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Evaluating logfiles with Microsoft Log Parser Studio
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Windows systems record status messages in the event log, and some application servers, such as Internet Information Server (IIS) or the Exchange Server, also log event data to text files. You can use the free Microsoft Log Parser Studio tool to monitor and analyze these event logs on Microsoft systems.
Log Parser Studio [1], which is available as a free download on the Microsoft TechNet website, is a graphical front end for the Log Parser command-line tool. Together, these two programs form a useful toolbox for querying large amounts of structured data. The typical intended purpose is analyzing the logs from systems such as the IIS, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Exchange Web Services (EWS), or Outlook Web Access (OWA).
Installation under .NET
.NET Framework 4.x and Log Parser 2.2 [2] form the basis for Log Parser Studio. The latter is a universal tool of just a few megabytes suitable for analyzing both text (i.e., logs, XML, or CSV files) and sources (i.e., Windows's own event logs). Microsoft has had this tool in its program for a long time; thus, it officially supports only Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 according to the website. However, the tool also works perfectly with current operating systems from Redmond. Installation is quick: Run the MSI package and accept the license terms, then choose the Complete installation type and start the setup process, which completes in just a few seconds.
Log Parser Studio as a graphical front end for the parser does not need to be installed; instead, just unpack it. To do so, download the ZIP archive, extract the contents to, for example, C:\Program files (x 86)\Log parser Studio 2, and start the application by double-clicking LPS.exe. Studio will automatically find the Log Parser
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