Configure usage and health data collection in SharePoint Server
APPLIES TO: 
2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition 
SharePoint in Microsoft 365
SharePoint Server writes usage and health data to the logging folder and to the logging database. You can use the SharePoint Central Administration website to configure health data collection settings.
Before you begin
Note
Administrators typically use the SharePoint Central Administration website and the SharePoint Management Shell to manage deployments. For information about accessibility for administrators, see Accessibility for SharePoint 2013. > Because SharePoint Server runs as websites in Internet Information Services (IIS), administrators and users depend on the accessibility features that browsers provide. SharePoint Server supports the accessibility features of supported browsers. For more information, see the following resources: > Plan browser support in SharePoint Server 2016> Accessibility features in SharePoint> Keyboard shortcuts> Touch
Configure usage and health data collection by using Central Administration
The usage and health data settings are farm-wide and cannot be set for individual servers in the farm.
To configure usage and health data collection by using Central Administration:
Verify that user account performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.
In Central Administration, on the home page, click Monitoring.
On the Monitoring page, in the Reporting section, click Configure usage and health data collection.
On the Configure usage and health data collection page, in the Usage Data Collection section, select the Enable usage data collection check box.
In the Event Selection section, select the check boxes of the events that you want to log.
Logging uses system resources and can affect performance and disk usage. Only log those events for which you want regular reports.
For impromptu reports or investigations, enable logging for events, and then disable logging for the events after the report or investigation is complete. For more information, see Configure usage data collection for events by using Windows PowerShell.
In the Usage Data Collection Settings section, type the path of the folder to which you want usage and health information to be written in the Log file location box. The path that you specify must exist on each server in the farm.
These settings are applied to all events.
In the Health Data Collection section, select the Enable health data collection check box. To change the collection schedules, click Health Logging Schedule. You can see a list of timer jobs that collect health data. Click any of the timer jobs to change its schedule, or disable that timer job. If you disable a timer job, it stops collecting corresponding health data. For more information, see Default timer jobs in SharePoint Server 2016.
To change log collection schedules, click Log Collection Schedule, and then click any of the timer jobs to change its schedule, or disable that timer job. If you disable a timer job, it stops collecting corresponding log data.
In the Logging Database Server section, to change the authentication method, select either the Windows authentication or SQL authentication option.
To change the Database Server and Database Name values, you must use PowerShell. For more information, see Log usage data in a different logging database by using Windows PowerShell.
Configure usage data collection by using Windows PowerShell
To configure usage data collection by using Windows PowerShell:
- Verify that you have the following memberships:
securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
Administrators group on the server on which you are running the PowerShell cmdlets.
An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 2013 Products cmdlets.
Note
If you do not have permissions, contact your Setup administrator or SQL Server administrator to request permissions. For additional information about PowerShell permissions, see Add-SPShellAdmin.
On the Start menu, click All Programs.
Click SharePoint 2016.
Click SharePoint 2016 Management Shell.
At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:
Set-SPUsageService [-LoggingEnabled {1 | 0}] [-UsageLogLocation <Path>] [-Verbose]
Where <Path> is a path that exists on each computer in the farm.
To view the progress of the command, use the Verbose parameter.
Enable usage data logging by typing.
Set-SPUsageService -LoggingEnabled 1
For more information, see Set-SPUsageService.
Configure usage data collection for events by using Windows PowerShell
The event types that are listed on the Configure usage and health data collection page in Central Administration are the same as Usage Definitions in PowerShell. You can use only PowerShell to configure usage definitions individually. Moreover, you can configure only the DaysRetained parameter.
To configure usage data logging for events by using Windows PowerShell:
- Verify that you have the following memberships:
securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
Administrators group on the server on which you are running the PowerShell cmdlets.
An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 2013 Products cmdlets.
Note
If you do not have permissions, contact your Setup administrator or SQL Server administrator to request permissions. For additional information about PowerShell permissions, see Add-SPShellAdmin.
On the Start menu, click All Programs.
Click SharePoint 2016.
Click SharePoint 2016 Management Shell.
At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:
Set-SPUsageDefinition -Identity <SPUsageDefinitionPipeBind> [-Enable] [-DaysRetained <0-31>] [-Verbose]
Where <SPUsageDefinitionPipeBind> specifies the usage definition object that you want to update. The type must be a valid GUID, in the form 12345678-90ab-cdef-1234-567890bcdefgh; a valid name of a usage definition (for example, SiteSubscriptionConfig1); or an instance of a valid SPUsageDefinition object. You can use the PowerShell Get-SPUsageDefinition cmdlet to obtain this GUID. For more information, see Get-SPUsageDefinition.
Use the Enable parameter to enable usage logging for this usage definition. Use the DaysRetained parameter to specify how long the usage data is retained in the log before it is deleted. The range is 0 to 31 days. To view the progress of the command, use the Verbose parameter.
For more information, see Set-SPUsageDefinition.
Log usage data in a different logging database by using Windows PowerShell
You can use PowerShell to change this setting.
To log usage data in a different logging database by using Windows PowerShell:
- Verify that you have the following memberships:
securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
Administrators group on the server on which you are running the PowerShell cmdlets.
An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint 2013 Products cmdlets.
Note
If you do not have permissions, contact your Setup administrator or SQL Server administrator to request permissions. For additional information about PowerShell permissions, see Add-SPShellAdmin.
On the Start menu, click All Programs.
Click SharePoint 2016.
Click SharePoint 2016 Management Shell.
At the PowerShell command prompt type the following command:
Set-SPUsageApplication -DatabaseServer <DatabaseServerName> -DatabaseName <DatabaseName> [-DatabaseUserName <UserName>] [-DatabasePassword <Password>] [-Verbose]
Where:
<DatabaseServerName> is the name of host server for the logging database. You must specify a value for the DatabaseServer parameter, even if the new database is located on the same database server as the old one.
<DatabaseName> is the name of the logging database.
<UserName> is the user name to use for connecting to the logging database. Use this parameter only if SQL Server Authentication is used to access the logging database.
<Password> is the password for the user specified in DatabaseUserName. You must specify both <UserName> and <Password> if the database owner is a different user account than the one with which you logged on.
To view the progress of the command, use the Verbose parameter.
For more information, see Set-SPUsageApplication.