space CHAPTER 7: Logging Server Activity
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CHAPTER 7:

Logging Server Activity


Microsoft Internet Information Server automatically logs all activity on your server. You can use this information to analyze traffic to your site and identify possible problems.

This chapter explains how to:

 


Top Configuring Logging

When you set up Internet Information Server, you enable logging to see who has been using the server and how many times your online information was accessed.

To configure logging:

 
In Internet Service Manager, double-click the service to display its property sheets. The Logging property sheet sets logging for the selected information service.

Logging Limits

When logging to a file, the maximum total log line is 1200 bytes. Each field is limited to 150 bytes.

When using ODBC for logging, each field is limited to 200 bytes.

Enable Logging

To start logging, select the Enable Logging check box on the Logging property sheet. To stop logging, clear the Enable Logging check box.

Log to File

Choose Log to File to log activity information for the selected information service to a text file.

Automatically open new log

Select to generate new logs using the specified frequency. If not selected, the same log file will grow indefinitely.

Log file directory

Sets the directory containing the log file.

Filename

Lists the filename used for logging. If multiple services are configured to log to the same directory, they will use the same file.

»&#nbsp;&#nbsp; To log to a file

 
For the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly option, the log file is closed the first time a log record is generated after midnight on the last day of the current log file. The new log filename will include the date of the first day in the log file.

For the When file size reaches option, every time the log file is closed and a new one is created, the sequential number in the filename is incremented.

When logging to a file, the maximum total log line is 1200 bytes. Each field is limited to 150 bytes.

Log to SQL/ODBC Database

When you install Microsoft Internet Information Server, logging to a file is the default method of logging. If you prefer to collect logs in a database, you must install ODBC version 2.5. You should then use the sample HTML pages installed with Internet Information Server to set up logging to a database. To access the pages, ensure that the WWW service is running, then in the Internet Explorer or another browser, type the local computer name. Alternatively, you can follow the manual procedure in this Help topic.

For best results, log to a Microsoft SQL Server version 6.0 database. If you do not want to log to a database or use the Internet Database Connector on a Web server, do not install any ODBC drivers.

Choose Log to SQL/ODBC Database to log activity information to any Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC)-compliant data source. Set the Data Source Name (DSN), Table, and specify the username and password to use when logging to the database.

When using ODBC for logging, each field is limited to 200 bytes.

»&#nbsp;&#nbsp; To manually prepare for logging to a database

 



Note   For Microsoft Access, the system DSN is the filename of your database.

»&#nbsp;&#nbsp; To log to a database

 
Often, the SQL Server database is kept on a separate computer. If you want to log activity to a SQL Server database located on another computer, Internet Information Server uses an anonymous user account (as set in the Sessions dialog box). The username must be a valid user account on the other computer. Even if the database is the same computer as the Internet Information Server (called “local” by Internet Information Server), the anonymous user must have permission to access the database.


Top How to Read Log Files

Following are three entries from a log from a server running the WWW, gopher, and FTP service; the entries are in two tables only because of page width limitations.

Client’s IP address Client’s username
Date

Time

Service
Computer name IP address of server

10.75.176.21 - 12/11/95 7:55:20 W3SVC TREY1 10.107.1.121
10.16.7.165 anonymous 12/11/95 23:58:11 MSFTPSVC TREY1 10.107.1.121
10.55.82.244 - 12/11/95 0:00:34 GopherSvc TREY1 10.107.1.121


Processing time

Bytes received

Bytes sent

Service status code
Windows NT status code
Name of the operation
Target of the operation

29282 277 3223 200 0 GET small.gif
60 14 0 0 0 [376] PASS intro
27069 21 62184 0 0 file form1.bmp

Parameters for the operation, if applicable, will be listed in the final fields.



Note   All fields are terminated with a comma (,). A hyphen acts as a placeholder if there is no valid value for a certain field.

Top Viewing Logs in Databases

You can use any ODBC-supported database to log server activity. Logging to a database can allow you to direct the logging of all Internet Information Server services to a single source.

You can use any ODBC-compliant application to view the log data in your database.

In addition, you can use the Internet Database Connector to view log data in a Web browser.


Top Converting Log File Formats

The Microsoft Internet Log Converter converts Microsoft Internet Server log files to either European Microsoft Windows NT Academic Centre (EMWAC) log file format or the Common Log File format. Convlog.exe is located in the \Inetsrv\Admin directory. At the command prompt, type convlog without parameters to see syntax and examples.

»&#nbsp;&#nbsp; To convert logs to other formats

 


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