LOGPARSER #0: Get started with logparser

I’ve used Logparser on several occasions at my customers and it’s always fun to show just how much valuable info you can dig out by this free tool. Many developers have notused Logparser and don't know its capabilities and I also often discover that developers don’t know their sites well enough once we start using the tool (usage trends, error trends, who is using your site and from what region, why does customer complain about performance etc. Most think they do though! Sometimes customers has bought some expensive software to do the work for them but I really like to start from basics and then if Logparser doesn’t do the trick you can spend money on software. At least then you know what you need to do a better work as a site developer/administrator.

Below you’ll find some links to interesting information regarding Logparser. Please comment if you find any errors on any of my scripts posted at the blog, have questions, have ideas etc.

- Logparser home, download etc https://www.iis.net/search.aspx?q=logparser

- You can use Logparser in performance testing scenarios 
https://blogs.msdn.com/ace_team/archive/2009/09/27/create-a-response-time-graph.aspx
https://perftesting.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?title=How%20To%3A%20Use%20IIS%20Log%20Files%20In%20Performance%20Testing

- Visual Logparser @ Codeplex https://www.codeplex.com/visuallogparser

- Description of all the IIS5 + IIS6 Status codes https://support.microsoft.com/kb/248033/

- Some scripts samples https://blogs.iis.net/chrisad/archive/2006/07/13/Chris.aspx

- Don’t forget to read the Logparser help file.. contains tons of samples and instruction on how to load data into SQL, create HTM reports etc.

- Use Bing to find some free IIS Log Analyzer software you can play around with. Gives you some ideas how to write your own scripts.

Happy Logparser digging!

//Anders