The Alarms.log file is an encrypted binary file used by the Alarm Manager to record all alarm data, from events and alarm occurrences to acknowledgements. In addition to this alarm-related data, the Alarms.log file logs operator control actions (see Operator Control Action Logging), remote configuration actions (see Remote Configuration Action Logging), and security events (see Security Event Logging).
It is the Alarms.log file that provides the data that is displayed in the alarm list. Each List Options button on the alarm page applies a specific filter to the data in the Alarms.log file, resulting in different data being displayed each time a different List Options button is clicked.
On the first occasion your application is run, VTS automatically generates the Alarms.log file in your application directory; the Alarms.log file will therefore exist even if you do not configure any alarms for your application.
By default, the Alarms.log file stores up to 100,000 entries; however, you may modify the number of entries to be stored simply by changing the value of the AlarmMaxRec [SYSTEM] section variable in the application's Config.ini file. Information on the AlarmMaxRec variable and other configuration variables applicable to alarms are provided in Config.ini [SYSTEM] Section Variables for Alarms.
The behavior of the Alarm Manager can be customized so that it can log alarm data to multiple files, rather than to a single Alarms.log file. You may choose to have the Alarm Manager maintain monthly, weekly, or even daily alarm log files. The frequency of log file updates can be set using the AlarmLogFreq variable in the [SYSTEM] section of the Config.ini file for the application. Changing the value of the AlarmLogFreq setting will result in the new alarm log files being generated; the names will include dates, depending upon whether you've chosen to set the Alarm Manager to log daily, weekly, or monthly. The daily file name format is AlarmsYYYMMDD.log; the weekly file name format is AlarmsYYYYMMDDDD.log; and the monthly file name format is AlarmsYYYYMM.log.
As mentioned above, the alarm log file(s) are saved directly within your application directory by default; however, you may change the path to which the alarm log file(s) are saved using the AlarmLogPath variable in the [SYSTEM] section of the Config.ini file for the application. You might prefer to have the files save to a directory created for alarm log files only, or even to another drive or data source such as a floppy disk or zip disk. If you do change the path for the alarm log file(s), the Alarms.db data file (see Alarms.db File) will not be affected, and will continue to remain stored in the application directory.
Finally, the AlarmFileName Config.ini variable enables you to change the root file name for the alarms .LOG file according to your needs. If it is your intent to change the root file name for the alarm log file (Alarms.LOG) and the alarm database file (Alarms.DB), you must first stop the application and delete the existing alarm log file and alarm database file from your application directory. For more information on doing so, and further customizing the behavior of the Alarm Manager, see Config.ini [SYSTEM] Section Variables for Alarms.
The sections that follow provide information on operator control action logging, remote configuration action logging, alarm priority 0 logging, and security event logging.