Month: March 2013

The latest edition of IIS newsletter is available.  Lots of great links and information!

http://www.iisnewsletter.com/archive/march2013.html

Thank you,

Steve Schofield
ASP.NET/IIS MVP
http://www.iislogs.com/steveschofield

Rick Barber
http://rick.barberfamilyonline.com

Download IISLogs 30-day evaluation (This is a full version trial.) Three versions to choose from (1 Stand-Alone EXE , 1 – Windows Service Versions). Stand-Alone EXE 4.0 version Windows Service 4.0 version Stand-Alone EXE 2.0 version Windows Service 2.0 version IIS Log Help links Are you runing UAC (User Account Control?) Check out these articles. Part 1 – 1,2,3 go configure – Install guide – Article Part 2 – 1,2,3 go configure – Post Install Configuration guide we use, gets you up and going in minutes – Article Part 1 – 1,2,3 Go configure – Download / Installation – Video Part 2 – 1,2,3 Go configure – Configuration – Video IISLogs online help version IISLogs compiled help file (downloadable) Windows Service Version Guide When the program starts, you’ll be prompted for the Configuration File, This will be used for either Windows Service version or Stand-alone EXE version Select IISLogsSVC.exe.config (Windows Service Version) http://www.iislogs.com/help/Getting_Started/WindowsService/ Stand-Alone EXE Guide When the program starts, you’ll be prompted for the Configuration File, This will be used for either Windows Service version or Stand-alone EXE version Select IISLogs.exe.config (Stand-Alone EXE version) http://www.iislogs.com/help/Getting_Started/Standalone/

Purchase information How do I obtain a full version license of IISLogs? After you have performed an evaluation of IISLogs. We recommend testing IISLogs in a non-production environment.  Visit our purchase page, select the appropriate license pack, walk through the purchase steps.  IISLogs support will be notified of the purchase.  We’ll respond to the notification with a “Welcome Aboard” message and full version license key.  You’ll deploy the license file to your server(s).  No activation or reinstall required. Support How to Contact Support

• What is IISLogs?

IISLogs helps administrators and developers easily manage log files created by Internet Information Server 5.0,6.0 and 7.0/7.5/8.0. The component will provide configurable options compressing files using ZIP, and/or just deleting files after a configurable setting based on time. One of the benefits will help maintain and conserve precious disk space on servers. The architecture of IISLogs is based on file extension. In addition to IIS logs, our component can help manage many 3rd party application logs too.

• How do I obtain a full version license of IISLogs?

After you have performed an evaluation of IISLogs.  Visit our purchase page, select the appropiate license pack, walk through the purchase steps.  IISLogs support will be notified of the purchase.  We’ll respond to the notification with a “Welcome Aboard” message and full version license key.  You’ll deploy the license file to your server(s).  No activation or reinstall required.

• How do I get a copy of the IISLogs component?

Visit evalution webpage

• What platforms will IISLogs run on?

Windows XP Professional/Vista, Windows 2000/2003/2008/2008r2/2012

• What version of .NET Framework needed to run?

.Net Framework 2.0, 4.0

What will this component do to the logfiles?

Based on a configurable time setting, it will zip and/or delete files Will IISLogs monitor multiple directories? Yes, it can monitor multiple directories or a single directory, the preference is yours.

• Can I do this same option with VBScript, pkzip or winzip?

Yes

• How old does a file need to be before IISLogs will process it?

Regardless of what feature you are using, IISLogs handles files 1 hour or older. For example, if the file last writetime was 12:00:00 AM (Midnight), you could set IISLogs to process the file at 1:01 AM. We encourage everyone testing IISLogs to install on a non-production system and learn what configuration works best. Always make a backup copy of log files before testing IISLogs or other 3rd party products.

• How much will IISLogs cost?

IISLogs is priced per machine. Enterprise, educational and volume licensing also available (contact info@iislogs.com for more details). Pricing is the same for Stand-Alone EXE or Windows Service Version.
Client here to purchase

• Will IISLogs component run as a Windows Service or a stand-alone EXE?

There are versions (A stand-alone EXE and a Windows Service) – both of these are full versions.

• Will IISLogs component require running as an Administrator credentials?

This still has to be worked out for configuration, the default setting is targeted NOT to require running as an Administrator. It will require permissions to to the directories that Store Internet Information server and related log files.

• Will IISLogs record logging information to central SQL Server?

This is being considered, all current logging information is stored in a configurable log directory located on the local machine. Future enhancements will consider this option. The IISLogs internal log files are delimited so you could import using a tool like Excel or Access.

• What are the main *features* of IISLogs?

