- 9 minutes to read

Configure Microsoft BizTalk Server Logging Agent

Unlock centralized, future-proof logging for all your BizTalk Server environments with the Nodinite Logging Agent. On this page, you will:

  • ✅ Seamlessly replace BAM and modernize your logging strategy
  • ✅ Enable and manage logging across multiple BizTalk Server groups and versions
  • ✅ Configure, optimize, and remove logging with just a few clicks
  • ✅ Empower your team with robust monitoring and self-service configuration

You can add or remove logging for any BizTalk Server environment, whether you run legacy or new BizTalk instances. Nodinite lets you centralize, configure, and optimize logging for robust monitoring and seamless integration.

Prerequisites

Before you configure the Microsoft BizTalk Server Logging Agent, make sure you meet all BizTalk logging Prerequisites.

Important

BizTalk tracking must be enabled for logging to work. The Logging Agent copies tracked events from BizTalkDTADb—if tracking is not enabled on BizTalk ports/orchestrations, no events will be logged.

Enable tracking easily: Use Nodinite's Tracking Management feature (part of BizTalk Monitoring Agent) to bulk review and update tracking settings for all ports and orchestrations from one screen—no need to log into BizTalk nodes or Admin Console.

Configuration

Follow these steps to manage logging from one or more BizTalk Server Groups.

First, select the environment you want to manage using the Nodinite Update tool:
Manage BizTalk Log Agents
Example: The Manage BizTalk Log Agents button in Nodinite's Update tool.

Click the Add Log Agent Configuration button to add a new Microsoft BizTalk Server Logging Agent.
Add BizTalk Log Agent Button
Screenshot: Add a new BizTalk Log Agent configuration.

Log Agent Configuration

  1. Name – Assign a user-friendly name to the Log Agent.

    Tip

    Include the name and version of the target environment, for example, BizTalk 2016 PROD.

  2. Log Agent Value Id – Set a unique ID for this Log Agent Configuration. This value should never change once set!
  3. Description – Add a user-friendly description for this Log Agent Configuration.
  4. Log Agent - BizTalk settings – Check this option to mark the Log Agent as a BizTalk on-premise Log Agent Configuration.

Log Agent Source Part #1
Screenshot: Log Agent source configuration part 1.

BizTalk Databases

  1. BizTalkMgmtDb Server – Enter the SQL instance name hosting the BizTalk management database (linked server info from Nodinite SQL instance to BizTalk SQL Instance).
  2. BizTalkMgmtDb Name – Enter the BizTalk management database name.
  3. BizTalkDTADb Server – Enter the SQL instance name hosting the BizTalk tracking database (linked server info from Nodinite SQL instance to BizTalk SQL Instance).
  4. BizTalkDTADb Name – Enter the BizTalk tracking database name.

Log Agent Source Part #2
Screenshot: Log Agent source configuration part 2.

Tracking

  1. Polling Interval – Set the polling interval for the Logging Service. This is the time between attempts to fetch new logged data. Default: 30 seconds.
  2. Max number of Events to copy – Set the maximum number of events to fetch per run. Large numbers may impact performance. Default: 5000.
  3. Max number of Message/Context data rows to copy – Set the maximum number of payloads and context rows to fetch per run. Default: 500.

Log Agent Source Part #3
Screenshot: Log Agent source configuration part 3.

EndPoints

If you enable this option, Nodinite synchronizes all ports in BizTalk as Endpoints within the Repository Model.
Sync End Points Polling Interval – Set the poll period (in seconds) between synchronization attempts.
Include Endpoints Tracking status – Check this option if you use Microsoft BizTalk Server.

Log Agent Source Part #4
Screenshot: Log Agent source configuration part 4.

Remove

Remove the Nodinite BizTalk Server Log Agent configuration by clicking the Remove BizTalk Logging button.

Save

Click the Save button to save your configuration changes.

Note

Nodinite < 7.0 – You must restart the Nodinite Logging Service after making changes.
Nodinite >= 7.0 – Allow a few minutes for the initial synchronization with BizTalk Server to complete, then Logging becomes operational.

