Enabling error reports

ArcGIS Server collects and stores error reports that you can send to the ESRI development team through automatic Web reporting or through e-mail at [e-mail]. These reports are analyzed with the intent to understand and fix the errors in future releases or service packs.

Some server errors have no repeatable steps and occur when either the system is overloaded or a hardware fault occurs. The contents of the error report give the ESRI development team insight into how to better engineer the software to avoid these errors in the future.

If you do encounter errors that occur with repeatable steps, you should contact your local ESRI representative. When providing the steps to reproduce the error, you can also send the error report. ArcGIS Server can be configured to store these error or crash reports in a directory of your choice.

Enabling error reports

ArcGIS Server Object Container processes (ArcSOC.exe) are not likely to crash on their own; however, they may:

• Become unresponsive.
• Start to behave unexpectedly and print errors to the log files.
• Be ordered to quit after a usage time-out or when attempting to recover from lost workspace connections.

If your site is experiencing these errors and they hinder user workflow, consider enabling ArcGIS Server error reports. You can choose for these reports to be submitted automatically to ESRI, or you can e-mail them to ESRI as needed.

Follow these steps to enable ArcGIS Server error reporting:

1. Stop the ArcGIS Server Object Manager service. In Windows, you can find this service by navigating to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
2. Navigate to <ArcGIS install location>\server\system.
3. Find Server.dat and make a backup copy of this file. If you inadvertently corrupt your Server.dat file while you are making the edits, you can easily restore the corrupted file by replacing it with this backup.
4. Open the original Server.dat file in Notepad.
5. Edit the ErrorReport tags in the Server.dat file using the following example as a guide:

   <Server>
     . . .
     <Properties>
     . . .
     </Properties>
     <ErrorReportMode>2</ErrorReportMode>  
     <ErrorReportModeSOM>3</ErrorReportModeSOM>
     <ErrorReportDir>\\MYSERVER\ErrorReports</ErrorReportDir>
   	 <ErrorReportEnableUpload>True</ErrorReportEnableUpload>
   	 <ErrorReportEmailAddress>[e-mail]</ErrorReportEmailAddress>
     <ErrorReportReportInterval>3600</ErrorReportInterval>
     <ErrorReportCacheSize>10</ErrorReportCacheSize>
   </Server>
   
   

   Following are some details about each tag:

   <ErrorReportMode>

   Specifies whether ArcSOC.exe processes are allowed to crash and what the server should do when a crash occurs. Following are the available values:

   • 0—ArcSOC.exe processes cannot crash.
   • 1—Allows ArcSOC.exe processes to crash with a message written to the log file.
   • 2—Allows ArcSOC.exe processes to crash with a message written to the log file and an error report written to the location specified in the <ErrorReportDir> tag.

   <ErrorReportModeSOM>

   Specifies whether the ArcSOM.exe process generates error reports. Following are the available values:

   • 0—The ArcSOM.exe processes does not generate error reports.
   • 3—The ArcSOM.exe process generates error reports.
   Note:

   Values of 1 and 2 are not used with this property.

   <ErrorReportDir>

   The path on disk where ArcGIS Server error reports are written. This property must be set before any error reports can be generated.

   You can choose any directory, but the SOM and SOC accounts must be able to write to it. If your ArcGIS Server configuration contains multiple machines, this path should be either a UNC path pointing to a shared location, or an identical local path on each SOC machine.

   <ErrorReportEnableUpload>

   Specifies whether error reports will be automatically sent to ESRI through the Web. The default is False. A value of True enables error reports to be sent. Before enabling automatic error reports, you should read and be in agreement with the terms in the ESRI Privacy Policy.

   <ErrorReportEmailAddress>

   Optional property containing an e-mail address that ESRI can use to contact the system administrator for further information about error reports.

   <ErrorReportReportInterval>

   The interval in seconds at which you would like ArcGIS Server to check the error report directory for new reports. The default is 3600 (1 hour). Any reports found during the check will automatically be sent to ESRI if you have enabled automatic uploads (using the <ErrorReportEnableUpload> tag).

   <ErrorReportCacheSize>

   The number of error reports to keep in the error report output directory. The default is 10. If you are accumulating reports quickly with many ArcSOC.exe crashes, you may want to set this property to a higher value. If you have chosen to automatically send error reports to ESRI, the reports are removed from the directory after they are sent. However, you can always find the last 10 reports in the SOM account's user profile directory.

6. Save the Server.dat file.
7. Start the ArcGIS Server Object Manager service.

Error reports can be very large (over 100 MB in cases). Use the <ErrorReportCacheSize> property to keep the error report directory from growing excessively. If you are working with a low-bandwidth Internet connection, consider leaving automatic uploads of error reports disabled unless you are troubleshooting a problem.

Disabling error reports

To disable ArcGIS Server error reporting, perform the following steps:

1. Stop the ArcGIS Server Object Manager service. In Windows, you can find this service by navigating to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
2. Navigate to <ArcGIS install location>\server\system and open Server.dat in a text editor. Optionally back up this file before editing it.
3. Change the values of the <ErrorReportMode> and <ErrorReportModeSOM> tags to 0.
4. Save the Server.dat file.
5. Clean the error reports directory (listed in the <ErrorReportDir> tag) of any unneeded error reports.
6. Start the ArcGIS Server Object Manager service.

Sending error reports

You can choose to send your error reports automatically to ESRI, or you can e-mail them to [e-mail]. If you decide to e-mail the file, you can optionally include your contact information and any details you would like to provide about what you were doing when the crash occurred. If you choose to include your contact information, ESRI may ask you for additional information on the crash. Providing this information is optional.

Except when ESRI development staff requests more information about the error, you will not be contacted about the status of your report. ESRI Support cannot provide details about the status of your report unless you sent it in connection with an existing support incident.

Frequently asked questions

Below are some common questions about error reporting.

Can I get a hot fix for an error?

ESRI will not provide a hot fix for an error that occurs without repeatable steps. If you are encountering a fatal application error with reproducible steps, you should contact ESRI Support to have the issue reviewed.

Will ESRI provide summaries of where the errors are occurring?

ESRI will analyze the incoming error reports and identify the areas of the software where the errors occur. Fixes will be moved into service packs or releases.

Is there a way to enable error reporting using Manager or ArcCatalog?

The only way to enable or disable error reporting is to manually edit the Server.dat file as described in this topic. Before editing the Server.dat file, it's a good idea to save a backup copy.

Learn more about the Server.dat file