Diagnosing Application failure
Overview
When running Login Enterprise, you may encounter situations where an application fails to execute correctly. If such an error occurs, Login Enterprise will notify you through an event and/or email (if configured), and it may halt the execution of the application script or proceed to your designated error-handling routine. This article will demonstrate how to effectively troubleshoot these session errors.
If you encounter connection issues, you can:
- Attempt to resolve the issue using the steps below.
- Contact our support team at support@loginvsi.com for further assistance. You can also send the log files to our support team along with your inquiry.
Diagnosing Application failure
Example: the Notepad application
During an application test run, for example, in Continuous testing, if an error occurs (for example, the engine fails due to the wrong window title being defined in the workload for the Notepad application), follow these steps to troubleshoot:
1. Identify the error: In the Continuous Test scenario, a red dot will appear in the timeline on your Test dashboard whenever an error occurs for any application or workload within the scenario. For example, if your scenario includes multiple applications like Notepad and others, each application's errors will be marked by a red dot. Click on any red dot to view detailed error information.
This popup provides information about the application name, the application failure description, and other relevant details.
2. Review error details: Click the Screenshot button to see the desktop's state at the time of the error. This visual representation helps identify what was occurring during the application test run when the error occurred.
3. Analyze the log: Click the Log file button to download the log files generated by the session. These logs detail the actions performed during the session and indicate where and how the execution encountered issues. For instance, the following log shows an error "Unable to find [specific element or resource]" during the execution of the Notepad application.
You can also find the event in the Events overview of the Test dashboard; clicking on it generates the same popup, providing another way to access detailed error information.
If the error occurred some time ago, you can also find it in the Continuous testing results > Events overview, which provides historical event data.
In-session troubleshooting
Sometimes, relying solely on screenshots isn't enough, and you may need to troubleshoot issues directly within an active session. Here's how to do it:
1. Accessing the session: Open the launcher responsible for starting the connection you wish to troubleshoot. Alternatively, if your environment allows for manual desktop connections, initiate the session directly from your desktop.
2. Monitoring session activity: Once the session is active, observe the Login Enterprise activity. You can monitor this through indicators such as a green bar.
3. Using the pause button: Within the session interface, look for a pause button located to the right of the green bar. Click this button to pause the session.
4. Accessing log files: With the session paused, navigate to the %tmp%\LoginPI\Logs folder on the machine where the session is running.
- Sorting log files: Sort the log files by date, arranging them from most recent to least recent to locate the one closest to the time of the Application Failure.
- Reviewing logs and screenshots: Each log file captures session activities, while screenshots are automatically generated upon encountering errors. They provide visual context to complement textual logs.
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Identifying errors: Open the log file closest to the Application Failure timestamp. Use the search function to locate the term "error," which identifies specific issues logged by Login Enterprise.
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Analyzing errors: Once you've identified the error message in the log file, review it to understand what went wrong. For example, it may indicate that Login Enterprise could not find an expected control or object.
If requested by our support team, you can copy and zip the log files from the %tmp%\LoginPI\Logs folder. Send the zipped file to support@loginvsi.com for further analysis and assistance.
Once you've pinpointed the error line, you can see the specific message sent to the Login Enterprise server, along with more details. For instance, you might encounter an error indicating that a required control couldn't be found. By checking the log and moving up 12 lines from the error, you'll see it was looking for an object like "MyPDFFile". When you open the screenshot taken at that moment, you might spot where the script failed.
In the example above, the screenshot shows an open file window as expected. However, Login Enterprise couldn't find the PDF file it was supposed to load. The issue was resolved by placing the file into the user's documents folder, which fixed the Application Failure.
Although the reasons for failures can differ, these steps will help you effectively diagnose issues in your environment.
If you have questions or need additional information on troubleshooting Application failures, feel free to get in touch with our support at support@loginvsi.com.