Log file updating

[Atomic]

In running the platform on a Windows desktop, this file ("C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Documents\NinjaTrader 8\log") seemed to get updated continuously during a trading session. I am now runnning it on a server and that does not seem to be happening. Is there a setting to make this happen?

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

Hello Atomic,

Thanks for posting.

There are no settings within NinjaTrader to either enable or disable information being written to the log file. If you have the log file open to access to newly recorded information please exit the log folder if it is currently open->Go back into the log folder then open the most recent file listed. You can also see what information should be written to the file within the Log tab of the Control Center.

Let me know if I may be of further assistance.

[Atomic]

Hello Atomic,

Thanks for posting.

There are no settings within NinjaTrader to either enable or disable information being written to the log file. If you have the log file open to access to newly recorded information please exit the log folder if it is currently open->Go back into the log folder then open the most recent file listed. You can also see what information should be written to the file within the Log tab of the Control Center.

Let me know if I may be of further assistance.

I understand what you are saying, but when I close the only application that ever tries to access the log file, it is still not updated, and this never happened running on a Windows desktop. It does not get updated until I close the NT platform.

[bltdavid]

When you say Windows server, do you mean a VPS service?

On that Windows server,
where is the C:\Users\<user>\Documents folder located?

Is that a local drive?
Did you install NinjaTrader onto a local drive, or OneDrive, or Dropbox?

NT8 should be installed to the local disk,
not networked attached storage.
not OneDrive,
not Dropbox,
not Google drive,
etc...

On that Windows server,
how are you monitoring the files in the log folder?

If this is a VPS, are you using an RDP app to login to your VPS?

[Atomic]

When you say Windows server, do you mean a VPS service?

On that Windows server,
where is the C:\Users\<user>\Documents folder located?

Is that a local drive?
Did you install NinjaTrader onto a local drive, or OneDrive, or Dropbox?

NT8 should be installed to the local disk,
not networked attached storage.
not OneDrive,
not Dropbox,
not Google drive,
etc...

On that Windows server,
how are you monitoring the files in the log folder?

If this is a VPS, are you using an RDP app to login to your VPS?

This is a dedicated server using Windows 2019.
I access it using Remote Desktop.
Fonts are here: "C:\Windows\Fonts"
Ninjatrader platform is installed here: "C:\Program Files\NinjaTrader 8"
Ninjatrader documents folder is here: "C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\NinjaTrader 8"

[bltdavid]

How much memory is installed?
How big is the C:\ drive?

Anything else running on this server?

[Atomic]

How much memory is installed?
How big is the C:\ drive?

Anything else running on this server?

The server is a Xeon E-2288G with 128 Gb of RAM. The only apps are Tradestation and Ninjatrader, which is the same as on my desktops, but I don't have this strange log file behavior on my desktops.

[NinjaTrader_Dennis]

Hello Atomic

There are cases where an exception or bad 3rd party script can spam and lock up the logging thread and cause it to not update in real-time.

If you launch NinjaTrader 8 in Safe Mode do you see any logging?

You can search for NinjaTrader 8 (Safe Mode) in your applications to launch in Safe Mode.

I look forward to your reply

[Atomic]

Hello Atomic

There are cases where an exception or bad 3rd party script can spam and lock up the logging thread and cause it to not update in real-time.

If you launch NinjaTrader 8 in Safe Mode do you see any logging?

You can search for NinjaTrader 8 (Safe Mode) in your applications to launch in Safe Mode.

I look forward to your reply

I am sending OIF's to NT from Tradestation, but it's the exact same code I run on a Win 11 desktop with no issues.
I have some Easylangue apps that report trading results by extracting the information from the NT log file, but before they do that, the log file is copied from
the Ninjatrader documents folder to another folder using a .bat file. This is done to make sure the file is not made inaccessible to Ninjatrader. The .bat file uses
ROBOCOPY which should not keep the file open, and it it's the same .bat file as I use on Windows 11 desktop. I placed a manual trade just now, and the file was
written to correctly, so I'll continue to monitor as I get some OIF orders and let you know.

[bltdavid]

Sounds like a pretty sweet setup.

So, uh, why are you using Windows Server?

-=o=-

I would suggest you brush up on your Windows Server
administration skills.

The server may be caching using a different group policy,
or whatever it's called, such that you're not seeing the
simple write-through performance you're expecting.

I think you need to look at the tuning parameters
for Windows Server. Perhaps something to do
with disk or cache policy. I mean,128GB of RAM
will support a huge amount of cache ... perhaps
too much ...

-=o=-

I've used Windows Server as a 'desktop', but these
have always been through VPS services.

Most VPS services are pretty expert with setting
up Windows Server as a desktop, perhaps you
could inquire with one of them.

Good luck!

[bltdavid]

I'd also suggest that you setup a real user, and
not use Administrator.

As you start asking others for help, many informed
experts will see the use of Administrator as a either
a sign of laziness or stupidity.

What I mean is, sometimes expert help comes with
some attitude, which you could avoid by setting up a
regular user for your everyday 'desktop' use.

Just my 2˘.

[Atomic]

I'd also suggest that you setup a real user, and
not use Administrator.

As you start asking others for help, many informed
experts will see the use of Administrator as a either
a sign of laziness or stupidity.

What I mean is, sometimes expert help comes with
some attitude, which you could avoid by setting up a
regular user for your everyday 'desktop' use.

Just my 2˘.

Thanks for the suggestions. The server is not mine. A broker who runs my code is letting me use if for testing purposes. I just did a quick test on the server and my desktop. I manually placed two market orders, a buy followed by a sell. In neither case, did the NT log file get updated following that. So, what drives the updating of the log file? I've been assuming all along that it was updated continuously, but that is apparently not the case.

I thought I might be causing the log file not updating from my Tradestation platform, so this afternoon, I closed the Tradestation platform (on the server) and went to the NT platform and did a buy/sell order. The log file was NOT updated following that. I then closed the NT platform and the file updated immediately. So, I'm back to my original question, what controls when the log file is updated?

Behavior is exactly the same on my Win 11 desktop.

On further testing, I see that while the date-time stamp in file explorer has not changed, when I open the file, it has actually been updated to include trades later than what the date-time stamp shows.

I'm also noticing that the file contents cannot be seen in the file explorer preview window, so that must mean the file is still open, and when I open it and close it with Notepad, the file time stamp gets updated.

These two log files are the same file. The one with the later time stamp has been opened with Notepad.
Why don't they both have the same time stamp?