HTTP operations may be logged using either a Common Log File HTTP Operation Log Publisher or a Detailed HTTP Operation Log Publisher. The Common Log File HTTP Operation Log Publisher is a built-in log publisher that records HTTP operation information to a file using the W3C common log format. Because the W3C common log format is used, logs produced by this log publisher can be parsed by many existing web analysis tools.

Log messages are formatted as follows:

  • IP address of the client.
  • RFC 1413 identification protocol. The Ident Protocol is used to format information about the client.
  • The user ID provided by the client in an Authorization header, which is typically available server-side in the REMOTE_USER environment variable. A dash appears in this field if this information is not available.
  • A timestamp, formatted as "'['dd/MM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss Z']'"
  • Request information, with the HTTP method followed by the request path and HTTP protocol version.
  • The HTTP status code value.
  • The content size of the response body in bytes. This number does not include the size of the response headers.

The HTTP Detailed Access Log Publisher provides more information than the common log format in a format that is familiar to administrators who use the File-Based Access Log Publisher.

The HTTP Detailed Access Log Publisher generates log messages such as the following. The lines have been wrapped for readability.

[15/Feb/2012:21:17:04 -0600] RESULT requestID=10834128 
from="10.2.1.114:57555" method="PUT" 
url="https://10.2.1.129:443/Aleph/Users/6272c691-
38c6-012f-d227-0dfae261c79e" authorizationType="Basic" 
requestContentType="application/json" statusCode=200 
etime=3.544 responseContentLength=1063 
redirectURI="https://server1.example.com:443/Aleph/Users/6272c691-38c6-012f-d227-0dfae261c79e" 
responseContentType="application/json"

In this example, only default log publisher properties are used. Though this message is for a RESULT, it contains information about the request, such as the client address, the request method, the request URL, the authentication method used, and the Content-Type requested. For the response, it includes the response length, the redirect URI, the Content-Type, and the HTTP status code.

You can modify the information logged, including adding request parameters, cookies, and specific request and response headers. For more information, refer to the dsconfig command-line tool help.