Setting Logging Tool Global Options
Topic Last Modified: 2011-01-25
In the Global Options section of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Logging Tool, you can set options for the entire logging session. Global options include log file options, real-time options, and filter options.
Log File Options
Log file options specify the size of the log file and the type of file.
Type The type determines how logs are maintained. Log files are stored as ETL files in the folder specified in Log File Folder (C:\Windows\Tracing by default). The following logging types are available:
Circular Select this option to have Logging Tool resume writing entries at the beginning of the file after the log file reaches the maximum file size during a logging session. If no log file for the enabled component exists, a new file will be created and named according to the component (for example, ABServer.etl and CertProvisioning.etl). If a log file for the component exists when a new logging session is started, that file is overwritten.
Sequential Select this option to have Logging Tool stop logging operations after the log file reaches the maximum file size. If no log file for the enabled component exists a new file will be created named for the component, such as ABServer.etl and CertProvisioning.etl. If a log file for the component exists when a new logging session is started, that file is overwritten unless you select the Append to log file check box. If you select Append to log file, new session information will be appended to the existing file until the file reaches the maximum size limit. If you start a logging session with Append to log file selected for a component with a file that has already reached the maximum size, you receive a warning message.
New File Select this option to have Logging Tool start a new log file after the file reaches the maximum size. Starting a logging session with this option will create a new file with the name of the component followed by "_1" (for example, ABServer**_1**.etl and CertProvisioning**_1**.etl). When the file reaches the maximum size, logging continues in a new file that is numbered sequentially (for example, ABServer**_2**.etl). Each logging session will overwrite existing files with these names, beginning with file "_1" and continuing sequentially until the logging session is stopped.
Maximum Size The maximum size, in MB, of each individual log file.
Note
The log for each enabled component is saved to a different log file. For example, if logging for ABServer and CertProvisioning are both enabled, two files are created: ABServer.etl and CertProvisioning.etl (depending on the Type option that is selected). The maximum size applies to each individual file. In other words, if you set the maximum size to 10 MB, each component can log up to 10 MB of data to a file.
Tip
To view log files, click View Log Files, which by default opens the log files in Notepad. Files larger than 20 MB do not load easily into Notepad. If you specify a file size greater than 20 (the default), you should open the file with a different editor such as WordPad.
Append to log file This option is available only when the Sequential file type is selected. If this option is selected, a new logging session for a component will append the log information to the existing log file until that file reaches the maximum size limit.
When you click Start Logging, the Log File Options section under Global Options is replaced by a Logging Session Statistics section. In this section you can see the buffer memory in use, the buffer memory available, bytes written to disk, events lost, and real time events lost.
Real Time Options
Real time options specify how logging performs in real-time monitoring and filtering.
Enabled When you select this option, Logging Tool opens a new console window when a new logging session is started. The trace output is displayed in the console window.
Display only Select this option to display logging information in the console window, but not save that information to a log file. When real-time monitoring is enabled and Display only is disabled, logging information is displayed in the console window and is saved to the log files according to the settings in Logging Options. This option is not available if real-time monitoring is disabled.
Note
Although it can be useful to continue logging for a day or more to help troubleshoot an intermittent problem, we recommend that you do not run real-time monitoring for more than an hour at a time.
Filter Options
You can use the filter options to enable filtering on log files so that only traffic to and from the addresses you specify is displayed. You can specify URI addresses, which include only traffic to and from the specified SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) in the log file, and fully qualified domain name (FQDN) addresses, which include only traffic to and from the specified computer FQDN in the log file. Trace filtering for URIs and FQDNs is available only for the SipStack and UserServices components; for all other components, the traces cannot be filtered at run time. You can also provide filters that exclude certain types of messages.
The following list describes the available filter options:
Enabled Enables and disables filter options. When you select this option to enable or disable filtering, the current filter settings are written to the Central Management store and then replicated back to the local machine. A dialog box displays the status of the write operation. To turn off filter options, clear the Enabled check box.
Edit Click Edit to open the Edit Filters dialog box. In Edit Filters, you can add or remove filters. For details, see Lync Server 2010 Logging Tool: Edit Filters.
Clear Click Clear to disable filtering and clear all include and exclude filters.
Include Filters. Displays the current list of include filters. You cannot modify the filters from this window, you must click Edit to edit the filters in the Edit Filters window.
Exclude Filters. Displays the current list of exclude filters. You cannot modify the filters from this window, you must click Edit to edit the filters in the Edit Filters window.