Reading the data in the S00000.log file

[dhamning]

We are running MQ v5.3 on a Solaris unix box. The 'backend' MQ server is located on an i5 iSeries box. A user is submitting a request from a web application that is putting data onto the Solaris queue manager, but the i5 queue manager is not receiving (or it doesn't appear to be). We see no error messages in the MQ log files. We held the sender channel on the Solaris side to make sure the messages are being put onto that q manager. So now we see messages in the MQ Explorer interface, but can't tell for sure if these are from this user or not since the data pretty much shows up as ascii characters. I believe this data is also stored in the S00000.log file, but is also unreadable. We need to verify that this message is indeed from this particular user, not someone else (this is a live web app, so another user could be sending a request to MQ).

Does anyone know how to convert the S00000.log files to something readable? I haven't found anything in the manuals.

By the way, this same request is successful for other users, just not this user, so it could be something on their end that is making the data incompatible or something.

thanks for any suggestions.

[Carl Farkas]

Interpreting the MQ log files isn't for the light-hearted, and much of the
format is undocumented. But you might want to check out tools by the
Cressida company. They sell MQ tools that do indeed make use of the MQ
logs, and can recreate messages, etc. I saw the stuff demo'ed once and it
was very impressive. No idea of the prices.

[Martin G]

To dump the contents of these log files, use dmpmqlog - documented in the
System Administration Guide. But please be aware these log files are not
easy to use for the purpose you've outlined.

I suggest you use the command-line sample program amqsbcg. Search the MQ
docs for some information on this - essentially it dumps the messages on a
queue to stdout without removing them from the queue. The source for the
app is available in a full MQ installation : amqsbcg0.c

Hope this helps

Martin

Post by dhamning
We are running MQ v5.3 on a Solaris unix box. The 'backend' MQ server is
located on an i5 iSeries box. A user is submitting a request from a web
application that is putting data onto the Solaris queue manager, but the
i5 queue manager is not receiving (or it doesn't appear to be). We see no
error messages in the MQ log files. We held the sender channel on the
Solaris side to make sure the messages are being put onto that q manager.
So now we see messages in the MQ Explorer interface, but can't tell for
sure if these are from this user or not since the data pretty much shows
up as ascii characters. I believe this data is also stored in the
S00000.log file, but is also unreadable. We need to verify that this
message is indeed from this particular user, not someone else (this is a
live web app, so another user could be sending a request to MQ).
Does anyone know how to convert the S00000.log files to something
readable? I haven't found anything in the manuals.
By the way, this same request is successful for other users, just not this
user, so it could be something on their end that is making the data
incompatible or something.
thanks for any suggestions.