How IISLogs "logs" information

This article is a continuing series covering advanced topics of IISLogs.   IISLogs comes in two flavors, a Stand-alone EXE (console application) and Windows Service version.   Both use the same infrastructure DLL (iislogsd.dll) to process files.   There are features are "under the covers" that might interest Administrators.   Let’s begin…

When files are being processed by IISLogs, information about the files is being logged.   The files are located in the InstallFolderLogs folder.span style=”mso-spacerun:yes”>  Each of the log files stores information in a delimited format.  The default delimiter is “!”. Here are the settings that will be covered in this article.   

NOTE: Please DON’T change these settings; they were intended to be automatically used by the program and not configurable.   The settings are not exposed in IISLogsGUI, except the delimiter value can be adjusted.  Unless you are having issues, I’d recommend keeping everything the defaults.

<add key="LogDirectoryPath" value="C:Program Files (x86)IISLogsSVC2Logs" />
<add key="DeleteLogFileName" value="deleteLogging" />
<add key="DetailLogFileName" value="detailLogging" />
<add key="ErrorLogFileName" value="errorLogging" />
<add key="SummaryLogFileName" value="summaryLogging" />
<add key="DetailFileLogging" value="True" />
<add key="SummaryFileLogging" value="True" />
<add key="Delimiter" value="!" />

TThe LogDirectoryPath value is configured during initial install and configuration of IISLogs.  There are multiple items stored in the Logs path.   This has to below Install folder, in example C:Program Files (x86)IISLogsSVC2. 

The DeleteLogFileName key stores when files are deleted.  As with all other information in the files stored in the logs path, they are in a delimited format. 

The DetailLogFileName file keeps track of every file tracked while IISLogs processes files.  At the end of each file, it shows the result of the file.  This can be helpful looking for specific results.  The DetaileFileLogging Key enables files being logged.  I will cover DetailFileLogging Key shortly.

The ErrorLogFileName key keeps track of any errors and other system messages when running.  All messages are stored here along with being added to the Application event log. 

The SummaryLogFileName key stores summaries of folders such as numbers of files processed, sizes before and after.   The information stored in the SummaryLog file is used when sending email reports after each time IISLogs executes.

The DetailFileLogging key tells IISLogs to keep track of every file processed, then stored in DetailFileLogging.txt. 

Each of the log files are rolled, the archival process is determined by these two values.  These values can be changed if needed, it’s good to be aware there is detail data stored and is self-cleaning.  We use IISLogs to clean up the programs logs generated by the program.

<add key="FileLoggingAge" value="7" />
<add key="purgeArchiveLogsAge" value="10" />

As we dive deeper into more advanced topics, as always, we *strongly* encourage Administrators to try changes in a controlled non-production environment. I hope you find this information useful.   If you have questions, feel free to contact our support alias [email protected].

Sincerely,

Steve Schofield
Windows Server MVP – IIS
http://weblogs.asp.net/steveschofield

http://www.IISLogs.com
Log Archival Solution
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