Changing The Verbosity Of Timebase Logging

Overview

All four Timebase products — Historian, Collector, Explorer, and Pulse — use the same logging system. Logs are written to a rolling daily file and to the console (or Windows service output). A live log viewer is also available inside each product's web interface. By default, only informational and higher-severity messages from Timebase itself are shown; third-party library output is limited to warnings and errors. When you need to diagnose a problem, you can increase the verbosity for specific components without touching anything else.

Where Logs Are Written

Each product writes to the same three destinations simultaneously:

Destination	Details
Rolling log file	One file per day, kept for 7 days. Older files are deleted automatically.
Console / service output	Visible when running in a terminal, or in service console output.
In-browser log viewer	Live view inside each product's web interface. Shows the last 1,000 log entries from the current session only — not persisted.

Log file locations

Product	Windows path	Docker path
Historian	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Historian\Logs\	/logs/
Collector	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Collector\Logs\	/logs/
Explorer	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Explorer\Logs\	/logs/
Pulse	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Pulse\Logs\	/logs/

Log filenames include the date, e.g. 20260503.txt. The path can be changed by setting the Logs key in settings.config or via environment variable.

How to Change the Log Level

Each product reads its log level from a settings.config file. Edit the Serilog section directly — the change takes effect immediately without restarting the service.

Settings file locations

Product	Windows path
Historian	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Historian\Settings\settings.config
Collector	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Collector\Settings\settings.config
Explorer	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Explorer\Settings\settings.config
Pulse	C:\ProgramData\Flow Software\Timebase\Pulse\Settings\settings.config

Docker: /settings/settings.config (mapped from the product's settings volume)

The Serilog section

The Serilog section in settings.config controls which messages are shown:

"Serilog": {
  "MinimumLevel": {
    "Default": "Warning",
    "Override": {
      "Timebase.Historian": "Information",
      "Timebase.Dataset": "Information"
    }
  }
}

• Default — the minimum level for everything not listed in Override. Keep this at Warning to suppress noise from ASP.NET Core and other libraries.
• Override — per-namespace level settings. The product's own namespace is listed here so its messages appear at Information by default.

Available log levels

Levels in order from least to most severe:

Level	When to use
Verbose	Maximum detail — individual data points, internal loop iterations. Very high volume.
Debug	Detailed data flow — chunk sizes, batch results, connection events. Use for active diagnosis.
Information	Normal operation milestones. This is the default for Timebase code.
Warning	Recoverable problems — connection retries, token refresh, buffer activation.
Error	Failures that need attention but did not stop the service.
Fatal / Critical	Startup failures that caused the service to exit.

Namespace overrides for each product

Use these namespace values in the Override section of settings.config:

Product	Namespace	What it covers
Historian	Timebase.Historian	Historian service, datasets, API
Historian	Timebase.Dataset	Individual dataset operations
Collector	Timebase.Collector	Collector service and all plugins (OPC UA, MQTT, SparkplugB, etc.)
Collector — OPC UA only	Timebase.Collector.OPCUA	OPC UA plugin exclusively
Collector — MQTT only	Timebase.Collector.MQTT	MQTT plugin exclusively
Collector — SparkplugB only	Timebase.Collector.SparkplugB	SparkplugB plugin exclusively
Explorer	Timebase.Explorer	Explorer service, proxy, historian client
Pulse	Timebase.Pulse	Pulse service, authentication, certificates

To set a level for all Timebase code across every namespace at once, use the parent namespace:

"Override": {
  "Timebase": "Debug"
}

Alternate methods

You can also change the log level without editing settings.config:

Environment variable (takes effect on next restart):

Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default=Debug
Serilog__MinimumLevel__Override__Timebase.Historian=Debug

Docker compose:

environment:
  - Serilog__MinimumLevel__Override__Timebase.Historian=Debug

Command-line argument (highest precedence, overrides everything):

--Serilog:MinimumLevel:Default=Debug

What Each Level Shows

Historian

Information (default)

Message	What it means
Historian starting ...	Service is starting
Historian 'Auth' configured as {Url} for '{ClientId}'	OAuth2 authentication is active
Historian 'Auth' disabled	Running without authentication
Historian started	Fully initialized, all datasets loaded
Process listening on {Urls}	API is accepting requests
Historian tags: {Count}	Daily diagnostic summary
Historian size: {Size} GB	Storage summary
Historian space available: {Space} GB ({Percent}%)	Disk space check
Historian removed dataset {DatasetName}	Dataset deleted

Warning

Message	What it means
Historian dataset {Dataset} collector has timed out, entering "store forward" state	Collector disconnected — data will buffer
Historian dataset {Dataset} collector has lost communication	Extended collector disconnect
Dataset directory for {DatasetName} not found at {Path}	Dataset directory missing on disk

Debug — Data flow messages: HTTP request details, chunk dispatch timing.

