--- title: Advanced HTTP event logging description: The PingAuthorize Server provides advanced HTTP event logging through the file-based trace logger to help diagnose slowdowns in HTTP request processing. component: pingauthorize version: 11.0 page_id: pingauthorize:troubleshooting_pingauthorize_server:paz_advanced_http_logging_monitoring canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingauthorize/11.0/troubleshooting_pingauthorize_server/paz_advanced_http_logging_monitoring.html revdate: December 4, 2025 section_ids: http-request-lifecycle: HTTP request lifecycle enabling-http-event-logging: Enabling HTTP event logging steps: Steps steps-2: Steps --- # Advanced HTTP event logging The PingAuthorize Server provides advanced HTTP event logging through the file-based trace logger to help diagnose slowdowns in HTTP request processing. By capturing the full lifecycle of HTTP requests, you can identify performance bottlenecks and fine-tune the server for your workload. ## HTTP request lifecycle The typical HTTP request lifecycle in the PingAuthorize Server is as follows: 1. The server accepts a low-level channel. This begins the request lifecycle at the lowest level of the network stack. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT CHANNEL channelID=89 msg="accepting channel" ``` 2. The client establishes a TCP socket with the server. This creates the foundational network connection. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT SOCKET socketID=90 remotePort="63418" localPort="8443" msg="opened" ``` 3. An HTTP connection is established over the socket. The server is now ready to listen for HTTP-specific traffic. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT CONNECTION connectionID=90 channelID=90 socketID=89 msg="open" ``` 4. The server begins processing the client request. The server receives the request and assigns it to a handler thread. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT REQUEST-PROCESSING requestHash=1453742073 connectionID=90 channelID=90 socketID=89 method=POST URL="http://localhost:8443/governance-engine" msg="begin request" HTTP-EVENT REQUEST-PROCESSING requestHash=1453742073 connectionID=90 channelID=90 socketID=89 method=POST URL="http://localhost:8443/governance-engine" msg="dispatching request" ``` 5. The server finishes processing the request and sends a response. | | | | - | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | This log entry is especially important for performance analysis, as it contains the total request processing duration and the queue time. | * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT REQUEST-PROCESSING requestID=146 correlationID="7fed277a-c867-4571-9f6d-591722f8754c" requestHash=1453742073 connectionID=90 channelID=90 socketID=89 method=POST URL="https://localhost:8443/governance-engine" totalDurationMs=167 queueDurationMs=1 requestDurationMs=45 requestContentLength=8 responseDurationMs=0 responseContentLength=281 requestBeginTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.037 -0500" dispatchTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.037 -0500" requestEndTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.082 -0500" responseBeginTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.202 -0500" responseEndTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.202 -0500" requestCompleteTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.204 -0500" msg="complete processing" ``` 6. The server closes the connection. After sending the response, the server can close the HTTP connection. For persistent connections, this step might be delayed until a timeout or until the client explicitly closes it. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT CONNECTION connectionID=89 channelID=89 totalDurationMs=6 openTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.029 -0500" closeTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.035 -0500" msg="close" ``` 7. The server closes the underlying TCP socket. The server terminates the low-level network socket, freeing up the resource. * Example log: ``` HTTP-EVENT SOCKET socketID=90 remotePort="63418" localPort="8443" totalDurationMs=4 incomingBytes=0 outgoingBytes=0 socketOpenedTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.029 -0500" socketClosedTime="23/Jun/2025:20:46:52.033 -0500" msg="closed" ``` Each HTTP event includes a unique identifier that allows you to trace the full lifecycle of a request and pinpoint exactly where delays occur, whether in connection setup, thread queuing, or request handling. ## Enabling HTTP event logging To trace the complete lifecycle of HTTP requests, configure the `http-event` property in the file-based trace logger. You can individually enable the following HTTP event types: | HTTP event type | Description | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `socket` | Logs when a TCP socket is opened, closed, or reused. The close event includes the total duration the socket was open. | | `connection` | Logs when an HTTP connection is opened, closed, or reused. The close event includes the total duration of the connection. | | `channel` | Logs low-level channel events related to the connection. | | `request-processing` | Logs when request processing starts and finishes. The finish event includes the total request processing duration and the queue time (the time the request spent waiting for a handler thread). | | | | | - | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | The queue time calculation logged by `request-processing` events might be less accurate in high-throughput scenarios where sockets are reused for multiple requests. | You can use the administrative console or `dsconfig` to enable detailed HTTP event logging. | | | | - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | High-volume logging can impact performance, so you should only enable event types relevant to your troubleshooting goals. | By default, the file-based trace logger writes messages to the `logs/trace.log` file. * Admin console * dsconfig ### Steps 1. Go to **Configuration > Logging, Monitoring, and Notifications > Log Publishers**. 2. Click **File-Based Trace Logger**. 3. Select the **Enabled** checkbox if the logger isn't already enabled. 4. Scroll down to the **Log Messages To Include** section, and under **HTTP Event**, select event types to include in the trace log. ![Screen capture of the HTTP Event configuration property in the file-based trace logger.](_images/paz_http_event_logging_monitoring.png) 5. Click **Save**. ### Steps * Use the `dsconfig set-log-publisher-prop` command with the `--add http-event` argument to enable specific HTTP event types. The following example enables logging for socket and request processing events: ```shell dsconfig set-log-publisher-prop \ --publisher-name "File-Based Trace Logger" \ --add http-event:socket \ --add http-event:request-processing ```