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Adobe ® Marketing Cloud

Sensor



Contents

Sensor Overview...............................................................................................................3

How Does the Data Collection Process Work?........................................................................................................3

How Does Sensor Identify Visitors and Sessions?..................................................................................................3

Installing Sensor...............................................................................................................4

JBoss Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later......................................................................................................4

Install the Program Files............................................................................................................................................................................4

Edit the Configuration File.......................................................................................................................................................................5

Tomcat Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later..................... .................... ................... .................... ..................5



WebLogic Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later.............................................................................................7



WebSphere on AIX............................................................................................................................................................8



Test the Sensor............................ ....................... ........................ ....................... ........................ ....................... ........................ .................10

Capturing Additional Data....................................................................................................................................................................10

Event Data Record Fields...............................................................................................12

Baseline Event Data Record Fields............................................................................................................................12

Extensible Fields..............................................................................................................................................................14

Contact and Legal Information.....................................................................................15

SensorLast updated 12/11/2013



Sensor OverviewSensor is a lightweight, low-impact data acquisition software application that reliably, securely, and continuously collects eventdata from web, application, and data collection servers to be transmitted to any data workbench server.

Sensor’s instrumentation ensures consistently accurate measurement of events that occur in your Internet channel.

How Does the Data Collection Process Work?

Sensor automates the acquisition of data from your Internet channel by doing away with the bulk of human labor traditionally involved in data collection.

In many cases, using Sensor can vastly simplify your data management process.

Today ’s large Internet, extranet, and intranet sites often run on an array of web servers. The logs and data produced can be very

large and cumbersome to manage. For example, if your site is running 30 web servers, typically one of your employees (or

outsourced service provider’s employees) would pull and consolidate each log file on each of the 30 servers, then run reports

on them. Installing Sensor on each of your web servers automates this entire process, reducing your expenses and making data

available in real time.

To automate this process, Sensor collects raw information about the traffic on a website directly from each web server. The raw

data that Sensor captures is called event data and is similar to the type of data that your web server records in its log files.

To capture this data, instrumentation within Sensor records information about each HTTP request that your web server processes.

Sensor then buffers the information to protect against network failure and securely transmits the information via HTTP/S to

the data workbench server that you specify.

After the data workbench server receives the data, it processes and stores your log files in highly-compressed.vsl format files,

allowing you to easily maintain very large amounts of data on inexpensive hardware.

For information about the event data fields collected by Sensor in .vsl files, see Event Data Record Fields.

How Does Sensor Identify Visitors and Sessions?

When collecting event data from a web server, Sensor automatically sets a persistent cookie for each visitor containing a smallrandom identifier, without capturing any personally identifying information.

This Adobe cookie is used to identify the unique visitor and all of its related sessions.

By default, Sensor captures all of the W3C Extended Log File Format fields from each HTTP header, but you can configure

Sensor to capture any header that is transmitted between the client and server. For information about the event data fields

collected by Sensor in .vsl files, see Event Data Record Fields.

Some visitors’ browsers do not store cookies persistently, and a very small number of visitors’ browsers do not accept cookies

at all (even session cookies). Even though they account for only a fraction of a site’s total traffic, they can result in significant

miscounting if each page view by such a visitor is counted incorrectly as an entire session, as is done by some log file analysissoftware. Adobe addresses this problem by enabling you to analyze visitors with and without using cookies.

For more information about the Broken Sessions Filter, see the Data Workbench Sensor Guide.

3Sensor Overview



Installing SensorYou install Sensor on the same computer as the server whose activity you want to measure.

Each server from which you want to capture event data must run Sensor.

Sensor can be installed on a wide variety of supported web and application servers or on specialized data collection servers that

are used to acquire information from pages, advertisements, and other Internet objects that have been tagged for measurement.

Note: Sensor does not degrade the performance of a properly configured web, application, or data collection server.

