Overview
IIS logs the requests it receives, and this can be a useful tool in troubleshooting various issues related to the M-Files Web client or REST API usage, or even other features that rely on them.
This article explains what to look for when asked to provide such logs.
Note that these logs are different from Failed Request Tracing logs.
Details
There are a few things to know and consider in your environment first.
Number of servers
If you use some form of high availability or load balancing, there may be more than one web server, so you need to look for logs on all of them.
Same computer or different computer as the M-Files Server
Often, the web server hosting the M-Files Web is on the same computer that runs the M-Files server itself, but it may also be on a separate computer. If it is on a separate computer, always get the unfiltered Windows Event Log from the IIS server computer as well.
Time stamp and time zone
The text-based IIS logs log the time in UTC. Thus, this is the timestamp we will see so we need to know when the problematic request/operation was performed in UTC time. Please make note of this and calculate it depending on the time zone of the client computer making the request, and provide that UTC time to the M-Files support.
Identifying the web site you need
One IIS server may host more than one web site, and each has its own folder for logs. Thus, you must first identify the site you need to know which folder to look for.
Open the IIS Manager, expand the server node and select the Sites node. You will see a list of the sites running on this server, and you need to get the ID column value of the site hosting the M-Files Web.
Log files location
By default, logs are in the following path:
%SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles
You will see there one or more folders named like
W3SVC1
W3SVC2
W3SVC3
Their number and IDs will depend on the sites your server is running and has run.
The last number after "W3SVC" is the site ID from the previous step. Go to the corresponding folder.
You will see a collection of files like
u_ex220614.log
u_ex220617.log
where the format is "u_exYYMMDD.log" - get the log file from the corresponding date of the request.
Note that the file may be large and may contain some sensitive information so you should send it via Cryptshare.
Checking the location and other settings
The web site or server may have a different path configured. To double check the location:
Open IIS Manager, select the web site and from the middle pane open the Logging feature.
You will see the directory for the log file. You will also see some more settings on which columns to include, limits of the size and even if logging is enabled. If you do not see logs, double check these settings
The Logging feature can also be configured on the server-level, not necessarily on the site level.
