Custom Logging Preferences for Windows Edge Client

Overview

The Windows Edge Client now includes custom logging preferences, enabling administrators to adjust log verbosity directly via the APM Client Log Level dropdown menu in BIG-IP, enhancing both security and debugging capabilities.

Note: The changes to ServerLogLevel are applied dynamically and do not require reinstalling the Edge Client. The updated settings will automatically reflect when the client connects to the APM Virtual Server with a connectivity profile that has the Custom Logging option enabled. However, the MachineLogLevel must be manually created in the Registry Editor if detailed debug-level logging is required on the client side.

Prerequisites

Following are the prerequisites to configure custom logging preferences:

• The upcoming BIG-IP version 21.1 or later.
• Edge Client version 7.2.7 or later.

Procedure

To configure logging preferences and capture logs for the Windows Edge Client:

1. Set Log Level in BIG-IP Connectivity Profile
   1.1 Navigate to Access > Connectivity / VPN > Connectivity > Profiles in the BIG-IP Management Console.
   1.2 While creating or editing a connectivity profile, select the desired log level from the APM Client Log Level drop-down under General Settings. The default log level is Info

2. Enable Debugging Logs on the Client
   2.1 To debug the Windows Edge Client and access detailed traces, create or configure the MachineLogLevel property in the Registry Editor.
   2.2 Navigate to the following registry path: HKLM\Software\F5 Networks\RemoteAccess.
   2.3 Set MachineLogLevel property to DEBUG to enable detailed client-side logs.

   Important:
   This registry setting is necessary only for enabling debug logs. It ensures that detailed logging is captured only on the affected machines.

3. Set Both ServerLogLevel and MachineLogLevel to DEBUG
   For complete and detailed debug logs, configure the following:
   3.1 Set the ServerLogLevel in the BIG-IP Connectivity Profile to DEBUG.
   3.2 Set the MachineLogLevel in the Registry Editor to DEBUG.

4. Capture Logs
   To capture the logs:

   4.1 Start a System Trace
   a. Open Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
   b. Create or navigate to a folder where you want the logs to be stored, e.g., c:\logs\main.
   c. Run the following command to start trace logging:
   logman start msF3 -p {8421B2D4-D4AB-42D7-94B7-C2B93158A6C5} 0xFFFFFFFF 255 -ets

   4.2 Connect the Edge Client
   a. Open the Edge Client application.
   b. Use the interface to connect and proceed with Access Policy evaluation.

   4.3 Stop the System Trace
   a. Once the connection is established and the Access Policy evaluation is complete, navigate back to the Command Prompt.
   b. Enter the following command to stop the trace:
   c:\logs\main> logman stop msF3 -ets

Results

After completing this procedure, the saved .etl file will contain debug-enabled logs. This file can be shared with the support team for further analysis.