Enabling Web Management Service W3C Logging

Article
07/02/2012

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

Web Management Service W3C Logging

When you enable this type of logging, HTTP and HTTPS requests made to the Web Management service are logged in W3C format to the location that you specify. The default location is %systemdrive%\inetpub\logs\wmsvc\W3SVC1\u_ex <YYMMDD>.log.

When to Use

This logging, like IIS W3C logging, has a low overhead and can be used to track HTTP errors and request volume. It does not provide specific details about failures other than the HTTP error code, so it may not be suitable for troubleshooting all Web Deploy operation failures. Before you can enable W3C logging, the Web Management Service must be stopped, and then started again.

Information logged

WMSvc W3C logging records the following kinds of requests.

Requests to the Web Deploy handler, Msdeploy.axd
Management service requests to Service.axd
Code download requests to Download.axd
Ping requests to Ping.axd
Login requests to Login.axd

Example W3C format log entry

An example W3C format log entry follows.

2009-07-27 -- POST /msdeploy.axd - 8172 - <IP Address> - 401 2 5 21

Enable Web Management Service W3C logging by using IIS Manager

To enable WMSvc W3C Logging

Open IIS Manager. For information about opening IIS Manager, see Open IIS Manager (IIS 7).
In the Connections pane, select the node of the server for which you want to enable W3C logging.

Warning

Because W3C logging can be enabled only at the server level, you must select a server in the Connections pane, and not a site or an application.

In Features View, select Management Service.
In the Actions pane, click Open Feature. The Management Service window appears.
In the Actions pane, click Stop to stop the management service if it is not already stopped.
In Features View, under Connections, select Log requests to and specify a path. The default path is %SystemDrive%\Inetpub\logs\WMSvc.
In the Actions pane, click Start to start the management service.

Registry location

The registry location for WMVSvc W3C logging is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WebManagement\Server\EnableLogging. EnableLogging is a DWORD. A value of 0 means disabled; 1 means enabled.