IIS (Internet Information Server) is a group of Internet servers including web, HTTP and FTP integrated with MS Windows NT and Windows Server operating system. IIS offers different ways to record web activities on FTP sites, NNTP services, and SMTP services through log files. Furthermore, it provides the option to choose the log file format.
IIS logging is far more detailed and informative than Windows Event Log Viewer and aids in effective performance monitoring. The type of information present in IIS log file include users who visited the site, attempts made to access the site, the site content that was viewed, the last time site information was viewed. Apart from these, IIS log files also offer information about the virtual folders, virtual files and the attempts made to read and write those files or folders.
IIS Centralized Binary Logging
Through centralized binary logging, IIS creates a single log file containing binary and unformatted log data for all web sites hosted on a server. This logging method provides organizations a way to record information about all their web sites in detail without utilizing many resources. Centralized log files use a specialized parser in order to interpret the log files.
IIS Log File formats
There are six log file formats available in IIS that can be used to track and analyze the IIS based web sites and services. Apart from the six available formats, it is also possible to create custom log file formats using the Custom Logging Modules.
Following are the log file formats available in IIS centralized logging:
- W3C Extended Log File Format: Text-based, customizable format for a single site. This is the default format
- W3C Centralized Logging: All data from all Web sites is recorded in a single log file in the W3C log file format
- NCSA Common Log File Format: Text-based, fixed format for a single site.
- IIS Log File Format: Text-based, fixed format for a single site
- ODBC Logging: Fixed format for a single site. Data is recorded in an ODBC-compliant database
- Centralized Binary Logging: Binary-based, unformatted data that is not customizable. Data is recorded from multiple Web sites and sent to a single log file. To interpret the data, you need a special parser
- HTTP.sys Error Log Files: Fixed format for HTTP.sys-generated errors
A log file directory created at C:\LogFiles for HTTP.sys-generated logging (W3C Extended log file format, NCSA Common log file format, IIS log file format, centralized binary logging, or HTTP.sys error logging), generates the following subdirectories as log file locations:
- For the W3C Extended, NCSA Common, and IIS log file formats: C:\LogFiles\W3SVC#, where # is the site ID
- For centralized binary logging: C:\LogFiles\W3SVC
- For HTTP.sys error logging: C:\WINDOWS\System32\LogFiles\HTTPErr
The IIS log analyzers are tools to access and view the IIS log files in any of the above mentioned file formats so as to analyze the web servers. By using these analyzers, server managers are able to gain statistical data about the sites’ usage. Analysts can generate detailed reports in HTML, CSV and PDF formats with information about site visitor activity, referring pages, visitors’ geographical location and IP addresses, etc. along with details of sites’ properties.
LOGGLY
Log Analysis / Log Management by Loggly: the world’s most popular log analysis & monitoring in the cloud.
- Simplify log management with Loggly
- Get intuitive features for faster troubleshooting
- Use Loggly to visualize your IIS logs
AWSTATS.SOURCEFORGE
AWStats Official Web Site – Compile and generate advanced graphical web, ftp or mail statistics with a logfile analysis (For IIS, Apache, distributed under GNU GPL).
- Number of visits, and number of unique visitors
- Visits duration and last visits
- Authenticated users, and last authenticated visits
- Days of week and rush hours (pages, hits, KB for each hour and day of week)
- Domains/countries of hosts visitors (pages, hits, KB, 269 domains/countries detected, GeoIp detection)
- Hosts list, last visits and unresolved IP addresses list
- Most viewed, entry and exit pages
- Files type
- Web compression statistics (for mod_gzip or mod_deflate)
- And More.
WEBLOGEXPERT
WebLog Expert is a fast and powerful IIS log analyzer. It can analyze IIS log files in W3C Extended format and give you detailed statistics on your site’s visitors.
- General statistics
- Activity statistics: daily, by hours of the day, by days of the week, by weeks and by months
- Access statistics: statistics for pages, files, images, directories, queries, view time, entry pages, exit pages, bounces, paths through the site, file types, virtual domains and load balanced servers
- Information about visitors: hosts, top-level domains, countries, states, cities, authenticated users, screen resolutions, color depths and languages
- Referrers: referring sites, URLs, search engines (including information about search phrases and keywords)
- Browsers, operating systems, device types and spiders statistics
- Information about errors: error types, detailed error information
- Goals statistics
- Tracked files statistics
- Click overlay report
- Support for custom reports
MANAGEENGINE IIS Log Analyzer
IIS Log Management Software that collects, analyzes and provides reports for IIS application logs.
- Error reports
- Security reports
- Audit, manage, and track IIS servers with EventLog Analyzer
- Windows log management
- Syslog management
- Privileged user monitoring
- IT compliance management
- Log forensic analysis
- SIEM
DEEP-SOFTWARE
Deep Log Analyzer is professional website statistics and web analytics software for analyzing IIS, Apache, Nginx and other web server logs.
- Interactive Reports for your website
- Reports on all aspects of the web site
- Customization and extensibility
- Easy User Interface
SUMOLOGIC
Sumo Logic is the industry’s leading, secure, cloud-based service for logs & metrics management for modern apps, providing real-time analytics and insights.
- Maximize the value of your IIS environment
- Advanced IIS log analysis from Sumo Logic
- Centralize and search IIS logs
- Gather IIS metrics & simplify troubleshooting
- Improve IIS analytics and customer focus
- IIS log parsing for PCI compliance
WEBLOGSTORMING
Web Log Storming is an interactive web IIS, Apache and Nginx server log file analyzer software for Windows – Google analytics alternative.
- Rate referrers by effectiveness and stop wasting advertising money
- Get deeper understanding of paid traffic
- Detect bandwidth waste
- Investigate individual visitors
- Find “bottlenecks”
- Find errors on your website
What is an IIS Log Analyzer?
An IIS Log Analyzer is a tool used to analyze and interpret the log files generated by the Internet Information Services (IIS) web server. It helps in understanding website traffic, user behavior, errors, and other important metrics specific to IIS.
How does an IIS Log Analyzer work?
An IIS Log Analyzer reads the log files generated by the IIS web server and parses the data to extract useful information such as IP addresses, URLs accessed, response codes, user agents, and more. It then presents this data in a user-friendly format for analysis.
What are the benefits of using an IIS Log Analyzer?
- Some benefits of using an IIS Log Analyzer include:
- Understanding website traffic patterns specific to IIS
- Identifying popular pages and URLs on an IIS server
- Detecting and troubleshooting errors unique to IIS
- Monitoring user behavior on an IIS-hosted website
- Optimizing website performance on an IIS server
What features should I look for in an IIS Log Analyzer tool?
When choosing an IIS Log Analyzer tool, look for features such as:
- Customizable reports and dashboards tailored for IIS logs
- Real-time monitoring capabilities specific to IIS
- Support for different log file formats commonly used by IIS
- Filtering and search options optimized for IIS log analysis
- Integration with other tools and platforms commonly used with IIS servers
Are there any open-source IIS Log Analyzer tools available?
While there are fewer open-source options specifically tailored for IIS log analysis compared to Apache Log Analyzers, there are still some tools available. Examples include LogParser, which can be used to analyze IIS logs, as well as some community-developed scripts and tools.