Log Files for a Web Site <logFile>

Overview

The <logFile> element of the <site> element contains attributes that allow you to configure logging for a site on Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.

For example, you can enable or disable logging, configure the format of the IIS log file, specify the categories of information to store in the log file, and change the directory where the log file is stored. You can also use the <logFile> element to control how often IIS creates a new log file based either on log file size or time interval and the maximum size (in bytes) that a log file can become.

By default, IIS 7 uses the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) log file format. You can change this setting by modifying the logFormat attribute to IIS, NCSA, or Custom.

Note: ODBC logging is implemented as a custom logging module in IIS 7, therefore enabling and configuring ODBC logging in IIS 7 consists of two separate actions:

• Setting the ODBC logging attributes in the <odbcLogging> element. These attributes specify the System Data Source Name (DSN), table name, user name, and password for the ODBC connection.
• Setting the correct custom logging attributes in <logFile> element. These attributes must set the log file format to "Custom" and the custom log plug-in class ID to "{FF16065B-DE82-11CF-BC0A-00AA006111E0}".

For more information about ODBC logging, see the <odbcLogging> element.

You can define the categories of information that IIS logs by editing the logExtFileFlags attribute. The default values are Date, Time, ClientIP, UserName, ServerIP, Method, UriStem, UriQuery, TimeTaken, HttpStatus, Win32Status, ServerPort, UserAgent, and HttpSubStatus.

Note: If the <logFile> element is configured in both the <siteDefaults> section and in the <site> section for a specific site, the configuration in the <site> section is used for that site.

Compatibility

Setup

The <logFile> element is included in the default installation of IIS 7.

How To

How to edit logging settings for a site

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:
   • If you are using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:
     • On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
   • If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7:
     • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
     • Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. In the Connections pane, expand the server name, expand Sites, and then click the Web site on which you want to configure logging.
3. In the Home pane, double-click Logging.
   
4. In the Logging pane, select the log file format in the Format box, and then type the path to the directory where you store the log files in the Directory box or click Browse... to choose the directory in which to store the log files.
   
5. If you choose to use the W3C log file format:
   • Click Select Fields to choose the types of information to log.
   • In the W3C Logging Fields dialog box, select the check boxes for options you want to log, clear the check boxes for options you do not want to log, and then click OK.
     

Configuration

Attributes

Child Elements

None.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration example uses the logExtFileFlags attribute of the <logFile> element to specify the settings that IIS logs for a Web site named Contoso. The period attribute causes IIS to create a new W3C log file every hour; the localTimeRollover attribute specifies that IIS use the time on the local server to determine when to create and name a new log file.

<site name="Contoso" id="2" serverAutoStart="true">
   <application path="/" applicationPool="Contoso">
      <virtualDirectory path="/" physicalPath="C:\Contoso\Content" />
   </application>
   <bindings>
      <binding protocol="http" bindingInformation="*:80:www.contoso.com" />
   </bindings>
   <logFile
      period="Hourly"
      localTimeRollover="true"
      logExtFileFlags="Date, Time, ClientIP, UserName, ServerIP, Method, UriStem, UriQuery, HttpStatus, TimeTaken, ServerPort, UserAgent, HttpSubStatus" />
</site>

Sample Code

The following examples configure logging for a site named Contoso. Each example enables logging for the site and configures site logging to generate a new log file on a daily basis. They also configure IIS to use the time on the local server to generate the log file names and determine when to generate new log files.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /[name='Contoso'].logFile.logFormat:"W3C" 
appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /[name='Contoso'].logFile.period:"Daily" 
appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /[name='Contoso'].logFile.localTimeRollover:"True" 
appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /[name='Contoso'].logFile.enabled:"True" /commit:apphost

Note: You must be sure to set the commit parameter to apphost when you use AppCmd.exe to configure these settings. This commits the configuration settings to the appropriate location section in the ApplicationHost.config file.

C#

using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;

internal static class Sample
{
   private static void Main()
   {
      using (ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager())
      {
         Configuration config = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration();
         ConfigurationSection sitesSection = config.GetSection("system.applicationHost/sites");
         ConfigurationElementCollection sitesCollection = sitesSection.GetCollection();

         ConfigurationElement siteElement = FindElement(sitesCollection, "site", "name", @"Contoso");
         if (siteElement == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Element not found!");

         ConfigurationElement logFileElement = siteElement.GetChildElement("logFile");
         logFileElement["logFormat"] = @"W3C";
         logFileElement["period"] = @"Daily";
         logFileElement["localTimeRollover"] = true;
         logFileElement["enabled"] = true;

