server RS(23947) at opendj.example.com/10.10.0.168:8989 has
closed the connection to this directory server DS(24065). This directory
server will now try to connect to another replication server in order to
receive changes for the domain "dc=example,dc=com"
[22/Jun/2011:14:37:35 +0200] category=SYNC severity=NOTICE msgID=15138894
msg=The generation ID for domain "dc=example,dc=com" has been reset to 3679640

Notice that the replication log does not trace replication operations. Use the external change log instead to get notifications about changes to directory data over protocol. You can alternatively configure an audit log, which is a type of access log that dumps changes in LDIF.

Debug Logs

A debug log traces details needed to troubleshoot a problem in the server. Debug logs can grow large quickly, and therefore no debug logs are enabled by default.

For debug logging, you must set a debug target to control what gets logged.

Log Rotation and Retention

Each file-based log can be associated with a log rotation policy, and a log retention policy. The former can specify when, after how much time, or at what maximum size a log is rotated. The latter can specify a maximum number or size of logs to retain, or an amount of free disk space to maintain. The design allows for custom policies as well.

By default the file-based logs are subject to rotation and retention policies that you can list with dsconfig list-log-rotation-policies and dsconfig list-log-retention-policies.

For example, view the log rotation policies with the following command:

$ dsconfig \
 list-log-rotation-policies \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password


Log Rotation Policy                 : Type       : file-size-limit : rotation-interval : time-of-day
------------------------------------:------------:-----------------:-------------------:------------
24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy : time-limit : -               : 1 d               : -
7 Days Time Limit Rotation Policy   : time-limit : -               : 1 w               : -
Fixed Time Rotation Policy          : fixed-time : -               : -                 : 2359
Size Limit Rotation Policy          : size-limit : 100 mb          : -                 : -

View the log retention policies with the following command:

$ dsconfig \
 list-log-retention-policies \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password


Log Retention Policy             : Type            : disk-space-used : free-disk-space : number-of-files
---------------------------------:-----------------:-----------------:-----------------:----------------
File Count Retention Policy      : file-count      : -               : -               : 10
Free Disk Space Retention Policy : free-disk-space : -               : 500 mb          : -
Size Limit Retention Policy      : size-limit      : 500 mb          : -               : -

Use the dsconfig get-log-publisher-prop command to examine the policies that apply to a particular logger:

$ dsconfig \
 get-log-publisher-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --publisher-name "File-Based Access Logger" \
 --property retention-policy \
 --property rotation-policy
Property         : Value(s)
-----------------:-------------------------------------------------------------
retention-policy : File Count Retention Policy
rotation-policy  : 24 Hours Time Limit Rotation Policy, Size Limit Rotation
                 : Policy

In other words, by default OpenDJ keeps 10 access log files, rotating the access log each day, or when the log size reaches 100 MB.

The dsconfig command offers a number of subcommands for creating and deleting log rotation and retention policies, and for setting policy properties. You can update which policies apply to a logger by using the dsconfig set-log-publisher-prop command.

Log Filtering

Each time a client application sends a request to OpenDJ, the server writes to its access log. As shown above, a simple search operation results in five messages written to the access log. This volume of logging gives you the information to analyze overall access patterns, or to audit access when you do not know in advance what you are looking for.

When you do know what you are looking for, log filtering lets you limit what the server logs, and focus on what you want to see. You define the filter criteria, and also set the filtering policy.

You can filter both access and also audit logs. Log filtering lets you define rules based these criteria:

  • Client IP address, bind DN, group membership

  • Port number

  • Protocol used (such as LDAP, LDAPS, JMX)

  • Response times

  • Result codes (only log error results, for example)

  • Search response criteria (number of entries returned, whether the search was indexed)

  • Target DN

  • Type of operation (connect, bind, add, delete, modify, rename, search, etc.)

The filtering policy in the log publisher configuration specifies whether to include or exclude log messages that match the criteria you define. OpenDJ does not filter logs until you update the log publisher configuration.

Example: Exclude Control Panel-Related Messages

A common development troubleshooting technique consists of sending client requests while tailing the access log:

$ tail -f /path/to/opendj/logs/access

The trouble is, when OpenDJ control panel is running, or when you are also adapting your configuration using the dsconfig command, OpenDJ writes access log messages related to administration. These might prevent you from noticing the messages that interest you.

This example demonstrates how to filter out access log messages due to administrative connections over LDAPS on ports 1636 and 4444.

Create access log filtering criteria rules:

$ dsconfig \
 create-access-log-filtering-criteria \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --publisher-name "File-Based Access Logger" \
 --criteria-name "Exclude LDAPS on 1636 and 4444" \
 --type generic \
 --set connection-port-equal-to:1636 \
 --set connection-port-equal-to:4444 \
 --set connection-protocol-equal-to:ldaps \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

Activate filtering to exclude messages from the default access log according to the criteria you specified:

$ dsconfig \
 set-log-publisher-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --publisher-name "File-Based Access Logger" \
 --set filtering-policy:exclusive \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

At this point, OpenDJ filters out connections over LDAPS to ports 1636 and 4444. While performing operations in OpenDJ control panel, if you perform a simple ldapsearch --port 1389 --baseDN dc=example,dc=com uid=bjensen cn, then all you see in the access log is the effect of the ldapsearch command:

$ tail -f /path/to/opendj/logs/access
[19/Oct/2011:16:37:16 +0200] CONNECT conn=8 from=127.0.0.1:54165
 to=127.0.0.1:1389 protocol=LDAP
[19/Oct/2011:16:37:16 +0200] SEARCH REQ conn=8 op=0 msgID=1
 base="dc=example,dc=com" scope=wholeSubtree filter="(uid=bjensen)" attrs="cn"
[19/Oct/2011:16:37:16 +0200] SEARCH RES conn=8 op=0 msgID=1 result=0 nentries=1
 etime=14
[19/Oct/2011:16:37:16 +0200] UNBIND REQ conn=8 op=1 msgID=2
[19/Oct/2011:16:37:16 +0200] DISCONNECT conn=8 reason="Client Unbind"

In addition to the filtering policy, you can also adjust how OpenDJ writes log messages. By default, OpenDJ writes one log message for a request, and another for a response. You can set the log publisher property log-format to combined to have OpenDJ write a single message per operation. This can be helpful, for example, when evaluating response times. In addition, you can change the log message time stamps with log-record-time-format, and specify whether to log LDAP control OIDs for operations by setting log-control-oids to true.

