PingFederate provides a utility logfilter that administrators can use to filter server logs. The utility located in the <pf_install>/pingfederate/bin directory: logfilter.bat for Windows and logfilter.sh for Linux.

The utility sorts through all the server logs in the log directory. Administrators can move or copy one or more server log files to a different directory that can be specified as an input parameter.

The log filter returns lists of log entries based on either:

  • Entity ID and subject
  • Tracking ID
  • Session cross-reference ID

The following table describes the utility's command options. The table afterward describes optional parameters available for all of the commands.

Server log filter command parameters

Command parameter Description
-entityid <entity ID>

-subject <subject>

These two commands must be used together and return a list of transactions for the specified federation partner's entity ID and transaction subject.
-trackingid <tracking ID> This command returns a list of transactions with the same tracking ID.
-sessionxrefid <session cross-reference ID> This command returns a list of transactions for an ID assigned by PingFederate to associate different transactions according to the user session under which they occurred. The value of <session cross-reference ID> may be the value of any of the following transaction tags in the target server log(s):
  • Artifact
  • Session Index
  • Assertion ID

Server log filter parameters (optional)

Parameter Description
-logsdir <log files directory> Full or relative path to source directory for the logs.

Default: all server.log files are written to the <pf_install>/pingfederate/log directory (a setting that can be adjusted by the pf.log.dir property in the <pf_install>/pingfederate/bin/run.properties file.

-outputfile <output file> Output path and file for the returned list.

Default: $pf.log.dir/logfilter_output.log.

-outputtoconsole Returns list to the command console rather than to a file.

The log filter creates its own log file, logfilter.log, located in the log directory. Administrators can control settings for this log, as needed, in the file logfilter.log4j2.xml, located in the <pf_install>/pingfederate/bin directory.