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Function documentationUsing the MAI Trace Functions

 

As well as other Analysis Tools, the Monitoring and Alerting Infrastructure (MAI) contains comprehensive trace functions which show the details of MAI procedures. The trace is a high-performance expert tool to trace procedures, analyze performance, and investigate errors. There are currently the following technical trace components; they are referred to as Trace Contexts in the trace viewer.

  • Event Calculation Engine (ECE)

    The Event Calculation Engine (ECE) uses the reported metric values to determine the status, events, and alerts of the administered objects from the configuration settings in the Alerting Directory.

  • Automatic configuration of MAI.

    Automatic configuration is the part of the MAI configuration in which Alerting Repository information is used in the existing managed objects, and saved in the Alerting Directory.

  • Alert Inbox

    The Alert Inbox is the central access point for analyzing and solving Technical Monitoring problems in an SAP Solution Manager landscape.

  • Self-Monitoring

    Self Monitoring monitors MAI and other central SAP Solution Manager functions.

  • SPR extractor

    This extractor gets reporting data in CRM and transfers it to BI.

  • Metric and event store

Caution Caution

As the trace can greatly reduce the performance of MAI, depending on the filter settings, only use the tool in consultation with SAP Support. This documentation only describes the trace functions which you need to activate the trace with SAP Support, and transfer the required data to SAP.

End of the caution.

Activities

To be able to use the MAI trace to find errors, with SAP Support, you must be able to call the trace viewer, and download the trace files for SAP Support.

Calling the trace tool

Call the trace tools in the transaction MAI_TOOLS. In the Logs and Traces tab, choose Trace Viewer.

Activating the Trace

The pushbuttons Trace Activation and Trace Filters activate the trace and set trace parameters. Start and filter options are not described in this documentation, because you should only activate the trace in consultation with SAP Support, which will give you this information.

Trace Display

The trace is displayed in two parts:

  • A table of the traces available in the selected time, in a three-level hierarchy, is displayed at the top. This interval is the last 24 hours, by default. You can change it with Time Interval. The display hierarchy is as follows:

    Level

    Explanation

    1

    The subtree contains all trace files which were written for an original action; the timestamp and end timestamp at which the last trace in this group was written, are output. Traces in a group can strech across several trace contexts, they are in the group name after the timestamp.

    2

    The traces are ordered within the group by the trace contexts in the group.

    3

    The last level contains the traces. Choose an entry by double-click, to display the file at the bottom of the screen.

  • The bottom of the screen contains a trace. This is usually several lines containing various information, such as a message or a link to a data container.

Download Trace Files

For SAP-Support to be able to analyze your trace information, you must download it as a file, and send it to SAP Support. You can download one or more traces into a file. Proceed as follows:

To download a trace:

  1. Choose a trace by double-click in the Trace Viewer.

  2. The trace is displayed in the bottom half of the trace viewer. Check whether the trace contains confidential data. Choose Download Trace.

  3. The trace can be displayed in HTML or XML. For SAP Support to be able to analyze your trace, it must be in XML. As the trace is initially displayed in HTML, choose Display XML/HTML, to go to XML.

  4. Choose Save to File, and specify the file name and path.

To download several traces:

  1. Go to the flat trace in the trace viewer, with Extended Maintenance. The existing traces are displayed in a flat list instead of a hierarchy.

  2. Select traces, and choose Download Selected Traces.

  3. The trace can be displayed in HTML or XML. For SAP Support to be able to analyze your trace, it must be in XML. As the trace is initially displayed in HTML, choose Display XML/HTML, to go to XML.

  4. Choose Save to File, and specify the file name and path.

Delete Traces

Traces are deleted after 90 days, by default. If you have a lot of large traces, you can reduce the database by deleting them manually. Proceed as follows:

  1. Go to the Trace Viewer in extended maintenance, with Extended Maintenance.

  2. Select the traces for deletion, and choose (Delete Selected Traces).