Explanation of the fields in sessions.xml

 

ISL AlwaysOn installation directory includes a special file named sessions.xml which contains raw entries for this computer's access history.

This file can be browsed through the ISL AlwaysOn GUI, please refer to the access history manual topic for more information.

In case you export a part of the access history and check the resulting XML file or need to browse the sessions.xml file directly, you can use the information below  to understand individual entries and their values.

Each entry between <event> and </event> indicates a single event, such as connection attempt, obtained session code, failed connection attempt etc. It includes several fields, depending on the event type.

Explanation of the fields:

  • "grid_address" indicates the connection address that was used when connecting to the target computer, basically which ISL Conference Proxy system was used for the connection.
  • "grid_conf" indicates the registry sub(location) of the ISL Conference Proxy system which was used for the connection, root registry location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ISL Online
  • "id" indicates the type of event, values can be "light" (indicating that the ISL Light program on this computer established a connection with the provided session code), "connect" (an incoming connection attempt), "code" (session code which gets automatically generated on supporter side and passed to this computer in order to establish a connection)
  • "session" includes a hex value representing a unique identifier for the session (events for incoming connection request, authentication, session code passed etc. will have that same identifier)
  • "status" can be "ok" or "failed", indicating whether the event resulted in success or failure
  • "time" indicates the timestamp of the event (please note that it is always in UTC)
  • "address" indicates the IP address of the event originator, if applicable for that event
  • "auth_type" indicates the type of authentication used for the event, can be "none", "plain" (plaintext) or "chmd5" (MD5 hash)
  • "reason" indicates the reason for the (usually failed) status, one example would be that no authentication was provided (yet), while authentication is required
  • "username" includes the full name of the person who triggered the event, in case an event was triggered by a user
  • "black_screen" indicates whether the "use black screen" option was enabled while establishing a connection to this computer.
  • "code" indicates a session code which was used for the event, in case an event indicates an established connection
  • "client_args" includes a list of command line arguments that are passed to this computer in order to establish a connection
  • "use_program" is a leftover from a legacy feature, it is always set to "true"


Note: With a normal workflow it is expected to see first a "failed" event (with "auth_type" set to "none"), indicating that an incoming connection attempt occured, but ISL AlwaysOn requires the client to authenticate. This is then followed by an "ok" event (with "auth_type" set to "chmd5"), indicating that a valid computer access password was provided.

Command line arguments have the following meaning:

--download-client
Uses ISL Light Client (download client) instead of the embedded client
--on-load "main?minimize&expand=manual"
When ISL Light Client is started, it is minimized and remains minimized until restored manually
--on-load "main?smallfootprint"
Puts ISL Light Client into small footprint mode where a minimal window is shown in the bottom right corner instead of the full program dialog
--on-connect "desktop?hidetopbar=true"
Hides the desktop sharing top bar (when using the download client option it is shown at the top of the screen)
--on-connect "desktop?disablelocal=true"
Disables keyboard and mouse control on this computer while the remote support session is active

Tags: isl alwayson, advanced, sessions.xml, fields

Was this article helpful?