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Event Log: logging events and user actions data in Xeoma

Xeoma video camera software offers its users the option to log certain events, which is meant to assist in monitoring the work of operators, investigating the causes for possible issues or ensuring that your system is “healthy” and functions normally.

 
The logs and recorded data in Xeoma include the following:
 

About this log:
Xeoma’s Event Log is enabled by default, which means it remains functional and gathers all the important data as long as Xeoma keeps running. This log can be accessed via Xeoma’s interface or designated directory on your device.

We touched upon this log in more detail in this article.

How to enable and view this log:
The Event Log is enabled by default. You can access it right via Xeoma’s interface: Main Menu → Information → Event log. This log is also doubled as a text file in Xeoma’s directory, the “Logs” subfolder, on your Xeoma’s server side.

What information Event Log stores:
• Any changes in your modules and module chains settings;
• Instances of connecting to/disconnecting from your server, including the time of connection and the client side’s data;
• Screenshot data: instances of making screenshots, who made them and what camera’s image was captured.

Optionally, you can allow the Event Log to gather data on your detectors once they are triggered. If this option is enabled, the log will record the module that reacted to an event and the time it happened. For separate reports enabled within your modules, please refer to the section below.

 

About this log:
Xeoma has an option to create user accounts for your operators and edit their permissions to access your cameras and various software functions, all available via the “Users” dialog. You can also enable Xeoma to log other users’ actions, including when only specific accounts need to be monitored: Xeoma will record what camera this operator viewed and how long it took.
By the way, this option can be applied to the admin account as well!

We described these kinds of logs in more detail in this article: “New Feature: Activity Log (CSV)”.

How to enable this log:
You can turn on your operators’ activity logging via Main Menu → Remote access → Users. Toggle the “Use the csv-file to record users’ actions” switch so that this feature is enabled (the switch becomes blue).

Where to view this log:
Your operator activity logs will be saved to the directory of your choice in form of spreadsheet. You can always find the name and the path to the log file in Xeoma’s interface, the very same window: Main Menu → Remote access → Users, right below the “Use the csv-file to record users’ actions” option.

What information the csv-file stores:
The csv-file is used for logging your surveillance operators’ activity: it will contain such data as the name of his or her account, the name of the camera he or she accessed in the “Quick Settings” window, the time and date of the instance the camera was accessed, and the length of every such instance in milliseconds.

 

About these logs:
Some filter modules allow you to record the instances when they are triggered (in other words, when they react to certain objects as configured).

This feature is present for such modules as:
• Motion Detector
• Problems Detector*
• Object Recognizer
• ANPR
• FaceID
• QR Code Recognition
• Smart-card Reader
• Face Recognition
• Gender Recognizer
• Face Detector (Emotions)
• Cross-line Detector
• Color Recognition
• Crowd Detector
• Age Recognizer
• Sound Events Detector
• Detector of Construction Site Safety
• Parking Spots
• Thermal Camera Data.

This list can be subject to change.

*The way “Problems Detector” functions, both in general and pertaining to its CSV report option, slightly differs from the other filter modules from this list. For this reason, we will delve into the logging option of “Problems Detector” in a separate section below.

How to enable these logs:
You can enable the logs for the filter modules from the list above right in these modules’ settings menu: simply toggle the switch for the CSV report option so that it’s enabled (the switch becomes blue).

Where to view these logs:
Once the option to record the module’s operation in a CSV file is enabled, a field containing the path to said file will appear right below. By going to the specified path, you can find the log on your device and access it with any text editor that supports spreadsheet files.

What information the csv-file stores:
Once this option is enabled in a module’s settings, spreadsheet format files will be automatically created in Xeoma’s directory. These files will contain the data on the time of event detection and other information related to the module’s work. Such logs are saved on the server’s side only.

.csv files can be integrated in external systems for further analysis, charting and other unified system work.

