Tracing Requests
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1
In Windows Server 2003 (Service Pack 1 or later) IIS includes the following tracing features. These features leverage the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) infrastructure.
IIS Currently-Executing Requests Tracing: This tracing feature provides general statistics and details about all requests executing on the server at the moment tracing was started. If the CPU on your server is spiking or if requests become unresponsive, currently-executing requests tracing can help you understand which URL is being requested, which application pool the URL resides in, and other similar details. This feature does not include the option to specify which components or URLs to trace. For more detailed information, see Currently Executing Requests Tracing.
IIS Request-Based Tracing: This tracing feature tracks HTTP requests in IIS components. Request-based tracing can help you target the IIS component processing a request when the request failed or became unresponsive. Request-based tracing allows you to define either a specific URL or a group of URLs to trace. Request-based tracing events can be viewed in real time, but the feature can return a substantial amount of data (depending on server traffic), so it is much more practical to view the data in a trace log. For more detailed information about request-based tracing, see IIS Request-Based Tracing.
This section includes the following information:
How to Create a Provider File for Request-Based Tracing: Describes how to create a simple text file that defines which IIS components to trace and how much data tracing should return.
How to Trace Requests in IIS: Describes how to trace various IIS components, called providers, using IIS request-based tracing.
How to Trace Requests for a Specific URL or Set of URLs: Describes how to trace requests for a specific URL or set of URLs using request-based tracing.
How to Trace All Requests Currently Executing in IIS Worker Processes: Describes how to trace requests that are executing inside an IIS worker process using the currently-executing requests tracing command-line feature.
How to Trace Requests Using the Performance Logs and Alerts MMC: Describes how to use the Performance Logs and Alerts MMC to trace IIS providers on demand or according to a schedule.
How to Process and View Trace Log Files: Describes how to process and view trace log data using Log Parser 2.2 and the DumpTraceReqs.js sample script.