Reviewing log events in VCC

You can use the Venafi Configuration Console to review events in the following ways:

  • View all events or create a custom view that filters just the events you want.
  • Create custom views of events you want
  • Save events to a .CSV file for reference
  • Import earlier-saved .CSV event files
  • View statistics about events
  • See an overview of events logged over recent time periods (one hour, one day, one week). This is a useful feature that gives you a quick overview of your system's event history without needing to read individual logs.

To review log events in VCC

  1. In Venafi Configuration Console (VCC), open the Events node.

    TIP  If you are using the MMC snap-ins, be aware that Events is a separate snap-in from Tools, and has to be loaded separately.

  2. The following table shows some of the things you can do to review recent events.

    Action

    Description

    Report events by time period, and occurrences

    Review the Log Summary table.

    • Event Type describes an event severity.

      If there are any logged events during the last week for that event type, you see a plus icon. Click that to see the events in that categorty.

    • Event ID provides the event message.
    • Source identifies the component that fired the event.
    • Last hour, 24 hours, 7 days show the cumulative number of occurrences for a time period.
    Sort, group, and Drill Down

    Click on a column header to sort by that column.

    Right-click on a column header to see grouping options. You can group by this column, or you can Show GroupBox, which allows you to create advanced grouping rules that can help you locate events quickly.

    Right-click on cell data to use the Drill Down feature. The Drill Down options depend on the type of information in the cell. For example, clicking on a source value in the All Events list lets you see all events from that source, or from the same component, or during a specified time frame. Clicking on a certificate renewal event lets you see all the other events that were tied to that certificate's renewal action (like workflow approvals, and so on).

    As you use Drill Down you'll see temporary views based on your drill-down criteria appear in the Events node. (These are session-specific and are removed when you close VCC or the snap-in.)
    Show all events

    Click All Events.

    The same sorting, grouping, and Drill Down features are available for All Events.

    Create a custom View

    1. Right click Custom Views and select Create Custom View. Filter, and then click OK.

      Filters: 

      • Event level describes the event severity.
      • Event sources match an Event Definition in the Policy Tree Logging tree.
      • Limit to shows the number of the newest events.
    2. On the Save Filter to Custom View screen, type a Name and Description, and then select or create a VCC folder for the log.
    3. Click OK.
    Create custom view filters
    1. Click Custom Views and the view name.
    2. (Optional) In the Actions pane, click Filter Custom View, select options as appropriate, and then click OK.

    Export a custom CSV log
    1. Open the custom view and in the Actions pane, click Save Event Log as.
    2. Specify a path, and then click Save.

    Import a custom CSV log
    1. Click a custom view and in the Actions pane, click Open Saved Log.
    2. Specify a path, and then click Open.

For more information about using the Venafi Event Viewer, see Venafi Event Viewer.