Alert Notifications

OpenDJ can send alerts to provide notifications of significant server events. Yet alert notifications are not enabled by default. You can use the dsconfig command to enable alert notifications:

$ dsconfig \
 set-alert-handler-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "JMX Alert Handler" \
 --set enabled:true \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

OpenDJ can also send mail over SMTP instead of JMX notifications. Before you set up the SMTP-based alert handler, you must identify an SMTP server to which OpenDJ sends messages:

$ dsconfig \
 set-global-configuration-prop \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --set smtp-server:smtp.example.com \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt

$ dsconfig \
 create-alert-handler \
 --port 4444 \
 --hostname opendj.example.com \
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager" \
 --bindPassword password \
 --handler-name "SMTP Alert Handler" \
 --type smtp \
 --set enabled:true \
 --set message-subject:"OpenDJ Alert, Type: %%alert-type%%, ID: %%alert-id%%" \
 --set message-body:"%%alert-message%%" \
 --set recipient-address:kvaughan@example.com \
 --set sender-address:opendj@example.com \
 --trustAll \
 --no-prompt
Alert Types

OpenDJ directory server uses the following types when sending alerts. For alert types that indicate server problems, check OpenDJ/logs/errors for details.

org.opends.server.AccessControlDisabled

The access control handler has been disabled.

org.opends.server.AccessControlEnabled

The access control handler has been enabled.

org.opends.server.authentiation.dseecompat.ACIParseFailed

The dseecompat access control subsystem failed to correctly parse one or more ACI rules when the server first started.

org.opends.server.BackendRunRecovery

The pluggable backend has thrown a RunRecoveryException. The directory server needs to be restarted.

org.opends.server.CannotCopySchemaFiles

A problem has occurred while attempting to create copies of the existing schema configuration files before making a schema update, and the schema configuration has been left in a potentially inconsistent state.

org.opends.server.CannotRenameCurrentTaskFile

The directory server is unable to rename the current tasks backing file in the process of trying to write an updated version.

org.opends.server.CannotRenameNewTaskFile

The directory server is unable to rename the new tasks backing file into place.

org.opends.server.CannotScheduleRecurringIteration

The directory server is unable to schedule an iteration of a recurring task.

org.opends.server.CannotWriteConfig

The directory server is unable to write its updated configuration for some reason and therefore the server may not exhibit the new configuration if it is restarted.

org.opends.server.CannotWriteNewSchemaFiles

A problem has occurred while attempting to write new versions of the server schema configuration files, and the schema configuration has been left in a potentially inconsistent state.

org.opends.server.CannotWriteTaskFile

The directory server is unable to write an updated tasks backing file for some reason.

org.opends.server.DirectoryServerShutdown

The directory server has begun the process of shutting down.

org.opends.server.DirectoryServerStarted

The directory server has completed its startup process.

org.opends.server.DiskFull

Free disk space has reached the full threshold.

Default is 20 MB.

org.opends.server.DiskSpaceLow

Free disk space has reached the low threshold.

Default is 100 MB.

org.opends.server.EnteringLockdownMode

The directory server is entering lockdown mode, wherein only root users are allowed to perform operations and only over the loopback address.

org.opends.server.LDAPHandlerDisabledByConsecutiveFailures

Consecutive failures have occurred in the LDAP connection handler and have caused it to become disabled.

org.opends.server.LDAPHandlerUncaughtError

Uncaught errors in the LDAP connection handler that have caused it to become disabled.

org.opends.server.LDIFBackendCannotWriteUpdate

An LDIF backend was unable to store an updated copy of the LDIF file after processing a write operation.

org.opends.server.LDIFConnectionHandlerIOError

The LDIF connection handler encountered an I/O error that prevented it from completing its processing.

org.opends.server.LDIFConnectionHandlerParseError

The LDIF connection handler encountered an unrecoverable error while attempting to parse an LDIF file.

org.opends.server.LeavingLockdownMode

The directory server is leaving lockdown mode.

org.opends.server.ManualConfigEditHandled

The directory server detects that its configuration has been manually edited with the server online and those changes were overwritten by another change made through the server. The manually edited configuration will be copied to another location.

org.opends.server.ManualConfigEditLost

The directory server detects that its configuration has been manually edited with the server online and those changes were overwritten by another change made through the server. The manually edited configuration could not be preserved due to an unexpected error.

org.opends.server.replication.UnresolvedConflict

Multimaster replication cannot resolve a conflict automatically.

org.opends.server.UncaughtException

A directory server thread has encountered an uncaught exception that caused that thread to terminate abnormally. The impact that this problem has on the server depends on which thread was impacted and the nature of the exception.

org.opends.server.UniqueAttributeSynchronizationConflict

A unique attribute conflict has been detected during synchronization processing.

org.opends.server.UniqueAttributeSynchronizationError

An error occurred while attempting to perform unique attribute conflict detection during synchronization processing.


1. You can also configure the access logger to combine log messages by setting the property`log-format:combined`. The setting is useful when filtering messages based on response criteria. It causes the server to log one message per operation, rather than one message for the request and another for the response.