         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      }
   }

   private static ConfigurationElement FindElement(ConfigurationElementCollection collection, string elementTagName, params string[] keyValues)
   {
      foreach (ConfigurationElement element in collection)
      {
         if (String.Equals(element.ElementTagName, elementTagName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
         {
            bool matches = true;
            for (int i = 0; i < keyValues.Length; i += 2)
            {
               object o = element.GetAttributeValue(keyValues[i]);
               string value = null;
               if (o != null)
               {
                  value = o.ToString();
               }
               if (!String.Equals(value, keyValues[i + 1], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
               {
                  matches = false;
                  break;
               }
            }
            if (matches)
            {
               return element;
            }
         }
      }
      return null;
   }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.Web.Administration

Module Sample
   Sub Main()
       Dim serverManager As ServerManager = New ServerManager
       Dim config As Configuration = serverManager.GetApplicationHostConfiguration
       Dim sitesSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.applicationHost/sites")
       Dim sitesCollection As ConfigurationElementCollection = sitesSection.GetCollection
       Dim siteElement As ConfigurationElement = FindElement(sitesCollection, "site", "name", "Contoso")

       If (siteElement Is Nothing) Then
          Throw New InvalidOperationException("Element not found!")
       End If

       Dim logFileElement As ConfigurationElement = siteElement.GetChildElement("logFile")
       logFileElement("logFormat") = "W3C"
       logFileElement("period") = "Daily"
       logFileElement("localTimeRollover") = True
       logFileElement("enabled") = True

       serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub

   Private Function FindElement(ByVal collection As ConfigurationElementCollection, ByVal elementTagName As String, ByVal ParamArray keyValues() As String) As ConfigurationElement
      For Each element As ConfigurationElement In collection
         If String.Equals(element.ElementTagName, elementTagName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) Then
            Dim matches As Boolean = True
            Dim i As Integer
            For i = 0 To keyValues.Length - 1 Step 2
               Dim o As Object = element.GetAttributeValue(keyValues(i))
               Dim value As String = Nothing
               If (Not (o) Is Nothing) Then
                  value = o.ToString
               End If
               If Not String.Equals(value, keyValues((i + 1)), StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) Then
                  matches = False
                  Exit For
               End If
            Next
            If matches Then
               Return element
            End If
         End If
      Next
      Return Nothing
   End Function

End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST";
var sitesSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.applicationHost/sites", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST");
var sitesCollection = sitesSection.Collection;

var siteElementPos = FindElement(sitesCollection, "site", ["name", "Contoso"]);
if (siteElementPos == -1) throw "Element not found!";

var siteElement = sitesCollection.Item(siteElementPos);
var logFileElement = siteElement.ChildElements.Item("logFile");
logFileElement.Properties.Item("logFormat").Value = "W3C";
logFileElement.Properties.Item("period").Value = "Daily";
logFileElement.Properties.Item("localTimeRollover").Value = true;
logFileElement.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = true;

adminManager.CommitChanges();

function FindElement(collection, elementTagName, valuesToMatch) {
   for (var i = 0; i < collection.Count; i++) {
      var element = collection.Item(i);
      if (element.Name == elementTagName) {
         var matches = true;
         for (var iVal = 0; iVal < valuesToMatch.length; iVal += 2) {
            var property = element.GetPropertyByName(valuesToMatch[iVal]);
            var value = property.Value;
            if (value != null) {
               value = value.toString();
            }
            if (value != valuesToMatch[iVal + 1]) {
               matches = false;
               break;
            }
         }
         if (matches) {
            return i;
         }
      }
   }
   return -1;
}

VBScript

Set adminManager = createObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST"
Set sitesSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.applicationHost/sites", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST")
Set sitesCollection = sitesSection.Collection
siteElementPos = FindElement(sitesCollection, "site", Array("name", "Contoso"))

If siteElementPos = -1 Then
   WScript.Echo "Element not found!"
   WScript.Quit
End If

Set siteElement = sitesCollection.Item(siteElementPos)
Set logFileElement = siteElement.ChildElements.Item("logFile")
logFileElement.Properties.Item("logFormat").Value = "W3C"
logFileElement.Properties.Item("period").Value = "Daily"
logFileElement.Properties.Item("localTimeRollover").Value = True
logFileElement.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = True

adminManager.CommitChanges()

Function FindElement(collection, elementTagName, valuesToMatch)
   For i = 0 To CInt(collection.Count) - 1
      Set element = collection.Item(i)
      If element.Name = elementTagName Then
         matches = True
         For iVal = 0 To UBound(valuesToMatch) Step 2
            Set property = element.GetPropertyByName(valuesToMatch(iVal))
            value = property.Value
            If Not IsNull(value) Then
               value = CStr(value)
            End If
            If Not value = CStr(valuesToMatch(iVal + 1)) Then
               matches = False
               Exit For
            End If
         Next
         If matches Then
            Exit For
         End If
      End If
   Next
   If matches Then
      FindElement = i
   Else
      FindElement = -1
   End If
End Function