Central W3C Log File <centralW3CLogFile>

Overview

The <centralW3CLogFile> element specifies the central W3C log settings for all sites on a server.

Note

You need to set the centralLogFileMode attribute of the parent <log> element to CentralW3C in order for the attributes on the <centralW3CLogFile> element to have effect. If the centralLogFileMode attribute of the <log> element is set to CentralBinary or Site, the attributes on the <centralW3CLogFile> element will be ignored.

Note

Log files in W3C format are text-based files that most log-parsing utilities can process. Binary log files use a proprietary storage format that requires the use of an application that can process log files in that format, such as Microsoft's LogParser utility.

Compatibility

Version	Notes
IIS 10.0	The <centralW3CLogFile> element was not modified in IIS 10.0.
IIS 8.5	The <centralW3CLogFile> element was not modified in IIS 8.5.
IIS 8.0	The <centralW3CLogFile> element was not modified in IIS 8.0.
IIS 7.5	The <centralW3CLogFile> element was not modified in IIS 7.5.
IIS 7.0	The <centralW3CLogFile> element of the <log> element was introduced in IIS 7.0.
IIS 6.0	The <log> element replaces the IIS 6.0 CentralW3CLoggingEnabled flag.

Setup

The <centralW3CLogFile> element of the <log> element is included in the default installation of IIS 7.

How To

How to enable central W3C logging for a server

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:

   • If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2:

     • On the taskbar, click Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

   • If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

     • Hold down the Windows key, press the letter X, and then click Control Panel.
     • Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click 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, click the server name.

3. In the server's Home pane, double-click Logging.
   

4. On the Logging page, under One log file per, select Server from the drop-down list, then choose W3C from the Format drop-down list.
   

5. Click Apply in the Actions pane.

Configuration

Attributes

Attribute	Description
directory	Optional string attribute. Specifies the directory where log entries are written. The default value is %SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles.
enabled	Optional Boolean attribute. Specifies whether central W3C logging is enabled. The default value is true.
localTimeRollover	Optional Boolean attribute. Specifies whether a new log file is created based on local time or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). A value of true means the new log file is based on local time; false means it is based on UTC. The default value is false.
logExtFileFlags	Optional flags attribute. Specifies which fields to log. The logExtFileFlags attribute can have one of the following values or a list of these values. The default is a list of these values: Date, Time, ClientIP, UserName, SiteName, ServerIP, Method, UriStem, UriQuery, HttpStatus, TimeTaken,Win32Status, ServerPort, UserAgent, HttpSubStatus. Value Description Date The date on which the activity occurred. The numeric value is 1. Time The time, in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), at which the activity occurred. The numeric value is 2. ClientIP The IP address of the client that made the request. The numeric value is 4. UserName The name of the authenticated user who accessed your server. Anonymous users are indicated by a hyphen. The numeric value is 8. SiteName The name of the server on which the log file entry was generated. The numeric value is 16. ComputerName The name of the computer from which the request was made. The numeric value is 32. ServerIP The IP address of the server on which the log file entry was generated. The numeric value is 64. Method The requested action, for example, a GET method. The numeric value is 128. UriStem The target of the action, for example, Default.htm. The numeric value is 256. UriQuery The query, if any, that the client was trying to perform. A Universal Resource Identifier (URI) query is necessary only for dynamic pages. The numeric value is 512. HttpStatus The HTTP status code. The numeric value is 1024. Win32Status The Windows status code. The numeric value is 2048. BytesSent The number of bytes that the server sent. The numeric value is 4096. BytesRecv The number of bytes that the server received. The numeric value is 8192. TimeTaken The time that the action took, in milliseconds. The numeric value is 16384. ServerPort The server port number that is configured for the service. The numeric value is 32768. UserAgent The browser type that the client used. The numeric value is 65536. Cookie The content of the cookie sent or received, if a cookie was sent or received. The numeric value is 131072. Referer The site that the user last visited. This site provided a link to the current site. The numeric value is 262144. ProtocolVersion The protocol version that the client used. The numeric value is 524288. Host The host header name, if there is a host header. The numeric value is 1048576. HttpSubStatus The substatus error code. The numeric value is 2097152.
period	Optional enum attribute. Specifies how frequently the current log file is closed and a new log file is started. The period attribute can be one of the following possible values. The default is Daily. Value Description MaxSize Start new log files whenever the log file reaches the size specified by the truncateSize attribute. The numeric value is 0. Daily Start new log files every day. The numeric value is 1. Weekly Start new log files once a week. The numeric value is 2. Monthly Start new log files once a month. The numeric value is 3. Hourly Start new log files every hour. The numeric value is 4.
truncateSize	Optional int64 attribute. Specifies the size, in bytes, at which the log file contents will be truncated. This attribute must be set when the value of the period attribute is maxSize. The size must be between 1048576 (1 megabyte) and 4294967295 (4 gigabytes). The default value is 20971520 (20 megabytes).

Child Elements

None.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration sample specifies that IIS will use central W3C logging, and configures W3C log file rotation on a daily basis.

<log centralLogFileMode="CentralW3C">
   <centralBinaryLogFile enabled="true" directory="%SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles" />
   <centralW3CLogFile enabled="true" directory="%SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles" period="Daily" />
</log>

Sample Code

The following code samples specify that IIS will use central W3C logging, and configure W3C log file rotation on a daily basis.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/log /centralLogFileMode:"CentralW3C" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/log /centralW3CLogFile.period:"Daily" /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 logSection = config.GetSection("system.applicationHost/log");
         logSection["centralLogFileMode"] = @"CentralW3C";
         ConfigurationElement centralW3CLogFileElement = logSection.GetChildElement("centralW3CLogFile");
         centralW3CLogFileElement["period"] = @"Daily";

         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      }
   }
}

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 logSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.applicationHost/log")
      logSection("centralLogFileMode") = "CentralW3C"
      Dim centralW3CLogFileElement As ConfigurationElement = logSection.GetChildElement("centralW3CLogFile")
      centralW3CLogFileElement("period") = "Daily"

      serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub

End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST";

var logSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.applicationHost/log", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST");
logSection.Properties.Item("centralLogFileMode").Value = "CentralW3C";
var centralW3CLogFileElement = logSection.ChildElements.Item("centralW3CLogFile");
centralW3CLogFileElement.Properties.Item("period").Value = "Daily";

adminManager.CommitChanges();

VBScript

Set adminManager = WScript.CreateObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST"

Set logSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.applicationHost/log", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST")
logSection.Properties.Item("centralLogFileMode").Value = "CentralW3C"
Set centralW3CLogFileElement = logSection.ChildElements.Item("centralW3CLogFile")
centralW3CLogFileElement.Properties.Item("period").Value = "Daily"

adminManager.CommitChanges()