Adobe has designed Sensor to support a growing family of web and J2EE application servers including but not limited to

AOLServer, Apache, iPlanet, JBoss, Microsoft IIS, Netscape Enterprise, Tomcat, and Weblogic running on common operating

systems including, but not limited to, Microsoft Windows, AIX, Linux, and Solaris. Sensor’s modular architecture enables Adobe

to very quickly create new data acquisition logic for other applications as needed.

For information about the system requirements for installing, configuring, and operating Sensor, see the Minimum System

Requirements document.

This chapter contains procedures for installing Sensor on the following web server/operating system combinations.

If you have not already installed the data workbench server that collects data from the Sensor, you must do so before performing

the procedures in this chapter. For instructions, see the Server Products Installation and Administration Guide.

JBoss Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later

Detailed instructions for installing and configuring Sensor for JBoss Server 4.0.5 or later running under Microsoft WindowsServer 2000 or later.

The program files for Sensor are packaged in an installation file that you obtain from the Adobe download site. If you do not

already have the Sensor installation file for your particular web server, download it (or obtain it from your Adobe representative)

before you begin the following procedures.

To install and configure Sensor, you must perform the following high-level steps:

1. Install the Program Files

2. Edit the Configuration File

3.

4.

5.

Note: The Sensor for JBoss Server does not support controlled experimentation. For information about controlled

experimentation, see the Data Workbench Controlled Experiments Guide.

Install the Program Files

Procedure to extract and install the program files for Sensor.

1. On your JBoss Server, create a directory in which to install the Sensor program files. Keep in mind that your disk queueresides in this directory, so be sure the device you choose has sufficient space to hold a queue of the size you need.

Example:C:\VisualSensor

4Installing Sensor



2. Extract the contents of the installation file into the directory you just created. During this step,Sensor installs the followingfiles:

Target Directory DescriptionFile

In any directory The collector load modulevisual_sciences.dll

In any directory The collector load module librariesJ2EECollector.jar

In any directory The transmitter programTxlogd.exe

In any directory The Sensor configuration filetxlogd.conf

In any directory The certificate used to validate the digital certificate that

the data workbench server presents during the connection

process

trust_ca_cert.pem

Note: The installation package contains a spreadsheet file called TestExperiment.xls. This spreadsheet is a tool

that architects use to configure a controlled experiment. Sensor itself does not use this file, so it is not necessary to install

the file on the machine where Sensor is running (although you may choose to do so). You might want to, instead, copy

the file to a location where your architects can access it or simply extract the file from the installation package as needed.For more information about controlled experimentation, see the Insight Controlled Experiments Guide.

Edit the Configuration File

The txlogd.conf file contains the configuration parameters for Sensor.

You must edit the file to specify, among other things, the size of the disk queue, the address of the data workbench server, and

the ID that will be attached to the data produced by this sensor.

The configuration file contains required parameters and optional parameters.

• Required parameters are settings that you must specify when you install Sensor. Without these settings, Sensor does not runsuccessfully.

• Optional parameters are settings that default to pre-defined values (which you can modify) or enable optional features.

To edit the Sensor configuration file

1. Open the <Sensor directory > /txlogd.conf file in a text editor and set the required parameters as well as any desired optional parameters.

For descriptions of txlogd.conf parameters, see .

For examples of completed configuration files, see .

2. Save and close the file.

Tomcat Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later

Detailed instructions for installing and configuring Sensor for Apache Jakarta Tomcat 4.1 or later running under WindowsServer 2000 or later.

5Installing Sensor









3.

4.

5.

Note: The Sensor for Apache Jakarta Tomcat Server does not support controlled experimentation. For information about

controlled experimentation, see the Data Workbench Controlled Experiments Guide.



1. On your Tomcat Server, create a directory in which to install the Sensor program files. Keep in mind that your disk queueresides in this directory, so be sure the device you choose has sufficient space to hold a queue of the size you need.





