OCSTracer

This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

OCSTracer.exe is a command-line tool that can be used to start and stop trace sessions for Microsoft ?? Office Communications Server 2007 components. The tool can also be used to format the raw contents of a log file (an .ETL file) into human-readable text.

Installing OCSTracer

To install OCSTracer, run UcmaRedist.msi, which can be found in the %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\UCMA v1.0 SDK\ directory after you install the Unified Communication Managed API version 1.0 SDK (UcmaSdk.msi). When UcmaRedist.msi is run, it copies OCSTracer.exe and related files to the %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Common\Tracing\ directory.

Using OCSTracer

When you enter an OCSTracer command line into a command window, you provide it with global options or a command (possibly with options). This section discusses the global options and the commands and their option switches.

OCSTracer [global options] [command [options]]

Global Options

Global options consist of either /Help or /Log:<file path>. Use any of the following to display the top-level help for OCSTracer. For a discussion of the help available for each command, see the following section on Commands.

OCSTracer /?
OCSTracer /Help
OCSTracer /help
OCSTracer /H
OCSTracer /h

By default, OCSTracer writes all error messages and status messages to the console. The /Log:<file path> global option redirects all error and status messages to the file specified in <file_path>.

OCSTracer /Log:<file_path>

Commands

The following table is a summary of the commands that apply to OCSTracer.

Command Explanation

Export

Export one or more .TMF files from Default.tmx.

Flush

Flush buffered trace events for active Office Communication Server 2007 trace sessions.

Format

Format one or more .ETL files from Office Communication Server 2007 trace sessions.

List

List available components or active Office Communication Server 2007 trace session(s).

Start

Start one or more Office Communication Server 2007 trace sessions.

Stop

Stop active Office Communication Server 2007 trace sessions.

Trace

Equivalent to Start, with real-time Format to console window, until user presses CTRL + C, followed by Flush and then Stop.

Update

Update active Office Communication Server 2007 trace sessions.

To display help for an individual command, enter OCSTracer <command> /Help. For more infromation about the OCSTracer options and switches, see OCSTracer Options and Switches. The following example displays help for the Format command.

OCSTracer Format /Help

All command names and option switches are case insensitive, so the switch in the previous command could have been /help. In addition, any unique prefix can be used to specify a command or option switch. This means that L or its lower-case form, l, could be used instead of List, because no other commands begin with this letter. However, S cannot be used in place of Start, because Stop also begins with the same letter. If a command is ambiguous, OCSTracer displays a message saying that the command is ambiguous, and displays its top-level help.

Files Used by OCSTracer

Microsoft Windows writes .ETL files when tracing for a component is enabled. These files are binary files whose sizes are multiples of the current BufferSize value. The Format command can be used to format the information in an .ETL file into a text file in human-readable form.

.TMF files contain formatting information that is used to format records in .ETL files. No .TMF files are currently shipped with OCSTracer.

Default.tmx is a compiled version of all of the .TMF files for Office Communications Server 2007. This file defines all of the components, the levels and flags associated with each component, and the default level and flags for each. For more information, see Component Levels and Flags.

See Also

Concepts

OCSTracer Options and Switches
Component Levels and Flags