Log files ( on Linux Linux )

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Often requested log files:

There are four different log files that might be required for a successful investigation.

  • debug log - contains general information about the events taking place and the softphone configuration.
  • packet capture log - contains information about the network packets sent to and by the softphone.
  • crash log - contains very useful information in case Zoiper exited unexpectedly.
  • strace - contains very useful information in case Zoiper behaved unexpectedly.
  • Other log files, that are not listed here, may also be requested by our Support team.

Usually a packet capture file is always requested along with a debug log file.

 

Note: Before preparing a set of log files, make sure that all non-strictly required settings such as STUN, Rport, KPML, MWI, Presence, etc. are disabled.

 

Debug log

A debug log is created only if the debug logger is ON. It contains detailed information about the events that took place, such as account registration, network status, configuration status, etc. It is usually required by our developers for their investigation.

 

There are two ways to enable / disable the debug logger:

 

a) Turn ON the debug logger by using the Help menu on the main Zoiper screen:

  1. Open the HELP menu and select "Enable debug log";
  2. you will be warned that the created file would be very large;
  3. press "Yes";
  4. exit Zoiper and then start it again;

Now the debug logger is ON;

 

b) Turn ON the debug logger by using the Settings window:

  1. Open the Settings menu on the main Zoiper screen and select Preferences;
  2. the Preferences window will open;
  3. go to the Advanced tab and select Diagnostic;
  4. enable the Detailed Debug log option;
  5. press "OK" to save the changes;
  6. now exit the softphone and then start it again to create the log file.

Now the debug logger is ON.


No matter which approach you will use, a file named logfile_XXXXX_YYYYY.txt will be created in the home folder for the currently logged linux user.

XXXXXX is date and YYYYYY is time.

 

You can access it by opening the a File explorer (thunar, nautilus, konqueror) and opening your home folder. Then locate the log file.

When the issue is recreated, exit Zoiper to make sure that the log contains only relevant information.

 

If you do not need the debug logger ON, you can disable it by using the Settings -> Preferences -> Diagnostics menu, or the Help menu next time when you start Zoiper.

Hint: In the Help menu, if the logger is ON you will see a "Disable debug log" option.

 

Packet capture log

A packet capture log file is required so our developers could follow the network packets sent and received by Zoiper.
The capture contains information about account registrations, configuration details, etc.

You could either use an application like Wireshark or run the tcpdump command in the terminal.

 

a) Creating a packet capture file by using Wireshark

Wireshark is a useful tool for taking packet captures and network monitoring.


You can download it here:

http://www.wireshark.org/download.html

Wireshark documentation is available here:
http://www.wireshark.org/docs/

Here is our basic PDF tutorial about how to make a packet capture:

Note that Wireshark requires to be started as super user in order to capture the interface, or follow the Wireshark manual about how to allow unprivileged users to do it instead.

 

Make sure Zoiper is not running, start Wireshark, select the currently active network interface and start capturing.

Then run Zoiper and recreate the issue.

When done exit Zoiper, then stop capturing and save the capture as a file.

 

b) Creating a packet capture by using tcpdump in the terminal

Start your favorite terminal emulator and issue the tcpdump command:

 

sudo tcpdump -i ethX -n -l -s 1500 -w zoiper.cap


Replace <ethX> with the network adapter which you use to access the Internet.

If you do not know which one it is, use the ifconfig command.

In the Terminal press Ctrl+c or use backspace to make sure there is nothing else on the line, then type

sudo ifconfig

and press Enter. You will need to enter your password, then you will see the list of your network adapters.

Ethernet (cable) is eth0,1,2,3 and wi-fi adapters are wlan0,1,2,.. etc.


Once the tcpdump command is running, start Zoiper.
Recreate the issue, then exit Zoiper and stop the packet capture - go back to the terminal and press Ctrl+c.

The packet capture will be located in the directory where you issued the 'tcpdump' command.


Send this file to us along with a debug log file from the same session.

 

Crash log

When, for some reason, Zoiper exits unexpectedly and "Detailed Crash Dump" is enabled,  a dump file will be created.

It contains debugging information which could help us find out what went wrong.

 

Turn ON the crash logger by using the Settings window:

  1. Open the Settings menu on the main Zoiper screen and select Preferences;
  2. the Preferences window will open;
  3. go to the Advanced tab and select Diagnostic;
  4. enable both Detailed Crash dump and Detailed Debug log options;
  5. press "OK" to save the changes;
  6. exit the softphone and then start it again.

Now the crash dump logger is ON.

 

After recreating the crash successfully, the dump file will be created.
Have a look in your home folder and check if there any files that end on .dmp

Send us both the debug log files and the .dmp files that were created.

 

Strace

In some cases an strace contains very useful information in case Zoiper behaved or exited unexpectedly.

 

To create the strace you will first need to gain admin access. Run a terminal, type

 

sudo su

and press Enter. Enter your password. This will let you operate as superuser.

Now use the cd command to navigate to the folder where your Zoiper
executable file is located. By default Zoiper 3 is located in /usr/bin/ , so you will need to execute:

 

cd /usr/bin/


Once you are in the folder where your Zoiper executable file is located, start it using the following command:

strace -s 1024 -o zoiper_strace.txt -f ./zoiper
Hint: use the TAB key to auto-complete the name of the Zoiper executable.

press Enter to run the command, then try to recreate the issue.


When the issue is recreated, exit your Zoiper and send us the zoiper_strace.txt file.

 

Note that you will need to attach the files to your email as a plain attachment or in a zip archive.

Copy / pasting will ruin the contents.

If the files are too large to be sent by email, upload them to your dropbox / googledrive / cloud account and send the download link to our support team.

 

Zoiper is exiting/freezing before you could enable the debug log and crash dump?

Enable the loggers manually


Open a file explorer, select Go to Location, type ~/.Zoiper and press Enter.

  •  make sure Zoiper is not running.
  •  use vim, mousepad, vi, textedit or other simple text (or xml editor) to alter the Config.xml file;


Change the following lines:

 

Enable the debug logger and detailed crash dump

<enable_debug_log>0</enable_debug_log>
<enable_extra_dmp>0</enable_extra_dmp>


change it to


<enable_debug_log>1</enable_debug_log>
<enable_extra_dmp>1</enable_extra_dmp>


Save the file, make sure its name and extension are Config.xml and try starting your Zoiper.
Check the ~/.Zoiper folder again. Are there a log file xxxyyyzzz.txt or a crash dump *.dmp?