Fixing the “Time Travel” issue

If you change the system time while Iguana is running, Iguana will shut down and stop all channels.

The reason for this is to prevent any conflict with timestamps on log entries (for example if you set the time to one hour earlier it is possible for later messages to have an earlier timestamp).

Note: Changes to the system time for daylight saving time do not cause this issue.

Tip: This behavior is identical for all versions of Iguana 5 and 6.

Issue: Changing the system time when Iguana is running can corrupt today’s log file [top]

Changing the system time while Iguana is running, causes Iguana to shut down and stop all channels.

If you restart (before resolving the issue) you will see the following error displayed in the Dashboard and in the Logs:

The system clock appears to have been set backwards by XXXX seconds while Iguana was running. Iguana has been halted as a precaution to prevent possible data corruption.

Luckily this is easy to fix, see the solution below.

Prevention: Do Not Change the System Time While Iguana Is Running [top]

To change the system time:

  1. Stop the Iguana service (or daemon).
  2. Change the system time.
  3. Restart Iguana.

Solution: If you have changed the system time while Iguana is running [top]

  1. Stop the Iguana service (or daemon), if still running.
  2. Remove index file and meta information file for today (the day when time travel occurred).
  3. As a precaution backup (copy) today’s *.log file (the day when time travel occurred), e.g., 20141111.log.
  4. Restart the Iguana service (or daemon).

Note: Step 3. is purely a precautionary measure – best to be safe!