Turn on diagnostic mode

Diagnostic mode turns up logging for your whole Blink server at once: every Support session, every Access device and the server itself. Use it when IZT support asks for it, or when a problem is hard to catch and you do not know in advance which session it will hit.

It always has an end time. You choose how long it runs, at most 7 days, and it turns itself off when that time is up.

To turn up logging for one session or one device only, use Change an agent’s log levels instead.

What you need

The Diagnostic mode permission. Instance owners have it. No starter role includes it, because it covers every organization on the server; anyone else needs an instance role that includes it, given for all organizations. See Instance administration.

It is available on every plan.

Turn it on

1. Open Instance › Diagnostics.
2. Choose the level:
   • Debug: more detail. Start here.
   • Trace: the most detail, and a lot more records. Use it when IZT asks for it.
3. Choose how long it runs: 24 hours, 3 days or 7 days.
4. Select Turn on.

It applies straight away to every agent that is connected, and to every session and device that connects while it is on.

Turn up some parts only (advanced)

IZT may give you a component setting to paste into the overrides field, for example capture=trace. It sets those parts of Blink to their own level on top of the level you chose. Leave it empty unless IZT asks.

While it is on

The Diagnostics tab shows the level, who turned it on, and the time left. It also shows how many log records your server stored in the last hour, so you can see how much extra it writes.

There is no banner in the console while diagnostic mode is on. Your team and your customers see no difference in sessions. The Instance › Activity log records when diagnostic mode is turned on, extended, turned off, and when it ends by itself.

Diagnostic mode never makes logging quieter. If a technician already turned up the level of one session or device by hand, that level still applies where it is more detailed, and it stays when diagnostic mode ends.

Extend it or turn it off

• Extend starts the time again from now, with the duration you choose. It can never run for more than 7 days from the moment you extend it.
• Turn off ends it at once. Connected agents go back to their normal level straight away.

When the time is up, diagnostic mode turns off by itself and connected agents go back to normal. A Support session that has lost its connection to your server at that moment keeps the detailed level until it reconnects or ends.

How long the records are kept

Records written while diagnostic mode is on are kept as long as Info records: 30 days by default, or your -log-retention setting on your own server. Normally Debug and Trace records are kept for only 3 days, so this keeps them available until you send them to IZT. Records written after diagnostic mode ends follow the normal rules. See How long session logs are kept.

Caution

Trace can write a very large number of records on a busy server, and they take up storage for 30 days. Use the shortest duration that catches the problem, and turn it off once you have what you need.

Then send the logs to IZT

1. Turn on diagnostic mode.
2. Reproduce the problem, or wait for it to happen. Note the time.
3. Send diagnostics to IZT Support for the time it happened.
4. Turn diagnostic mode off.