WEB-INF/libThe collector load module librariesJ2EECollector.jar



In any directory The certificate used to validate the digital certificate that

the data workbench server presents during the

connection process

trust_ca_cert.pem




the file to a location where your architects can access it or simply extract the file from the installation package as needed.For more information about controlled experimentation, see the Data Workbench Controlled Experiments Guide.



6Installing Sensor






• Required parameters are settings that you must specify when you install Sensor. Without these settings, Sensor does not run

successfully.







WebLogic Server on Windows Server 2000 or Later

Detailed instructions for installing and configuringSensor for WebLogic Server 6.x or later running under Microsoft WindowsServer 2000 or later.







3.4.

5.

Note: The Sensor for WebLogic Server does not support controlled experimentation. For information about controlled




1. On your WebLogic Server, create a directory in which to install the Sensor program files. Keep in mind that your disk queueresides in this directory, so be sure the device you choose has sufficient space to hold a queue of the size you need.



7Installing Sensor





WEB-INF/libThe collector load module librariesJ2EECollector.jar



In any directory The certificate used to validate the

digital certificate that the data

trust_ca_cert.pem

workbench server presents during

the connection process




the file to a location where your architects can access it or simply extract the file from the installation package as needed.

For more information about controlled experimentation, see the Data Workbench Controlled Experiments Guide.







successfully.• Optional parameters are settings that default to pre-defined values (which you can modify) or enable optional features.






WebSphere on AIX

Detailed instructions for installing and configuring Sensor for WebSphere 5.x running on AIX 5.1 or later.




8Installing Sensor






3.

4.

5. Test the Sensor

6.

Note: The Sensor for WebSphere servers does not support controlled experimentation. For information about controlled



Procedure to extract and install the program files for Sensorto the server machine.

1. Log on as the root user or as a user with root authority.

2. Decompress and unpack the installation file using the following command:

gunzip installationFilename.tar.gztar -xf installationFilename.tar

3. Copy the unpacked program files to the directories identified in the following table:


/usr/local/visual_sciencesThe collector load modulelibvisual_sciences.so

WebSphere /lib directory The collector load module librariesJ2EECollector.jar

/usr/local/binThe transmitter programtxlogd

--OR--

/usr/local/sbin

/etcThe Sensor configuration filetxlogd.conf

/usr/local/visual_sciencesThe certificate used to validate the digital certificate

that the data workbench server presents during the

connection process

trust_ca_cert.pem



the file on the machine whereSensor

is running (although you may choose to do so). You might want to, instead, copy the file to a location where your architects can access it or simply extract the file from the installation package as needed.

For more information about controlled experimentation, see the Data Workbench Controlled Experiments Guide.



9Installing Sensor







successfully.



1. Open the/etc/txlogd.conf file in a text editor and set the required parameters as well as any desired optional parameters.




Test the Sensor

Procedure to start the transmitter and verify that it can successfully connect to the data workbench server and transmit eventdata to it.

Note: To verify that the transmitter can successfully send event data to the data workbench server, make sure that the target

data workbench server is installed and running before you begin the following test.

1. If the transmitter is not already running, restart it using the following command:

/usr/local/bin/txlogd -i -f /etc/txlogd.conf

2. Open a browser (on any machine) and request a page from the web server on which Sensor is running (be sure to select apage that Sensor is monitoring).

3. After you issue the request, check the transmitter’s console for messages indicating that it is sending event data to the target

data workbench server.4. If Sensor is not transmitting data successfully, verify that:

• The target data workbench server is running.

• The ServerAddress and ServerPort parameters are set correctly in txtlogd.conf. If you specified ServerAddress using

a server name, try using its numeric IP address instead.

• The value of the CertName parameter matches the common name that appears on the digital certificate of the target data

workbench server exactly.

Capturing Additional Data

Sensors for all platforms can collect any of the data available in the HTTP request and response headers.The Sensors for the J2EE Platform provide a mechanism for collecting data that is not available on other platforms. The collector

for the J2EE platform (J2EE collector) sits on the application layer, which enables it to collect sensitive data that is available only

to the application and should not be exposed through page tagging or in the headers.