---

Collector

Information (default)

Message	What it means
Collector starting ...	Service is starting
Collector plugin {Plugin} starting ... / started	Plugin lifecycle
Collector started	All plugins running
OPCUA plugin successfully created session	OPC UA connected
OPCUA plugin subscription cycle finished in {Elapsed}ms, {Matched} nodes matched, {Subscribed} total subscribed	Node browsing complete
OPCUA plugin Subscription[{Index}] now monitoring {Count} nodes	Active subscriptions
Client {name} store and forward deactivated for dataset {Dataset}	Historian reconnected, buffer drained
Client {name} tag cache successfully populated for dataset {Dataset} with {Count} tags	Tag cache ready

Warning

Message	What it means
Collector is running, but 'Active' setting is set to false, data collection is paused	Collection intentionally paused
OPCUA plugin failed to create session: {Exception}	OPC UA connection failed — retrying every 10 seconds
OPCUA plugin failed to read DataType for node {NodeId}	Node skipped — check OPC UA server
OPCUA plugin keep alive status: {KeepAlive}	Keep-alive issue detected
Client {name} hub connection to {BaseAddress} has disconnected	Lost connection to Historian
Client {name} store and forward activated for dataset {Dataset}. Buffered {Buffer} points	Historian unreachable — buffering data
MQTT plugin connection to {Broker}:{Port} failed: {Reason}	MQTT connection error
SparkplugB plugin Data Received before birth	SparkplugB sequence issue

Critical (plugin startup failures)

Message	What it means
Collector plugin {Plugin} failed to start: {Exception}	Plugin failed — check configuration
Collector '{Setting}' is not configured	Required setting is missing

Debug — Chunk-level write detail: sending chunk for dataset {Dataset}: {Chunk} points for {Tags} tags, write timing, buffering rate.

Verbose — Individual data point trace: buffered {Tag} value {Value}: Message {SequenceNumber}. Very high volume — use only for a single tag.

---

Explorer

Information (default)

Message	What it means
Explorer starting ...	Service is starting
Explorer initialized	Configuration loaded
Process listening on {Urls}	UI is accepting requests
Source proxy service configuration reloaded	Historian proxy updated
Client {name} hub reconnected to {BaseAddress}: {ConnectionId}	Reconnected to Historian

Warning

Message	What it means
Client {name} hub connection to {BaseAddress} has disconnected	Lost connection to Historian
Client {name} store and forward activated for dataset {Dataset}	Historian unreachable
Client {name} failed to send status data to {BaseAddress}	Status update failed

Critical (startup failures)

Message	What it means
Explorer 'Historians' is not configured	No historian defined in config
Explorer Historian[{Index}] 'Host' is not configured	Historian host missing
Explorer configuration could not be loaded	Config file unreadable

Debug — Historian client connection detail, SignalR reconnect events, HTTP proxy request/response timing.

---

Pulse

Information (default)

Message	What it means
Pulse starting ...	Service is starting
Pulse created {Count} default clients in {Object}	Default OAuth2 clients seeded
Pulse started	Ready to handle authentication requests
Process listening on {Urls}	Accepting requests
Certificates generated certificate: {Subject}, expires {Expiry}	TLS certificate created or renewed
RootCA Root CA generated and saved: {Subject}, expires {Expiry}	Root CA created
RootCA installed Root CA to OS trust store: {Subject}	Root CA trusted by OS

Warning

Message	What it means
JWT Challenge triggered. Authentication scheme: {AuthScheme}, Error: {Error}	A request failed authentication
RootCA failed to install Root CA to OS trust store	Manual trust store installation may be needed
Skipping key due to missing private key material or ID	A signing key is malformed

Error

Message	What it means
JWT Authentication Failed	Token validation failed — check client credentials and Pulse URL
No signing keys found in storage. JWT validation will fail	Key store is empty — restart Pulse to regenerate keys
No validation keys provided by IKeyProvider	Key provider returned nothing

Debug — JWT validation detail per request, OAuth2 authorization code flow steps, configuration reload notifications.

Common Diagnostic Scenarios

Collector not delivering data to Historian

1. Set Timebase.Collector to Debug in the Collector's settings.config.
2. Look for sending chunk for dataset ... — if absent, data is not reaching the write client.
3. Look for store and forward activated — this means the Historian is unreachable from the Collector.
4. Verify the Historian URL and port in the Collector configuration.

Historian shows gaps in tag data

1. Check the Historian's log for dataset {Dataset} collector has timed out — this marks when the Collector disconnected.
2. Check the Collector's log for hub connection to {BaseAddress} has disconnected around the same time.
3. If Store and Forward was active, look for store and forward deactivated to confirm data was recovered on reconnection.

OPC UA tags not appearing or not updating

1. Set Timebase.Collector.OPCUA to Debug in the Collector's settings.config.
2. Look for subscription cycle finished in {Elapsed}ms, {Matched} nodes matched — if Matched is 0, no configured tags matched any OPC UA nodes. Check the tag filter configuration.
3. Look for failed to read DataType for node warnings — these nodes are skipped and will not collect data.
4. If the connection itself is failing, look for failed to create session and check the OPC UA server address and security settings.

Pulse authentication errors

1. Set Timebase.Pulse to Debug in the Pulse settings.config.
2. Look for JWT Authentication Failed — this means the token presented was invalid.
3. Look for No signing keys found in storage — if present, restart Pulse to regenerate the key store.
4. Look for JWT Token Validated successfully to confirm a successful validation is occurring for the expected principal.

Explorer cannot connect to Historian

1. Check Explorer logs for Explorer Historian[{Index}] 'Host' is not configured at startup.
2. Look for Client {name} hub connection to ... has disconnected to find when the disconnection occurred.
3. Verify the Historian address in the Explorer settings.config under the Historians section.