Automating debugging through data mining

Abstract: Contemporary technological systems generate massive quantities of log messages. These messages can be stored, searched and visualized efficiently using log management and analysis tools. The analysis of log messages offer insights into system behavior such as performance, server status and execution faults in web applications. iStone AB wants to explore the possibility to automate their debugging process. Since iStone does most parts of their debugging manually, it takes time to find errors within the system. The aim was therefore to find different solutions to reduce the time it takes to debug. An analysis of log messages within access – and console logs were made, so that the most appropriate data mining techniques for iStone’s system would be chosen. Data mining algorithms and log management and analysis tools were compared. The result of the comparisons showed that the ELK Stack as well as a mixture between Eclat and a hybrid algorithm (Eclat and Apriori) were the most appropriate choices. To demonstrate their feasibility, the ELK Stack and Eclat were implemented. The produced results show that data mining and the use of a platform for log analysis can facilitate and reduce the time it takes to debug.