 

About this log:
Problems Detector, also known as sabotage detector, is a filter module in Xeoma designed to diagnose issues with the system where Xeoma’s server side is launched (configured globally, one “Problems Detector” in any camera’s chain will be enough), cameras (e.g., low visibility due to a camera’s turning or other objects’ obscuring the sight) and even network resources. When combined with “Sending e-mail”, this module can notify you about arisen problems (and how they were dealt with) via your e-mail.

Accessing this module’s logs differs from the aforementioned examples in several respects, which is why we will look into it separately.

How to enable this log:
This log can be enabled in the “Problems Detector” module’s settings window, the “Record found problems to the log file” option. Toggle this option’s switch until it’s enabled (the switch becomes blue). Please note that the log will only store data on the events chosen in the settings above. The log will contain the data on every camera and every “Problems Detector” on your server.

Where to view this log:
First of all, we would like to mention that the log of “Problems Detector” can be downloaded right from the module’s settings dialog. The “Download” text button is located next to the option to enable the log.

Similarly to Xeoma’s General Event Log, the “Problems Detector” log will be saved to the “Logs” subfolder in Xeoma’s directory in form of spreadsheet. The default name of the file is “ProblemsDetector.log”.

Unlike every other kind of log in Xeoma, the “Problems Detector” log can also be accessed via Xeoma’s web interface. Connect to Xeoma’s web interface from your administrator account and choose the “Download Log file” option from the “Preferences” menu in the top panel.

What information the “Problems Detector” log stores:
The log only records data on the issues of your choice and how/whether they are resolved. For example, it can log information about the health of your system (disk space, processor load, remaining RAM), problems with your cameras (when the image is too bright, too dark, or turned to the side), a loss of connection to a network resource, Internet traffic exceedance and many others. You can find the full list in the settings of “Problems Detector” or in our article dedicated to this module.

 

Whenever you access Xeoma’s web portal (configured and controlled through the “Web Server” module), Xeoma software automatically records the instance of connection. The log contains data on your request diagnostics and the IP address you connected from, and is mainly used to monitor the quality of the web portal’s performance, especially if you replaced some of its elements with our rebranding tool.

Where to view this log:
After a user or an admin connects to your Xeoma web interface for the first time, a “WebServerLog” folder will be created in Xeoma’s directory (the “Logs” subfolder). Every day your Xeoma server is being run, .log files with the date of their creation will be saved to that folder.

What information the log stores:
The web portal logs contain data on what was requested, whether a request was successful, and what address was used to connect. If you configured your portal to demand user login and password, the log will also record a user’s profile information.

 

Aside from creating a unique video surveillance system on your designated PC, Xeoma offers a separate service called Xeoma Cloud. This service also supports the General Log that we talked about earlier, but there is one exception — Xeoma Cloud logs can only be viewed in Xeoma’s interface, and there is no way to access them in text format on your device.

Where to view this log:
Xeoma Cloud users can view the general event log right from Xeoma’s built-in interface once they access the service through Xeoma’s PC version or mobile app. However, they cannot view the log file outside Xeoma or save the log to their device.

 

If you host a cloud service based on Xeoma Pro Your Cloud, your subscribers will have access to Xeoma’s general logs. These logs can be viewed right from the program’s interface whenever your subscribers launch Xeoma Client for PC or Xeoma’s mobile app.

General logs record data on every subscriber and are stored in your service’s folder (the “data” subfolder), sorted per account.

Administrators of Xeoma Pro Your Cloud based systems can access specialized logs that contain data on your system’s health diagnostics, active licenses limitations and various errors if they ever appear. This log is called “Xeoma_cloud.log” and can be found in the main directory of your service.

 

As demonstrated above, Xeoma video surveillance software frequently undergoes rapid development that adds new features and facilitates the older ones. Xeoma’s variety of logs and their flexible settings allow you to find the most important information whenever needed, avoiding all kinds of unnecessary data.

March 3, 2025

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Event Log: log information viewable in Xeoma interface