Rolling soa_server.out log file

SOA server keeps many logs. They are mostly WLS logs, such as soa_sever1.log, osb_server1.log etc. All of these files can be configured to auto roll. Except soa_server1.out.

Strictly speaking, soa_server1.out is not really WLS "log" file. If you start SOA server from a command window, by default the standard output spits all the messages in the command Window. When you start SOA server via node manager, the standard output get redirected to soa_server1.out. Since standard output is not really a log file, you cannot configure WLS to roll this file. Over time, soa_server1.out can grow very big and cause problems. 

I'm sure many people have their solutions to deal with the issue. Here is a cheat I figured out that can achieve the effect of "rolling" soa_server1.out.

Write a simply script:

  cp soa_server.out soa_server.out_$(date +%b)_$(date +%d)_$(date +%Y)"

  echo > soa_server.out

the first command backs up the file, 2nd command truncates the file, but still keep the same file. SOA is happy to to dump data into the same "log" file. Use cron to schedule the script to run, that should be it.

One reminder, i used cp in the first step. Then truncate the file in 2nd step. I also attempted in the first step to rename soa_server1.out file, then "touch soa_server1.out" to create a new log file. It doesn't work that way. SOA server obviously has got its mind somewhere, it doesn't like you to rename the log file. Even if you create a new soa_server.out, it won't write to the new file.