How Tracked Data Is Copied

On every Polling Interval (default 30 seconds), the Logging Service copies tracked data from BizTalkDTADb. It keeps a watermark: the newest BizTalk insertion time it has already copied. Each run copies what BizTalk inserted after the watermark.

Large Message Bodies

A message body larger than the MessageProcessingMaxBodySize System Parameter is not copied. The Log Event and its context are copied, and the event gets the processing state Completed with warnings, a Comment, and a Warning entry in the Log Audit. Raising the limit later does not copy the body. See MessageProcessingMaxBodySize – BizTalk Server.

Late Tracked Data

When the BizTalk SQL Server is behind on I/O, BizTalk sometimes writes older messages to BizTalkDTADb after newer ones, so the watermark passes them. A separate retry run, every 10 minutes, recovers this late data:

  • The retry looks for Log Events from the last 120 hours that have neither a body nor a context in Nodinite, and whose Log Event time is older than the watermark minus a 30-minute grace period.
  • A Log Event whose context was copied but whose body was over the MessageProcessingMaxBodySize limit is not late data, and the retry leaves it alone.
  • Some Log Events have no tracked data in BizTalk at all, for example when body tracking is disabled on the port or the tracking database has been purged. The retry pages past them, in pages of Max number of Message/Context data rows to copy (default 500). After 100 such pages it stops and continues in the next retry run.
  • One retry run copies for at most 5 minutes per Log Agent; the rest is copied in the next retry run.
  • A message whose BizTalk fragments are incomplete is skipped and reported per message.

Find these Log Audit entries with Log Audit Search:

Level Log Audit text Meaning
Information Log_DTARetryGetTrackedData: stopped after 100 pages of Log Events without any context/body row in BizTalk tracking database, the remaining Log Events are checked in the next retry run Many Log Events have no tracked data in BizTalk; the retry continues next run.
Information N Log Event(s) have no context/body row in BizTalk tracking database yet and were paged past Listed in the retry run's trail.
Warning Log_DTARetryGetTrackedData: WARNING - More than 300 seconds spent copying late tracked data, the rest is copied in the next retry run A large amount of late data; the retry continues next run.
Error … can not copy data for MessageUUID '…' data parts are missing in BizTalk tracking database, expected N but only got M The fragments of this message are incomplete in BizTalkDTADb.

Log Audit entries written by the late tracked data retry.

Enabling BizTalk Tracking for Logging

Before Nodinite can log BizTalk messages, tracking must be enabled on BizTalk ports and orchestrations. The Logging Agent copies events from BizTalkDTADb—if tracking is disabled, there are no events to copy.

Manual Tracking Configuration (BizTalk Admin Console)

Traditional approach to enable tracking:

  1. Open BizTalk Server Administration Console on any BizTalk server
  2. Navigate to Applications → [Application Name] → Receive Ports / Send Ports / Orchestrations
  3. Right-click a port/orchestration → Properties → Tracking tab
  4. Enable tracking options:
    • ✅ Track Message Bodies – Logs full message payload
    • ✅ Track Message Properties – Logs context properties (MessageType, Operation, etc.)
  5. Click OK to save
  6. Repeat for all ports and orchestrations

Problem: For environments with hundreds of ports, this manual process is time-consuming, error-prone, and tedious.

Stop logging into BizTalk Admin Console to configure tracking. Nodinite's Tracking Management feature (part of BizTalk Monitoring Agent) revolutionizes tracking configuration:

Key Benefits

Feature Manual (BizTalk Console) Nodinite Tracking Management
Overview of all tracking settings ❌ Must check each port individually ✅ Single-screen view of ALL ports/orchestrations
Bulk updates ❌ One-by-one configuration ✅ Enable/disable tracking on multiple artifacts at once
Remote access ❌ Must log into BizTalk server nodes ✅ Manage from Nodinite Web Client anywhere
Permissions required ❌ BizTalk Administrators or Operators group ✅ Role-based access via Nodinite (no BizTalk groups)
Audit logging ❌ No tracking of who changed what ✅ Full audit trail of all tracking changes
Grouped by application ✅ Yes ✅ Yes (optional grouping)
Filter by tracking status ❌ No filtering ✅ Filter by "Tracking Enabled" vs "Tracking Disabled"
Time to configure 100 ports ⏱️ ~2-3 hours ⏱️ ~5-10 minutes

Comparison of manual BizTalk Admin Console tracking configuration vs. Nodinite's bulk Tracking Management feature.

