The type of information written to the standard log file depends on the specified level of detail. At the most basic level, the log file contains all error messages and some other important information, such as the current configuration parameters. At the next highest level, in addition to the basic details, the log file contains some extra information returned from the server.

Finally, at the highest level of detail, system trace information is written to the log file, in addition to the previously mentioned information. This trace information includes the current section of code being executed, the current system layer, parameter values passed to functions, and other similar information.

Because the log file can grow quite large, especially at higher levels of logging detail, there are configurable options for limiting the growth of the log file, on the basis of either file size (the default) or time period. If both options are set, the file size takes precedence. Once the set limit is reached, a new log file is created to store the latest messages. The old log file is not removed, at least not right away. Since there can be one or more older log files left over, there is an option for specifying the total number of log files to retain, which automates the cleanup of old log files.

The following table describes the parameters related to the standard log file. They are all set in the [SERVER] section of the ssa.ini file:

A standard log file, located in the path specified by the LOGDIR parameter, has the following naming scheme:

where: