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Activity Log

Overview​

The activity log is used as a local protocol to keep track of which commands and requests were sent by go-c8y-cli. It does not store the whole requests and responses (as that would take up too much space), so only meta information about the requests and responses are stored to file.

The activity log was originally created to keep a record of interactions with a production environment, however it has proven useful in all types of Cumulocity tenants (production, quality assurance and development), as it can be really helpful to look at your local interactions with the platform by logging the HTTP status codes along with the response times so you can see how different types commands/requests compare.

The following information is available in the activity log:

  • Command

    • Timestamp
    • Command arguments

  • Request

    • Accept header
    • Cumulocity Processing Mode
    • HTTP Method
    • Host
    • Path
    • Query parameters

  • Response

    • Outgoing timestamp
    • HTTP Status Code
    • Response time (in milliseconds)
    • Response self link (i.e. the .self property of the response)

The activity log information is split into different entry types. Each type records slightly different information. The following is a list of the types:

typedescription
commandgo-c8y-cli command used to send the request to
requestHTTP request information (specific fields of the request and response)
useruser information, i.e. if you don't confirm a prompt etc.

The request and response are contained in the same entry, however the command has its own entry. The relationship between the go-c8y-cli command and the requests is stored via the ctx (context) property, so map commands to their requests.

Activity log details​

The activity log is a json line file (i.e. one object per line). Below is an example of its contents:

file: ~/.go-c8y-cli/activityLog/c8y.activitylog.2021-04-18.json
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:00.20660075+02:00","ctx":"xtuzTYWn","type":"command","arguments":["devices","list"]}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:00.20737555+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"command","arguments":["devices","get","--progress","--delay","1000"]}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:00.38602845+02:00","ctx":"xtuzTYWn","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects","query":"q=$filter= $orderby=name","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":118,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects?q=$filter%3D%20$orderby%3Dname&pageSize=5&currentPage=1"}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:00.56222815+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects/480957","query":"","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":99,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects/480957"}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:01.59354455+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects/481037","query":"","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":29,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects/481037"}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:02.62316225+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects/480861","query":"","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":21,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects/480861"}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:03.65028965+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects/480862","query":"","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":20,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects/480862"}
{"time":"2021-04-18T09:46:04.69254065+02:00","ctx":"RlOXlJdD","type":"request","method":"GET","host":"example.com","path":"/inventory/managedObjects/461902","query":"","accept":"application/json","processingMode":"","statusCode":200,"responseTimeMS":35,"responseSelf":"https://example.com/inventory/managedObjects/461902"}

The activity logs are all stored in the same folder (regardless of session), however this can be changed for each session by running:

# change activity log folder
c8y settings update activityLog.path ~/.go-c8y-cli/activitylogs

The current activity log settings can be displayed by running

c8y settings list --select activitylog -o json
Output
{
  "activitylog": {
    // currentPath is a read-only setting as it is dynamically generated by go-c8y-cli to make it easier to get the current path
    "currentPath": "/home/vscode/.go-c8y-cli/activityLog/c8y.activitylog.2021-04-18.json",
    "enabled": true,
    "methodfilter": "GET PUT POST DELETE",
    "path": "$C8Y_HOME/activityLog"
  }
}

Note: $C8Y_HOME is configured to ~/.go-c8y-cli by default, however you can set the environment variable in your shell profile to point to a custom location.

The current activity log file includes the current date timestamp so that the files can be individually managed and delete when they are no longer required. There is currently no automatic rotation of these files, so you will have to delete them manually.

For example, the following one-liner will delete all activity logs older than 14 days.

find $(dirname $(c8y settings list --select activitylog.currentPath -o csv)) \
  -type f \
  -mtime +14 \
  -name "c8y.activitylog*.json" \
  -delete

Querying the activity log​

go-c8y-cli also provides commands to display and query the activity log to make it easier to file. If you are using the table view (and have the views configured), then only the request entires will be shown by default.

Examples​

Get activity log entries​

c8y activitylog list
Output
| time                               | ctx           | type         | method     | path                       | query      | statusCode | responseTimeMS |
|------------------------------------|---------------|--------------|------------|----------------------------|------------|------------|----------------|
| 2021-04-18T18:27:19.72950435Z      | nqdfoUex      | request      | GET        | /tenant/currentTenant      |            | 200        | 131            |
| 2021-04-18T18:27:19.95681325Z      | PlJTkVuK      | request      | GET        | /user/currentUser          |            | 200        | 94             |
| 2021-04-18T18:27:20.24930375Z      | kOkZXghv      | request      | POST       | /inventory/managedObjects  |            | 201        | 119            |
| 2021-04-18T18:27:20.60696405Z      | CrAupSgb      | request      | DELETE     | /inventory/managedObjects… |            | 204        | 85             |
| 2021-04-18T18:29:04.47508385Z      | gsILicGq      | request      | GET        | /tenant/currentTenant      |            | 200        | 116            |
| 2021-04-18T18:29:04.68757475Z      | ETWUoSNQ      | request      | GET        | /user/currentUser          |            | 200        | 80             |
| 2021-04-18T18:29:04.93851105Z      | QtEbuAGi      | request      | POST       | /inventory/managedObjects  |            | 201        | 111            |

Get activity log entries from the last 2 hours​

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom -2h

Get activity log entries for all requests types (as json)​

Piping to the cli tool jq can be a useful way to display all of the properties (not just those defined in the view)

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom -2h --type all | jq -c
Output
{"arguments":["currentuser","get","--confirm=false"],"ctx":"IiMyVQfk","time":"2021-04-18T18:30:02.78461065Z","type":"command"}
{"accept":"application/json","ctx":"IiMyVQfk","host":"example.com","method":"GET","path":"/user/currentUser","processingMode":"","query":"","responseSelf":"https://t12345.example.com/user/currentUser","responseTimeMS":73,"statusCode":200,"time":"2021-04-18T18:30:02.93165455Z","type":"request"}
{"arguments":["devices","create","--force","--confirm=false","--template","/workspaces/go-c8y-cli/tools/PSc8y/dist/PSc8y/Templates/test.device.jsonnet"],"ctx":"pYPYpXzk","time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.02579355Z","type":"command"}
{"accept":"application/json","ctx":"pYPYpXzk","host":"example.com","method":"POST","path":"/inventory/managedObjects","processingMode":"","query":"","responseSelf":"https://t12345.example.com/inventory/managedObjects/493890","responseTimeMS":95,"statusCode":201,"time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.16729655Z","type":"request"}
{"arguments":["alarms","create","--confirm=false","--type=c8y_TestAlarm1","--force","--device=493890","--time=-0s","--text=Test alarm 1","--severity=MAJOR"],"ctx":"eDwpckvV","time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.22074955Z","type":"command"}
{"accept":"application/json","ctx":"eDwpckvV","host":"example.com","method":"POST","path":"/alarm/alarms","processingMode":"","query":"","responseSelf":"https://t12345.example.com/alarm/alarms/493891","responseTimeMS":109,"statusCode":201,"time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.36080995Z","type":"request"}
{"arguments":["alarms","create","--confirm=false","--type=c8y_TestAlarm2","--force","--device=493890","--time=-0s","--text=Test alarm 2","--severity=MAJOR"],"ctx":"IaTWjdwa","time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.41817965Z","type":"command"}
{"accept":"application/json","ctx":"IaTWjdwa","host":"example.com","method":"POST","path":"/alarm/alarms","processingMode":"","query":"","responseSelf":"https://t12345.example.com/alarm/alarms/493893","responseTimeMS":93,"statusCode":201,"time":"2021-04-18T18:30:03.53614835Z","type":"request"}

You can also interactive by piping to the linux command more

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom -2h --type all -o json -c | more

Get requests with a status code of 201 and the path includes "alarms"​

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom -3h --type request --filter "statusCode eq 201" --filter "path like *alarms*"
Output
| time                               | ctx           | type         | method     | path               | query      | statusCode | responseTimeMS |
|------------------------------------|---------------|--------------|------------|--------------------|------------|------------|----------------|
| 2021-04-18T18:30:03.36080995Z      | eDwpckvV      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 109            |
| 2021-04-18T18:30:03.53614835Z      | IaTWjdwa      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 93             |
| 2021-04-18T18:30:03.73242335Z      | GlNokisB      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 87             |
| 2021-04-18T18:30:03.90711515Z      | AtJiIwth      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 95             |
| 2021-04-18T18:30:04.08711435Z      | AQMAbqid      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 91             |
| 2021-04-18T18:30:04.27722095Z      | RzNiXVmx      | request      | POST       | /alarm/alarms      |            | 201        | 94             |

Save delete response times for inventory API requests to a csv file​

c8y activitylog list \
  --dateFrom -3h \
  --dateTo -1h \
  --type request \
  --filter "method like delete" \
  --filter "path like **inventory**" \
  --select time,path,method,responseTimeMS -o csvheader > delete_times.csv
Output
time,path,method,responseTimeMS
2021-04-18T18:27:20.60696405Z,/inventory/managedObjects/494211,DELETE,85
2021-04-18T18:29:06.66697205Z,/inventory/managedObjects/493889,DELETE,91
2021-04-18T18:29:06.80089565Z,/inventory/managedObjects/494129,DELETE,89
2021-04-18T18:30:07.17302635Z,/inventory/managedObjects/493890,DELETE,83
2021-04-18T18:31:26.81591365Z,/inventory/managedObjects/494142,DELETE,79
2021-04-18T18:31:33.87323795Z,/inventory/managedObjects/494306,DELETE,116

Get response times of recent api calls​

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom "-10min"
note

Only requests for the current session are shown

Get response times of recent api calls​

c8y activitylog list --dateFrom "-10min" --filter "path like *alarm*" --select time,path,method,responseTimeMS
Output
| time                               | path               | method     | responseTimeMS |
|------------------------------------|--------------------|------------|----------------|
| 2021-04-18T20:36:16.25192145Z      | /alarm/alarms      | GET        | 186            |
note

Only requests for the current session are shown

Use the c8y settings list to get the directory where the activity log files are stored, then use the linux find command to find the activity log json files, and then call c8y util show to filter the input json file and 

find \
  $(dirname $(c8y settings list --select activitylog.currentPath -o csv)) \
  -type f \
  -name "c8y.activity*.json" \
  -exec c8y util show --input {} --filter "type like request*" --select "responseTimeMS" -o csv \;
Output
202
94
163
45
50
50
46