2. Reading your log files

2.1. Case logs and server logs

Each Intella Connect case has its own log files: case-main-[date].log and case-warnings-[date].log. The main file contains all of Intella’s case-specific log messages. The warnings file only contains those messages that have a WARN or ERROR message level. This will typically be a much shorter file and is therefore easier to handle, but it may miss critical contextual information needed for the proper diagnosis of errors.

Besides case logs Intella Connect/Node will produce additional pair of log files with similar names, but starting with ‘connect-‘ or ‘node-‘ prefix. Those logs contain messages generated by the server and thus are not strictly related to a particular case (however they might contain traces leading to shared cases). Those logs can be used to inspect the state of the entire Intella Connect/Node server.

Log files “roll over” every day at midnight. When a case is opened for the first time on a specific day, two new log files are made for that day. When you open the case another time on the same day, all log messages are appended to these files. When Intella still has the case open at midnight, it starts creating two new log files for the next day. When you keep track of when you indexed or exported information in the case, this split up will ease looking up the relevant log messages. This split up also prevents the log files from becoming too large to handle.

Your case log files are always stored in the logs subfolder of the case folder. Server log files are stored in C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Intella Connect\logs. By searching your own log files for common error messages, you can often troubleshoot these common errors without need of contacting our support department.

To open very large log files, we suggest free tools such as Large Text File Viewer. This tool is optimized for viewing very large (> 1 GB) text files.

2.2. List of known errors

The following is a list of known error messages and their explanation and solution. Most of these errors have causes that are external to Intella Connect.

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError

Explanation: Intella Connect/Node has run out of memory while processing a file or index. This error can also happen on machines with lots of RAM, as each of Intella’s processes has a maximum amount of memory it is allowed to use.

Solution: increase memory settings for Intella Connect/Node.

Caveat: some out of memory errors are caused by corrupt documents and Intella may safely recover from this, so that the integrity of the case is not harmed. When in doubt, please send the error message and the 50 lines surrounding it to our support department.

java.io.IOException: The device is not ready

Explanation: the USB disk or network drive is not available to Intella.

Solution: process the case on an internal disk to see if this solves the issue. The network/external disk or the connection to it may not be reliable.

“Exception while processing stream of ...”

Explanation: the file being indexed may be corrupt.

Solution: check the file in its native application. java.io.IOException: An unexpected network error occurred

Explanation: your network is dropping connections.

Solution: move the case and evidence data to an internal drive and retry.

java.io.IOException: Access is denied

Explanation: you do not have the correct file or folder permissions.

Solution: ensure all permissions on the case files and evidence data are correct.

java.io.FileNotFoundException: X:FILE_NAME_AND_PATH (Access is denied)

Explanation: the file or folder is missing. Perhaps you have moved the case or evidence folder?

Solution: verify that the original data is where it should be.

java.io.IOException: There is not enough space on the disk

Explanation: Please check if you have sufficient drive space to continue. Note that heavily fragmented files can also cause such errors

2.3. Background information

Log files are useful in diagnosing problems or errors that may arise while using Intella Connect/Node. Intella Connect/Node records log files during all normal program operation, including indexing and exporting. In the default logging mode, Intella Connect/Node records basic operational messages and errors. The log files are stored in the “logs” folder inside the case folder.

When using the default suggested case folder, the log files are typically stored here:

C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Intella\cases\<CASE NAME>\logs

Server log files are stored in:

C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Intella Connect\logs.

The log files are case-main-[date].log, case-warnings-[date].log and any other *.log files located in mentioned directories. Note that the Intella Connect/Node tray icon has Server Logs and Case Logs options that takes you straight to the right folder, regardless of where it is located.

2.4. Log levels

When an issue arises and the log files do not contain sufficient information to resolve the issue, you may wish to increase the logging level from basic (INFO) to a more detailed level (typically DEBUG). Intella Connect will then log actions and operations in more detail. Note that this will considerably increase the size of the resulting log files.

To increase the logging level for a particular case. please do the following:

  1. Unshare your Intella Connect case, remembering the case name and the location of the case folder.
  2. Assuming the default suggested case folder, open the following folder in Windows Explorer: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Intella\cases\<CASE NAME>\conf. When your case is saved to a location other than the suggested location (e.g. a USB device), please use the path to that folder.
  3. Once in the conf folder, use a text editor (e.g. Notepad) to open the logback.xml file. This file is unique to every case. Locate and change the line containing <level value="INFO" /> into <level value="DEBUG" />
  4. Once the changes are made, save the file and close the text editor.

Now share your Intella Connect case again. Logging will from now on report more detailed information.

To modify levels of server logs, you can apply similar procedure to logback.xml file stored in:

C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Intella Connect\conf