Report Server HTTP log

The Report Server HTTP log file keeps a record of every HTTP request and response handled by the report server. Because request overflow and timeout errors don't reach the report server, they aren't recorded in the log file.

HTTP logging isn't enabled by default. You must modify the ReportingServicesService.exe configuration file to use this feature in your installation.

View log information

The log is an ASCII text file. You can use any text editor to view the file. The Report Server HTTP log file is equivalent to the W3C extended log file in IIS and uses similar fields so that you can use existing IIS log file viewers to read the report server HTTP log file. The following table provides additional information about the HTTP log file:

Log file information	Description
File name	By default, the file name is ReportServerService_HTTP_\<timestamp>.log. You can customize the prefix of the file name by modifying the HttpTraceFileName attribute in the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file. The timestamp is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
File location	The file is located at \Microsoft SQL Server\<SQL Server Instance>\Reporting Services\LogFiles.
File format	The file is in EN-US format. It's an ASCII text file.
File creation and retention	The HTTP log is created after you enable it in the configuration file, restart the service, and the report server handles an HTTP request. If you configure the settings but don't see the log file, open a report or start a report server application, such as the web portal. This action generates an HTTP request to create the file. A new instance of the log file is created after each service restart and subsequent HTTP request to the report server. By default, trace logs are limited to 32 megabytes and deleted after 14 days.

Configuration settings for Report Server HTTP log

To configure the Report Server HTTP log, use Notepad to modify the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file. The configuration file is located in the \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.n\Reporting Services\ReportServer\Bin folder.

To enable the HTTP server, you must add http:4 to the RStrace section of the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file. All other HTTP log file entries are optional. The following example includes all settings so that you can paste the whole section over the RStrace section, and then delete the settings you don't need.

   <RStrace>  
         <add name="FileName" value="ReportServerService_" />  
         <add name="FileSizeLimitMb" value="32" />  
         <add name="KeepFilesForDays" value="14" />  
         <add name="Prefix" value="tid, time" />  
         <add name="TraceListeners" value="debugwindow, file" />  
         <add name="TraceFileMode" value="unique" />  
         <add name="HttpTraceFileName" value="ReportServerService_HTTP_" />  
         <add name="HttpTraceSwitches" value="date,time,clientip,username,serverip,serverport,host,method,uristem,uriquery,protocolstatus,bytesreceived,timetaken,protocolversion,useragent,cookiereceived,cookiesent,referrer" />  
         <add name="Components" value="all:3,http:4" />  
   </RStrace>  

Log file fields

The following table describes the fields that are available in the log. The field list is configurable; you can specify which fields to include through the HTTPTraceSwitches configuration setting. The Default column specifies whether the field is included in the log file automatically if you don't specify HTTPTraceSwitches.

Field	Description	Default
HttpTraceFileName	This value is optional. The default value is ReportServerServiceHTTP_. You can specify a different value if you want to use a different file naming convention. For example, you can choose to include the server name if you're saving log files to a central location.	Yes
HttpTraceSwitches	This value is optional. If you specify it, you can configure the fields used in the log file in comma-delimited format.	No
Date	The date when the activity occurred.	No
Time	The time when the activity occurred.	No
ClientIp	The IP address of the client accessing the report server.	Yes
UserName	The name of the user who accessed the report server.	No
ServerPort	The port number used for the connection.	No
Host	The content of the host header.	No
Method	The action or SOAP method called from the client.	Yes
UriStem	The resource accessed.	Yes
UriQuery	The query used to access the resource.	No
ProtocolStatus	The HTTP status code.	Yes
BytesReceived	The number of bytes received by the server.	No
TimeTaken	The time (in milliseconds) from the instant HTTP.SYS returns request data until the server finishes the last send, excluding network transmission time.	No
ProtocolVersion	The protocol version used by the client.	No
UserAgent	The browser type used by the client.	No
CookieReceived	The content of the cookie received by the server.	No
CookieSent	The content of the cookie sent by the server.	No
Referrer	The previous site visited by the client.	No

Related content

Report server service trace log
Reporting Services log files and sources
Errors and events reference (Reporting Services)