There are many options to configure IISLogs, each option provides their own configurable settings to provide flexibility. The first option will allow for monitoring one or more specific directories (c:wwwLogsw3svc1mySite). An additional option will monitor entire directory structures. Either option will ZIP and/or Delete files based on configured settings. IISLogs can be setup to JUST ZIP files and/or delete files in the same directory structure. What we mean by directory structures? This is simple, by default, Internet Information Server puts web log files in %SystemRoot%System32Logfiles directory with several sub-directories below. There could be sub-directories for FTP, SMTP and WWW services; they might be named such as (MSFTPSVC1, SMTPSVC1, W3SVC1, W3SVC2 etc.). This option provides to monitor all of these sub-directories. If your running many websites on the same server, you might have configured IIS to store these log files in a different directory (IE D:wwwlogs). IISLogs can monitor custom directory structures also.

The second feature is to monitor the directories associated with the Microsoft SMTP Service. If your web applications use this functionality, these directories fill up with un-needed files. This feature is simple; it deletes files after a certain configurable date. This SMTP feature is effective in helping keep those directories free of 1000’s of bad emails and old files.

The third feature is similar to the SMTP option; it will monitor specific directories and delete files based on its own configured setting. Why does IISLogs have this option when it can be setup in the first option? First of all, this option monitors just single directories not entire directory structures like the first option does. There are occasions where certain directories need to have different retention periods that other directory structures. This option provides for this very situation. File Naming Options allows for someone to control what the ZIP file is named. This is available in both the Stand-Alone and Windows Service version. Per Directory (Available in IISLogs 2.).

• Does IISLogs read the IIS metabase to get any IIS settings?

Yes, using the IISLogsGUI, part of the IISLogs suite, has a feature called EasyConfig that will read the metabase and automatically configure the required specific Directories.

• Can I turn off detail logging?

Yes, this will reduce the need to receive a daily email on what happened on that particular machine. This is only recommended if you want IISLogs to run and not be notified about what is happening on the machine.

• Will IISLogs run if I *JUST* copy the directory to another server w/o first running the setup.exe?

Yes, you can just copy the directory to another server without running the setup.exe as long as a few things are done. IISLogs is designed to be very easy to distribute and setup on many computers w/o manually installing on every machine. 1 – The server getting the files copied to is setup the same or similiar. the biggest thing is where the Log files are stored. From experience, shops with a lot of web servers typically store their web logs files in a central directory (such as D:Logfiles or D:wwwlogs). 2 – Below the InstallDirOfIISLogslogsPolicyAgreements directory is copied too. This is a security mechanism built into IISLogs to insure the administrator has thought through the configuration. IISLogs won’t ZIP or Delete files w/o these files being present. 3 – The IISLogs.exe.config has the appropriate log file paths on the target server. If you have further questions how to automate distribution of IISLogs w/o having to manually install on every machine, please contact info@iislogs.com

• Can I edit the IISLogs.exe.config using a generic text editor

Yes except for the MailUID and and MailPWD values which ONLY can be done through IISLogsGUI. These values are stored in a encrypted format.

• How do I unzip or uncompress several zip files so I can re-run my stats program like Deep Matrix or Web Trends?

Use the built-in Windows 2003/XP to highlight and compress all ZIP files residing in the log file directories. If your using Windows 2000, you can use WINRAR or WINZIP to highlight and unzip/uncompress the files.

• When configuring the specific options for IISLogs, will the MonitoredSpecificDirectories directories be used when trying to use the DeleteOnlySpecificDirectories?

No, these features are complete separate configuration options, each Feature (MonitoredEntireDirectories, MonitoredSpecificDirectories) use one set duration parameters, http://iislogs.com/help/Getting_Started/configuration_file.htm#Standard_Configuration_Options

• SMTP feature has its own set of configuration options DeleteOnlySpecificDirectories has its own set of config options. What is the difference between The Delete Feature and Delete ONLY Specific Directories feature?

This can be confusing at first but it was done with the intention to provide flexibility. The Delete Feature is part of the entire ZIP Process. This process allows someone the flexibility to ZIP files X number of days old and then after Y number of days delete files that are zipped. Imagine log files that are older than 7 days would be zipped, after 180 days old delete these zipped files. This is what the Delete feature does, its just part of the entire ZIP file process. You don’t have to delete files but the option is available. The Delete ONLY Directories feature is separate and intended for those who JUST want to have the option of deleting files w/o worrying about ZIP process.

• On the “Per Directory” what is the difference between the “Recursive” and “Include subdirectories”.

Recursive means it will start at a particular folder, such as c:wwwlogs and handle all sub-folders below the directory specified. It ‘recursively’ goes through all sub-directories and processes files based on rules specified. When recursive is selected, the ‘root’ folder isn’t processed. The ‘“Include subdirectories”’ options will process files in the ‘root’ folder specified, such as c:wwwlogs.

• Can you clarify how I should use ‘unknown extensions’.

