Introduction
This topic might seem basic but I get the question quite often. How do you read logs?
Reading the log file.
The simplest way is opening the log files from the 14$\logs in Notepad. This might be quickest way but not the most efficient in a live multiuser environment. I usually use this in a development environment in combination with a text editor that automatically reloads the file when it’s updated (Notepad++).
Using powershell with a correlation id
You can use powershell to quickly track down a correlation ID and dump the related log files into a file
get-splogevent -starttime (get-date).addminutes(-20) | where-object { $_.correlation -eq “b66db71a-3257-4470-adf9-5c01dc59ecb3″ } | fl message > c:\errors.txt
More info can be found here :
http://www.mysharepointadventures.com/2011/08/175/
Uls viewer
A Windows application for viewing the ULS logs more easily. Very handy when you are (trying to) reproduce a specific error and during debugging
I use it when I’m trying to track down a specific error and during debugging.
http://ulsviewer.codeplex.com/
Farm solution
Codeplex also has a nice solution which you can query the SharePoint logs with from within Central Administration.
The solution installs in your Central Administration. Very handy if you want a quick look in your logs files without having to connect over remote desktop to the actual server.
For detailed log digging this tool might not be sufficient.
