Error log and journal paths

OpenADS has two different on-disk “logs.” Only the server error log is relocatable. The transaction journal always lives under the connection’s data directory.

Server error log — `ads_err.dbf` + `ads_err.log`

A plain DBF table (SAP-style ads_err) that any DBF tool — or OpenADS itself — can open, plus a developer-friendly fixed-width text mirror ads_err.log in the same directory. Both are written on every entry; the DBF schema is frozen for SAP compatibility while the text line carries extra debugging context.

Text format: every leading column occupies a fixed width, columns are separated by exactly 3 spaces, one line per entry (multi-line messages are flattened with ` | `). A header line is written on file creation:

DATETIME              CODE   SOURCE         LINE        PID        TID        SESSION   CLIENT                  OP           TABLE                    DETAIL
2026-09-06 21:07:02     5018   NET               0      1234   1A2B3C4D          7   10.0.0.5:51234         OpenIndex    lmjshd10.cdx             OpenIndex: lmjshd10.cdx

Column	Width	Notes
`DATETIME`	19	`YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`
`CODE`	6, right	ACE code (`5018`, `7200`, `0` = info)
`SOURCE`	8	`SQL`, `NET`, `SERVER`, …
`LINE`	8, right	source line (often 0)
`PID`	8, right	server process id
`TID`	8	last 8 hex of the worker thread hash (MT storms)
`SESSION`	8, right	server session id (empty when local)
`CLIENT`	21	remote `ip:port` (empty when local)
`OP`	12	wire op / API (`OpenIndex`, `ExecuteSQL`, …)
`TABLE`	24	table/index path (basename, tail-24 if long)
`DETAIL`	rest	full message / SQL, never truncated

OP/TABLE come from the request context when the server knows it; otherwise they are derived from Op: path details, so the 5018 OpenIndex: xxx.cdx flood that used to need DBF decoding is now grep OpenIndex ads_err.log.

Rows record date, time, error code, subsystem (SQL, NET, SERVER), optional source line, and detail text.

Written for:

SQL statement failures (AdsExecuteSQL / AdsExecuteSQLDirect)
Error frames returned to remote clients
Server lifecycle (informational code-0 rows on start and stop)

Where it lives

Mechanism	Setting
Environment	`OPENADS_ERROR_LOG_PATH=<dir>` (DLL and `openads_serverd`)
`openads.ini` (`--config`)	`error_log_path = <dir>` (alias `error_assert_logs`), `error_log_max = <KB>`
Command line	`--error-log-path <dir>`, `--error-log-max <KB>`
SQL at runtime	`EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_mgSetConfigValue('ERROR_ASSERT_LOGS', '<dir>')` / `('ERROR_LOG_MAX', '<KB>')`

The path is a directory. The file names are always ads_err.dbf (DBF table) and ads_err.log (fixed-width text mirror).

Defaults when nothing is set:

Platform	Prefer	Fallback if not writable
Windows	`C:\` → `C:\ads_err.dbf`	`%ProgramData%\OpenADS`, then temp
Linux	`/var/log/advantage`	`~/.openads`, then temp
macOS	same idea as Linux	`~/.openads`, then temp

Size cap: default 1000 KB, shared by both files. When an entry would exceed the cap, the oldest third of rows/lines is dropped and the table is packed (same rotation idea SAP documents for ads_err).

Examples

Command line:

openads_serverd --data "C:\app\data" --port 6262 ^
  --error-log-path "C:\OpenADS\logs" --error-log-max 2000

openads.ini (see also openads.ini.sample at the repo root):

[server]
data = C:\app\data
port = 6262
error_log_path = C:\OpenADS\logs
error_log_max  = 1000

openads_serverd --config openads.ini

Windows service — bake the flag into the registered binPath:

openads_serverd --install-service ^
    --port 6262 --data C:\app\data ^
    --error-log-path C:\OpenADS\logs

Or set OPENADS_ERROR_LOG_PATH for the service account.

Reading the log

Tail the text mirror, or open ads_err.dbf as a table, or query it over any connection. sp_mgGetConfigInfo reports the active path and max size.

tail -f /openads-data/logs/ads_err.log
grep "  5018" /openads-data/logs/ads_err.log | grep OpenIndex

Transaction journal — `openads.txlog` (not relocatable)

Per-connection journaling for AdsBeginTransaction / commit / rollback and orphan recovery:

<data-dir>/openads.txlog
<data-dir>/openads.txlog.<n>     ← rotated archives
<data-dir>/openads.lsnmap        ← recovery map

<data-dir> is the directory the connection opened (--data / data= for the server connect path, or the local path passed to AdsConnect60). There is no separate “tx log path” setting.

Drive roots and non-writable data directories

If the data root cannot create files (typical non-elevated --data "C:\" on Windows):

Connect still succeeds (since v1.8.54)
Tables in writable subfolders work normally
Transactions are disabled on that connection (AdsBeginTransaction fails with a clear error)
A notice is written to stderr (tx journal not writable…)

That notice is expected for whole-drive / legacy_paths ERP deployments that never use ACE transactions. To enable journaling, point data= at a writable folder (and keep using --legacy-paths so absolute client paths still resolve).

openads_serverd --data "C:\OpenADS\data" --legacy-paths ^
  --error-log-path "C:\OpenADS\logs"

See Migrating from ADS for legacy_paths and whole-filesystem layouts.

Quick reference

What	File	Path control
Server / operational errors	`ads_err.dbf`	`error_log_path` / `--error-log-path` / `OPENADS_ERROR_LOG_PATH`
Transaction journal	`openads.txlog`	Always under connection data directory