We have an internal function that checks to ensure the file type isn’t a known Operating system type file. We have tried to document most known file types and not allow IISLogs to process these files. For example, if you have a file with a datetime extension or no file extension, the ‘unknown extensions’ would help process these types of files. We recommend you carefully evaluate in a test environment before you enable this feature. Also, ensure you have backups to ensure if a file is processed, you can restore it.

Best regards,

Steve Schofield
Windows Server MVP – IIS
http://weblogs.asp.net/steveschofield

http://www.IISLogs.com
Log archival solution.
Install, Configure, Forget

Looking for IISLogs 4.0 UAC article?

 

Configuring IISLogs 2.0 to work with UAC (User Account Control)

Download Registry Files

This article covers how to use  IISLogs 2.0 while UAC (UAC Account Control) is enabled.  UAC was introduced with Vista and Windows Server 2008.   From questions we’ve seen from our clients, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 appears to be implementing UAC more often.  For more information about UAC, click here.

IISLogsEXE Stand-Alone EXE and Service uses two configuration files, IISLogsEXE.exe.config, IISLogsSVC.exe.config.  A third file called SampleZipPerDirectory.xml stores Per Directory information.  IISLogsGUI is used strictly to manage these files.  When you first install IISLogs, then launch IISLogsGUI, a feature called “QuickConfig” checks for a registry entry in HKLMSoftwareIISLogs. If the registry key is not present, our intention is to present a Quick Config” when first configuring IISLogs.  Quick Config reads the local IIS Metabase (The IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility role service is required to be installed), which retrieves a list of sites that can be managed.   The “Quick Config” wizard walks through common configuration items.  After “Quick Config” is complete, IISLogsGUI writes to the registry IISLogs is installed. QuickConfig can be used in future instances within IISLogsGUI, but won’t be presented when IISLogsGUI is used.   UAC (user account control) prevents access reading or writing to the registry unless using elevated permissions.  If you are trying to configure IISLogs using the default UAC, you’ll get some unexpected behavior including errors.   I’ve tried to highlight the reason why along with screenshots.    These symptoms and errors occur right after installing either IISLogsEXE or IISLogsSVC and running IISLogsGUI,

Assuming you have websites configured on your server, the QuickConfig wizard will not display any sites, here is a screen shot.  This is because IISLogsGUI can’t read the metabase.   To get by this issue, click cancel twice to get IISLogsGUI to display. 

After you have clicked cancel twice, IISLogsGUI will come up.  When you try to configure any settings, an error will be displayed.   There is a few things happening, 1) Access to Write to configuration files mentioned above is denied 2) IISLogsGUI can’t write to the “Logs” folder under InstallFolderIISLogsSVC2 or InstallFolderIISLogsEXE2.  

At this point, IISLogs is not in a very usable state.  Many features such as “Auto-Add” will not function because access to metabase is denied.  Other functionality will be restricted as well. 

Here are a few options.  Before proceeding with any of the options listed, we strongly recommend you perform this in a non-production to determine the best settings.  This includes performing a backup of your registry.  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756

1) Manually add the IISLogs registry entry to let IISLogsGUI know it’s installed.  This will prevent the QuickConfig from coming up.

Create a file named IISLogsInstalled.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREIISLOGS]
“Installed”=”True”

2) Grant the Users local group ‘modify’ NTFS permissions on the InstallFolderIISLogsSVC2 or InstallFolderIISLogsEXE2 folder and all subfolders.  You will also need to grant Users ‘modify’ access on all folders you want IISLogs to process, including log folders.   By Default, IISLogs only grants Administrators and SYSTEM full control.   This would require adding USERS group to log files can be processed.  The reason is because IISLogs would run as a “normal” user needing permissions.

3) Our recommended approach is to add IISLogs processes to the AppCompatFlags registry key.  This allows programs to run under Administrator Privileges.   The only thing added to the system is multiple registry keys.  This can be either done manually or using Group Policy.

For IISLogs 2.0 IISLogs StandAlone Exe

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsLayers]
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsEXE2\IISLogsGUI.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsEXE2\IISLogsEXE.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”

For IISLogs 2.0 Service edition

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsLayers]
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsSVC2\IISLogsSVC.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsSVC2\IISLogsGUI.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”

4) You can disable UAC on the system all together.   Depending on your company policies, if UAC is disable IISLogs 2.0 will act as normal. 

If you have any further questions, errors that are occurring regarding UAC.  Please contact us at info@iislogs.com  

Thank you,

Steve Schofield
Windows Server MVP – IIS
http://www.iislogs.com/steveschofield

http://www.IISLogs.com
Log Archival Solution.
Install, Configure, Forget

Configuring IISLogs 4.0 to work with UAC (User Account Control)

Download IISLogs 4.0 Registry files

This article covers how to use IISLogs 4.0 while UAC (UAC Account Control) is enabled.  UAC provides additional security.  IISlogs 4.0 will work when one of the following options is implemented.  For more information about UAC, click here.

