Cassandra Logs Test

The Cassandra database logs are a vast source of information related to errors and warnings that a Cassandra database server encounters. Administrators use these log files not only to spot problem conditions, but also to troubleshoot them. By periodically scanning the Cassandra error log for errors/warnings, the Cassandra Logs test promptly notifies administrators as soon as a new error, warning, or fatal error is logged in the file.

As messages keep getting logged in the log files, these log files grow large in size. If log file growth is left unchecked, it can consume all available space in the database. Administrators can effectively track the log file growth and initiate measures to control it using the Cassandra Logs test. The test reports the errors logged in the log files, the current size of the log files and their growth rate, and proactively alerts administrators if the rate of growth is abnormal.

Target of the test : A Cassandra Database

Agent deploying the test : An external/remote agent.

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target Cassandra Database node being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameters	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port on which the specified host listens. By default, this is 9042.
File Path	Specify the full path to the log file that is to be monitored. For example, the log file path can be: C:\tmp\system.log.
ISUTF16	If the error log file to be monitored is encoded with UTF-16, then, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Errors	Indicates the number of error messages logged in the log files during the last measurement period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.
Fatal errors	Indicates the number of fatal errors captured by the log files during the last measurement period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.
Warning messages	Indicates the number of warning messages logged in the log files during the last measurement period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.
File size	Indicates the current size of the log file.	MB
Growth rate	Indicates the rate at which the log file is growing.	MB/sec	A high value for this measure or a consistent increase in its value indicates that the Cassandra log is rapidly growing and may end up occupying too much space on the disk.