Patent ID: 8683268

Claim:
A method comprising: tracing a software program on a complex computing environment that includes a plurality of nodes, wherein the tracing comprises: sending a trace request from a requestor node to a selected plurality of nodes, wherein the requestor node and the selected plurality of nodes are included in the plurality of nodes, wherein the trace request is associated with the software program, and wherein the trace request is associated with a transaction identifier, and wherein the trace request includes one or more identifiers corresponding to one or more identified functions included in the software program; setting a trace breakpoint at each of the identified functions at each of the selected plurality of nodes, wherein the setting further comprises associating each trace breakpoint with the transaction identifier; executing the software program on the selected plurality of nodes; logging, at a memory included in each of the selected plurality of nodes, a plurality of trace data entries resulting from the execution of the software program on the respective nodes, wherein each of the trace data entries is associated with the transaction identifier; sending a log request from the requestor node to the selected plurality of nodes, wherein the log request is sent subsequent to the sending of the trace request; receiving, at the requestor node, the logged trace data entries from each of the selected plurality of nodes; storing, at the requestor node, a transaction-based log that includes the logged trace data entries received from each of the selected plurality of nodes and the transaction identifier corresponding to each of the logged trace data entries; and providing the transaction-based log to a user of the requestor node.