Do not confuse server snapshot log files with the snapshot files that you can generate manually using the Save Snapshot option on the Server Status Display (see Save a Snapshot of the Status Data Currently on Display).
ClearSCADA includes a snapshot feature that takes data from the server at regular intervals and stores the data in log files. The server snapshot log files are useful as they provide a history of the server status, which Schneider Electric might request for diagnostic purposes. The server snapshots are stored in log files that have the file name DBSnapshot, followed by an underscore and then a 3-digit number to uniquely identify each file.
By default on new installations:
- The server stores a maximum of 4 server snapshot log files
- The server retains up to 1 set of old server snapshot log files (to which it applies the file extension '.log_2')
- Each server snapshot log file can be up to 20480KB (20MB) in size
- The server retrieves and stores data in the snapshot log file(s) every 30 minutes.
You can change these settings in the registry if necessary (see Using a Registry Editor to Change Server Log File Settings).
With a system that uses the above defaults, to begin with, the server will write the snapshot data to the file named DBSnapshot_001.log. When that file becomes full, it will create a new snapshot log file called DBSnapshot_002.log, in which it will store the next set of data. The process continues up to the log file DBSnapshot_005.log, which replaces the DBSnapshot_001.log file and the server will then delete the DBSnapshot_001.log file (as, using the default settings, a maximum of 4 snapshot log files are retained). Similarly, when the DBSnapshot_005.log file becomes full, the server will create a DBSnapshot_006.log file and will then delete the DBSnapshot_002.log file. This means that, using the default settings, the 4 server snapshot log files should contain the most recent 80MB of server snapshot data. Additionally, whenever the server is restarted, ClearSCADA retains the set of server snapshot log files that existed prior to the restart and changes their file extension to '.log_2', so that the files can be used to help analyze why the server stopped.
Each snapshot contained in a server snapshot log file comprises server status data for the time at which the snapshot was taken (by default, at 30 minute intervals). A single server snapshot log file might contain several separate snapshots. The type of data contained in each snapshot comprises the data that you can view using the Server Status Tool (see Working with the Server Status Tool in the ClearSCADA Guide to the Server Status Tool).
You can use the Server Status Tool to view the status of the snapshot file that is currently in use (see Log Files in the ClearSCADA Guide to the Server Status Tool).
To access a server snapshot log file, right-click on the server icon in the Windows taskbar and select the required View DBSnapshot_<Snapshot File Number>.log option (where <Snapshot File Number> is the number of the snapshot file, for example, 003 or 004). The log file will be displayed in a text editor program such as Microsoft Notepad.
Further Information