Note: While page tags and header modification can hide the data, it is still available to those who examine the source code

of a page or look at the headers using browser plug-in tools.

10Installing Sensor



For example, the J2EE collector can be used to capture cost per click (CPC) data for links displayed on a page, sensitive partner

information on a page, and many other data points. The J2EE environment makes it easy for you to modify your WEBAPP to

capture this custom data using our collector class.

When a Sensor for the J2EE Platform receives a request, it invokes a collector class that imports the appendToLog function.

The appendToLog function appends to the initial request the query string parameters specified in the appendToLog function.

This results in the URI of the initial request containing additional query string name-value pairs that correspond to the names

and values of the data that is being captured. For example, CPC=20 would be appended to the initial request when the value of a particular ad placement or click-through link is 20 cents. The data workbench server processes these values into the dataset

for analysis. One additional benefit to this collection methodology is that it allows the collection of additional data without

creating extra log entries, as might be created using page tagging methodologies.

For more information about processing, see the Dataset Configuration Guide.

To capture additional data from a page

1. Add the following code to the top of the .jsp page from which you want to capture data:

<%@ page import="com.visualsciences.collector.VSCollector" %>

2. Use the appendToLog() method of the collector object to append the desired name-value pairs to the requested .jsp page's

query string. The following example appends“A=1

” and

“B=2

” to the requested .jsp page

’s query string for the /index.jsppage:

<html><body> <h1>Hello World</h1> <% VSCollector collector = new VSCollector(request, response); collector.appendToLog("A", "1"); collector.appendToLog("B", "2"); %></body></html>

The resulting request URI is /index.jsp?A=1&B=2.

3. Repeat this procedure for each .jsp page from which you want to capture additional data.

11Installing Sensor



Event Data Record FieldsLog (.vsl) files contain the fields of event data that are collected from servers by Sensors and used by the data workbenchserver in the dataset construction process.

The names of the fields generally follow the naming convention for the W3C extended log file format. Many of the fields have

prefixes that indicate the source of the information contained in the field:

• “cs” indicates communication from the client to the server• “sc” indicates communication from the server to the client

• “s” indicates information from the server

• “c” indicates information from the client

• “x” indicates information that is created by an Adobe product

Baseline Event Data Record Fields

Information about baseline event data record fields as recorded by Sensor.

DescriptionField

The IP address of the client as included in the request made to the server.c-ip

Example: 207.68.146.68

The cookies sent by the client with the request.cs(cookie)

Example: v1st=42FDF66DE610CF36;

ASPSESSIONIDQCATDAQC=GPIBKEIBFBFIPLOJMKCAAEPM;

The HTTP referrer string sent by the client to the server with the request.cs(referrer)

Example: http://www.mysite.net/cgi-bin/websearch?qry

If you are using page tags, the cs(referrer) is the full URL of the document containing the tag image,

including HTTP or HTTPs.

Also, you can configure Apache (1.3, 2.0, and 2.2) and IIS sensors to capture the port that is used

for the request, which can identify HTTP vs. HTTPS requests.

The string sent by the client with its request to the server that indicates what type of user agent the

client is.

cs(user-agent)

Example: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040707 Firefox/0.9.2

The method type of the HTTP requestcs-method

Example: GET

Reference: http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/NOTE-shoplogfileformat-20001115/#field_method

The query string portion of URI (stem + query string = URI)cs-uri-query

12Event Data Record Fields



DescriptionField

This is preceded by a question mark (?) and may contain one or more name-value pairs separated

by ampersands (&).

Example: page=homepage

The stem portion of URI (stem + query string = URI)

cs-uri-stem

The stem is the actual or logical path to the requested resource on the server.