How to Use Tracking Management

  1. Install BizTalk Monitoring Agent (if not already installed)
  2. Navigate to Monitor View → Filter by "Tracking" category
  3. Select tracking resources (Receive Ports, Send Ports, Orchestrations, Pipelines)
  4. Click "List" action to open bulk management page
  5. Review current tracking settings across all artifacts
  6. Enable/disable tracking for multiple items simultaneously
  7. Click "Save to BizTalk" to apply changes

Learn more: Tracking Management – Complete guide with screenshots

For optimal BizTalk logging with Nodinite:

Artifact Type Recommended Tracking Reason
Receive Ports (One-Way) ✅ Message Body - Before
✅ Message Properties - Before		 Capture inbound messages as received
Receive Ports (Request/Response) ✅ Message Body - Before/After
✅ Message Properties - Before/After		 Capture both request and response
Send Ports (One-Way) ✅ Message Body - After
✅ Message Properties - After		 Capture outbound messages after processing
Send Ports (Solicit/Response) ✅ Message Body - Before/After
✅ Message Properties - Before/After		 Capture both outbound request and inbound response
Orchestrations ⚠️ Only during debugging
Message Body - Before/After
Shape Start/End		 High volume—enable only when troubleshooting
Pipelines ❌ Disable all tracking Let ports control tracking (see recommended pipeline settings)

Recommended BizTalk tracking configuration for Nodinite logging. Use Tracking Management to bulk-apply these settings.

Verifying Tracking is Working

After enabling tracking (via Admin Console or Tracking Management):

  1. Process a test message through BizTalk
  2. Wait 60-90 seconds for Nodinite Logging Agent to copy events from BizTalkDTADb
  3. Check Nodinite Log View to confirm messages appear
  4. If no messages appear:
    • Verify tracking is enabled (check Tracking Management)
    • Confirm Logging Agent is running (check Logging Service status)
    • Check linked servers are configured (see Prerequisites)
    • Query BizTalkDTADb directly: SELECT TOP 10 * FROM dtav_ServiceFacts ORDER BY dtStartTime DESC

Self-Service for Non-Administrators

Grant business users and support teams tracking management access without BizTalk Administrator rights:

  1. Create role-based Monitor View for "BizTalk Tracking" resources
  2. Grant users access to this Monitor View (via Nodinite access control)
  3. Users can:
    • ✅ View current tracking settings for all ports/orchestrations
    • ✅ Enable/disable tracking on specific ports
    • ✅ Review tracking changes audit log
    • ❌ Cannot access BizTalk Admin Console or make other BizTalk changes

Example use case: Support team needs to enable tracking on a specific port for debugging. Instead of opening BizTalk ticket, they log into Nodinite, navigate to Tracking Management, enable tracking on that port—all done in 30 seconds, fully audited.

Next Steps

Tracking Management – Bulk update tracking settings for all BizTalk ports
Add or manage Log Agents
Administer Nodinite
Install the Nodinite Install and Update Tool
Replace BAM with Nodinite
Configure Message Types - Make your BizTalk data searchable

BizTalk Prerequisites
Endpoints
Logging Service
MessageProcessingMaxBodySize - Maximum message body size
Log Audit Search
Repository Model Message Types - Critical for Search Field extraction
Search Fields - Extract business data from BizTalk messages Non-Events Monitoring - Track message volumes and patterns
BPM - End-to-end process tracking