Summary Manual

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary runs and then it just sits there?

Summary appear to be working but I don't get anything in my web browser?

I configured Summary but it still shows the old configuration?

All of my reports are empty?

Summary mostly works but some of my reports are empty?

I changed the configuration but the reports don't reflect the new configuration?

The reports combine information from all of my domains?

Summary only reports on the last two months even though my logs cover a lot more time?

All of my host names come out as numbers?

I want separate reports for each of my domains?

I want a report for last month?

When I go to the URL Summary gives me, I see my web site, not Summary?

How do I configure Summary to process log files from multiple servers?

When I run Summary it says 'Unable to open/create PID file!'?

Summary runs and then it just sits there - All interaction with Summary is through a web browser. So the first thing you need to do is access Summary through your web browser.

1) Run the Summary application by double clicking the application icon. Summary will display a heading including a line like:

Set web browser to "http://machine12.summary.net/"

The URL inside the quotes, displayed by your copy of Summary, is the Web address you should use to access Summary.

2) Run your web browser and enter the Web address for your copy of Summary (from step 3) into the location or URL line of your web browser and press enter. This address will be the address of the computer you are running Summary on.

Your browser should display a page with a big Summary.Net across the top named "Summary Main Page".

Summary appear to be working but I don't get anything in my web browser - You need to make sure you entered the correct address into your web browser. Double check the message Summary displays telling you where to point your web browser. You can also try using the IP address of your machine's the URL for the web browser.. On Macintosh you get that by opening the TCP/IP control panel and using the value it displays for "IP Address". Under Windows, run the program 'winipcfg' and use the IP address it displays.

I configured Summary but it still shows the old configuration - Some browsers cache the pages from Summary even though Summary tells them not to. Surf Express from Connectix can cause this problem. You need to hold down option and press reload in Netscape to really reload the page. You can also try clearing the browser cache or exiting the browser and running it again.

All of my reports are empty - Look at the Logs report, at the bottom of the Summary Report or near the bottom right on the Report Menu.

1) Check that "Log files" is at least one. If it is zero, check to see that your log file is in the logs folder and make sure it's name does not start with a period.

2) Check that "Valid log entries" is greater than zero. If it is zero, Summary does not understand your log format or none of the files in the logs folder are actually log files. Check to see if your log format is covered in the Log Formats section of the manual. Make sure the log is either not compressed or is compressed with GZip.

3) Check that "Filtered log entries" is lower than "Valid log entries", if they are equal you have filtered out all of the entries. Check the settings on the Filters configuration page. Try removing all filtering and see what results you get.

Summary mostly works but some of my reports are empty - Various reports require that particular information be in the log files. If your web server is not logging agent information, Summary can not produce the Agent, Browser, Platform, or Web Robots reports. Check the Reports and Log Formats sections of the manual for more information about what information is required for each report. It may be possible to add this information to future logs produced by your web server, check your web server documentation. The CGI Arguments and Cookie reports are disabled by default because they can take a lot of memory and most people would not find them useful. They can be enabled on the Options configuration page.

I changed the configuration but the reports don't reflect the new configuration - You must process the logs again after changing the configuration. Select Process on the main page, Report Menu, or the main configuration page. It is also possible that your web browser is still giving you the old report. Press reload in your web browser, try also while holding down option, to get a current copy of the report.

The reports combine information from all of my domains - By default, Summary reports on all of the entries in the log file in a single report. You should configure sub-reports to report on each of your individual domains. The "Unregistered" version of Summary does not support sub-reports.

Summary only reports on the last two months even though my logs cover a lot more time - The amount of time that Summary will report over is configurable on the Time Units configuration page.

All of my host names come out as numbers - The web server can be configured to do DNS lookups which converts the numbers into host names but slows down the web server. If your web server is only logging numeric IP address you should turn on DNS lookups in Summary on the Options configuration page. This will dramatically slow Summary down the first time it processes a new log while it does the conversion lookups.

I want separate reports for each of my domains - Try selecting "Auto Configuration" near the bottom of the main configuration page. It will normally suggest ways to create sub-reports for each of your domains. You can also create sub-reports manuals and configure each one to report on a different domain. Summary supports up to three domains with their own sets of reports, Summary Pro supports up to 500.

I want a report for last month - On the "Time Units" configuration page there are two settings that allow you to specify a time range. Set "Stop processing after (MM/DD/YY)" to the last day of the range you want reports for, and set "Number of days to include (0 means all)" to the number of days you want included.

When I go to the URL Summary gives me, I see my web site, not Summary - Both Summary and your web server are trying to use port 80. Manually configure Summary to use something other than port 80 by setting "Port to serve on (0 - autoselect)" in the Details section of configuration. If you can't access Summary at all, it may be necessary to manually edit the configuration file, 'config.txt' in the 'config' folder. Quit Summary and then add a line that reads 'ServerPort: 6000' to the config.txt file, you can replace the 6000 with some other available port number if you want. If the 'config.txt' file does not already exist you should create it.

How do I configure Summary to process log files from multiple servers - Create sub folders in the summary log folder for each server and put the corresponding log folders into each folder. The folder name will show up as the 'server' name in Summary and can be used to select log entries for sub-reports.

When I run Summary it says 'Unable to open/create PID file!'? - Summary needs to be able to find it's associated files, the 'data' folder for example. The first time you run Summary you need to have the current directory be the directory containing the Summary application. After the first time you can either set the 'Base Directory' to the absolute path name of the Summary directory or you can continue to run Summary with the current directory set to the Summary directory. Summary also needs to have write permission to the 'config', 'data', and 'reports' directories.

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