IISLogsEXE Stand-Alone EXE uses a configuration file called IISLogsEXE.exe.config, IISLogsSVC Windows Service uses IISLogsSVC.exe.config.  Both programs use a file called IISLogspPerDirectory.xml, which stores Per Directory information.  IISLogsGUI is used to strictly manage these files.  When you first install IISLogs, then launch IISLogsGUI, a feature called “QuickConfig” checks for a file called QuickWizardComplete.txt located InstallDirLogsQS.  Our intention is to present a Quick Config when first configuring IISLogs.  Quick Config reads the local IIS Metabase (Requires the IIS 6 Metabase Compatiblity Role Service), which retrieves a list of sites that can be managed.   The “Quick Config” wizard walks through common configuration items.  After “Quick Config” is complete, IISLogsGUI writes to the QuickWizardComplete.txt file.  QuickConfig can be used in future instances within IISLogsGUI, but won’t be presented when IISLogsGUI is used.  

UAC (user account control) prevents access reading or writing to the registry unless using elevated permissions.  If you are trying to configure IISLogs using the default UAC, you’ll get some unexpected behavior including errors.   I’ve tried to highlight the reason why along with screenshots.    These symptoms and errors occur right after installing either IISLogsEXE or IISLogsSVC and running IISLogsGUI.

Assuming you have websites configured on your server, the QuickConfig wizard will not display any sites, here is a screen shot.  This is because IISLogsGUI can’t read the metabase.   To get by this issue, click cancel twice to get IISLogsGUI to display. 

After you have clicked cancel twice, IISLogsGUI will come up.  When you try to configure any settings, an error will be displayed.   There is a few things happening, 1) Access to Write to configuration files mentioned above is denied 2) IISLogsGUI can’t write to the “Logs” folder under InstallFolderIISLogsSVC4 or InstallFolderIISLogsEXE4.  

At this point, IISLogs is not in a very usable state.  Many features such as “Auto-Add” will not function because access to Metabase is denied.  Other functionality will be restricted as well. 

Here are a few options.  Before proceeding with any of the options listed, we strongly recommend you perform this in a non-production to determine the best settings.

Add to Registry

1) Our recommended approach is add IISLogs processes to the AppCompatFlags registry key.  This allows programs to run under Administrator Privileges.   The only thing added to the system is multiple registry keys.  This can be either done manually or using Group Policy.  We’ve included the registry entries that need to be added.  We’ve provide sample registry files within the setup files when IISLogs is downloaded.  Please view the install location before adding to your machine.

For IISLogs 4.0 IISLogs StandAlone Exe

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsLayers]
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsEXE4\IISLogsGUI.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsEXE4\IISLogsEXE.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”

For IISLogs 4.0 Service edition

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsLayers]
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsSVC4\IISLogsSVC.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”
“C:\Program Files (x86)\IISLogsSVC4\IISLogsGUI.exe”=”RUNASADMIN”

2) You can disable UAC on the system all together.   Depending on your company policies, if UAC is disable IISLogs 4.0 will act as normal.

If you have any further questions, errors that are occurring regarding UAC.  Please contact us at info@iislogs.com  

Thank you,

Steve Schofield
Windows Server MVP – IIS
http://www.iislogs.com/steveschofield

http://www.IISLogs.com
Log Archival Solution.
Install, Configure, Forget

 

This looks real interesting and I thought I’d pass along. 

IISpeed is a port of Google’s mod_PageSpeed designed to work with Microsoft’s IIS server software. IIS is one of the most popular servers on the web, powering millions of web-sites, and we are excited to bring the full power of PageSpeed optimization to the Windows platform.

IISpeed works by minification and compression of HTML-code and resources, reducing the time spent while waiting for the transfer of a webpage to complete. At the same time IISpeed reduces the total number of requests, lowering server load and reducing waiting time even further. In practice, this translates to higher conversion rates, better end user experience and lowered server- and bandwidth needs.

For developers it does not matter which technology is used. Classic ASP, ASP.NET and PHP all work with IISpeed.  

IISpeed was developed by We-Amp, a Dutch startup. The team at We-Amp works closely with Google on an NGINX port. All members have a strong background in web optimization. For example, in the past they also architected and implemented a proprietary port of mod_pagespeed to Apache Traffic Server.

IISpeed now has an open beta running. The software can be downloaded from www.iispeed.com.

http://googledevelopers.blogspot.nl/2013/03/siteground-iispeed-and-google-chrome.html

More information:

www.iispeed.com

www.we-amp.com

Contact:

info@we-amp.com