Example: /index.asp

The content type of the resource being requested by the client as reported by the server.sc(content-type)

Examples: text/html, image/png, image/gif, video/mpeg

The number of bytes of data sent from the server to the client in response to the request.sc-bytes

Example: 4996

The status code returned to the client by the server.sc-status

Example: 200

Reference: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html

The fully qualified domain name or IP address of the host of the requested resource.s-dns

Example: www.omniture.com

The list of all the controlled experiment names and groups that the client is a member of at the time

of the request.

x-experiment

Example: Home_Exp.Group_1,Registration_Exp.Group_2

The date and time (GMT) at which the request was received by the server.x-timestamp

The time is expressed as the number of 100 nanoseconds since January 1, 1600.

Example: 127710989320000000 would be the x-timestamp value for 11:28:52.0000000 on Tuesday,

September 13, 2005.

The 64-bit, hexadecimal value of the unique browser identifier found in a persistent cookie as set

by a Sensor and provided by the client with a request to a server.

x-trackingid

Example: 42FDF66DE610CF36

The data workbench server can derive a number of variables from the baseline event data record fields. For more information,

see the Dataset Configuration Guide.




Extensible Fields

Sensor, when used on a server, can collect fields of event data from any valid HTTP request or response header or variableavailable to it through the server’s API.

To collect such fields of data, you must specify the desired header fields or variables in the txlogd.conf configuration file

for Sensor.

• Request Headers

• Server Variables

Request Headers

Following is the syntax for specifying a request header field to be collected (for example, Host, Accept-Encoding, Keep-Alive,

and so on) in txlogd.conf:

LogHeader RequestHeaderName

The collected data is recorded by Sensor to a field named “cs(RequestHeaderName)” in the .vsl files created by the data

workbench server. For example, to collect the specific request header value from the request header “Host,” you would type

“LogHeader Host” in txlogd.conf. The data is recorded to the field “cs(Host)” in the event data record.

Server Variables

Sensor can collect fields of data from response headers or API-accessible server variables using SpecialLogField entries that you

include in the txlogd.conf file. You can also use “SpecialLogField” entries in addition to or instead of “LogHeader” entries

to collect request headers. See Request Headers. The request headers option remains available for backward compatibility.

Following is the syntax for specifying a “SpecialLogField” in txlogd.conf:

SpecialLogField cs(log field) = serverVariable stage

The following table includes descriptions of the components of a “SpecialLogField” entry.

SpecialLogField Entries

DescriptionComponent

The name of the field to which the collected data is recorded in the event data record and the .vsl

files created by the data workbench server.

cs(log field)

Any server variable that is available to Sensor through the server’s APIserverVariable

Example: response.p3p

Either vys_log or vys_cookiestage

Specifying the stage requires that you know which server variables are available for vys_log and vys_cookie.

Example: For the serverVariable response.p3p, you would enter vys_log.

For help configuring Sensor to collect extensible event data record fields, contact Adobe Consulting Services.




Contact and Legal InformationInformation to help you contact Adobe and to understand the legal issues concerning your use of this product and documentation.

Help & Technical Support

The Adobe Marketing Cloud Customer Care team is here to assist you and provides a number of mechanisms by which they

can be engaged:• Check the Marketing Cloud help pages for advice, tips, and FAQs

• Ask us a quick question on Twitter @AdobeMktgCare

• Log an incident in our customer portal

• Contact the Customer Care team directly

• Check availability and status of Marketing Cloud Solutions

Service, Capability & Billing

Dependent on your solution configuration, some options described in this documentation might not be available to you. As

each account is unique, please refer to your contract for pricing, due dates, terms, and conditions. If you would like to add to

or otherwise change your service level, or if you have questions regarding your current service, please contact your Account

Manager.

Feedback

We welcome any suggestions or feedback regarding this solution. Enhancement ideas and suggestions for the Analytics suite

can be added to our Customer Idea Exchange.

Legal

© 2013, Adobe

All rights reserved.

Published by Adobe Systems Inc.

Terms of Use | Privacy Center

A trademark symbol (®,™, etc.) denotes an Adobe trademark.

All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Updated Information/Additional Third Party Code

Information available at http://www.adobe.com/go/thirdparty .

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