Logparser
Encyclopedia
logparser is a flexible command line utility that was initially written by Gabriele Giuseppini , a Microsoft
employee, to automate tests for IIS
logging. It was intended for use with the Windows
operating system, and was included with the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools
. The default behavior of logparser works like a "data processing pipeline", by taking an SQL
expression on the command line, and outputting the lines containing matches for the SQL expression.
Microsoft describes Logparser as a powerful, versatile tool that provides universal query access to text-based data such as log files, XML
files and CSV
files, as well as key data sources on the Windows
operating system such as the Event Log
, the Registry
, the file system, and Active Directory
. The results of the input query can be custom-formatted in text based output, or they can be persisted to more specialty targets like SQL
, SYSLOG
, or a chart
.
Common use:
$ logparser
Example: Selecting date, time and client username accessing ASPX-files, taken from all .log-files in the current directory.
$ logparser -e:IISW3C -q "SELECT date, time, cs-username
FROM *.log WHERE cs-uri-stem LIKE '%.aspx' ORDER BY date, time;"
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
employee, to automate tests for IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
logging. It was intended for use with the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system, and was included with the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools
Resource Kit
Resource Kit is a term used by Microsoft for a set of software resources and documentation released for their software products, but which is not part of that product...
. The default behavior of logparser works like a "data processing pipeline", by taking an SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
expression on the command line, and outputting the lines containing matches for the SQL expression.
Microsoft describes Logparser as a powerful, versatile tool that provides universal query access to text-based data such as log files, XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
files and CSV
Comma-separated values
A comma-separated values file stores tabular data in plain-text form. As a result, such a file is easily human-readable ....
files, as well as key data sources on the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system such as the Event Log
Event Viewer
Event Viewer, a component of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems, lets administrators and users view the event logs on a local or remote machine. In Windows Vista, Microsoft overhauled the event system.- Overview :...
, the Registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
, the file system, and Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
. The results of the input query can be custom-formatted in text based output, or they can be persisted to more specialty targets like SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
, SYSLOG
Syslog
Syslog is a standard for computer data logging. It allows separation of the software that generates messages from the system that stores them and the software that reports and analyzes them...
, or a chart
Chart
A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"...
.
Common use:
$ logparser
Example: Selecting date, time and client username accessing ASPX-files, taken from all .log-files in the current directory.
$ logparser -e:IISW3C -q "SELECT date, time, cs-username
FROM *.log WHERE cs-uri-stem LIKE '%.aspx' ORDER BY date, time;"
External links
(www.logparser.com now redirects to www.iis.net)- Logparser site - The Central hub of all things Logparser
- Logparser Forums - the Logparser forums
- Logparser example repository - the examples
- Microsoft Script Center page - The Microsoft logparser overview page
- Professor Windows - May 2005 - How Log Parser 2.2 Works by Gabriele Giuseppini
- Examples (SQL) queries for IIS Analysis
- Under the hood of Logparser by Jeff Atwood
- Visual Log Parser GUI for Logparser
- Log Parser Lizard GUI for Logparser
- Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit Book on LogParser, by Gabriele Giuseppini and Mark Burnett