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Trace Failed Requests <traceFailedRequests>

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Overview

The <traceFailedRequests> element allows you to configure failed request tracing for a Web site, application, or directory. This element can contain a collection of <add> elements that define tracing rules, each of which specifies the extension of the request URL to which the rule applies, the trace providers and areas to enable, and the conditions that cause this rule to log the events.

Compatibility

Version Notes
IIS 10.0 The <traceFailedRequests> element was not modified in IIS 10.0.
IIS 8.5 The <traceFailedRequests> element was not modified in IIS 8.5.
IIS 8.0 The <traceFailedRequests> element was not modified in IIS 8.0.
IIS 7.5 The <traceFailedRequests> element was not modified in IIS 7.5.
IIS 7.0 The <traceFailedRequests> element was introduced in IIS 7.0.
IIS 6.0 N/A

Setup

After you finish the default installation of IIS 7 and later, you must install the tracing role service to use failed request tracing. After you install the role service, you still must enable failed request tracing at the site level, application level, or directory level.

Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2

  1. On the taskbar, click Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, click the Manage menu, and then click Add Roles and Features.
  3. In the Add Roles and Features wizard, click Next. Select the installation type and click Next. Select the destination server and click Next.
  4. On the Server Roles page, expand Web Server (IIS), expand Web Server, expand Health and Diagnostics, and then select Tracing. Click Next.
    Screenshot of Web Server pane expanded with Tracing selected. .
  5. On the Select features page, click Next.
  6. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
  7. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows 8 or Windows 8.1

  1. On the Start screen, move the pointer all the way to the lower left corner, right-click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows features on or off.
  3. Expand Internet Information Services, expand World Wide Web Services, expand Health and Diagnostics, and then select Tracing.
    Screenshot of World Wide Web Services pane expanded with Tracing selected. - Click OK.
  4. Click Close.

Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

  1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
  2. In the Server Manager hierarchy pane, expand Roles, and then click Web Server (IIS).
  3. In the Web Server (IIS) pane, scroll to the Role Services section, and then click Add Role Services.
  4. On the Select Role Services page of the Add Role Services Wizard, select Tracing, and then click Next.
    Screenshot of Select Role Services pane expanded with Tracing selected.
  5. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.
  6. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows Vista or Windows 7

  1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows Features on or off.
  3. Expand Internet Information Services, then World Wide Web Services, then Health and Diagnostics.
  4. Select Tracing, and then click OK.
    Screenshot of Internet Information Services pane expanded with Tracing selected.

How To

How to enable tracing

  1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:

    • If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2:

      • On the taskbar, click Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

      • Hold down the Windows key, press the letter X, and then click Control Panel.
      • Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:

      • On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7:

      • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
      • Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  2. In the Connections pane, select the server connection, site, application, or directory for which you want to configure failed request tracing.

  3. In the Actions pane, click Failed Request Tracing...
    Screenshot of I I S Manager Console with application icons.

  4. In the Edit Web Site Failed Request Tracing Settings dialog box, select the Enable check box to enable tracing, leave the default value or type a new directory where you want to store failed request log files in the Directory box, type the number of failed request trace files you want to store in the Maximum number of trace files box, and then click OK.
    Screenshot of Edit Web Site Failed Request Tracing Settings dialog box displaying Directory and Maximum Number of Traced Files populated.

How to configure failure definitions

  1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager:

    • If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2:

      • On the taskbar, click Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

      • Hold down the Windows key, press the letter X, and then click Control Panel.
      • Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2:

      • On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

    • If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7:

      • On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
      • Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  2. In the Connections pane, go to the connection, site, application, or directory for which you want to configure failed request tracing.

  3. In the Home pane, double-click Failed Request Tracing Rules.
    Screenshot of I I S Manager console with application icons.

  4. In the Actions pane, click Add...

  5. On the Specify Content to Trace page of the Add Failed Request Tracing Rule Wizard, select the content type you want to trace, and then click Next.
    Screenshot of Add Failed Request Tracing Rule Wizard with All Content selected.

  6. On the Define Trace Conditions page, select the conditions you want to trace, and then click Next. Trace conditions can include any combination of status codes, a time limit that a request should take, or the event severity. If you specify all conditions, the first condition that is met generates the failed request trace log file.
    Screenshot of Define Trace Conditions page with status codes box checked.

  7. On the Select Trace Providers page, select one or more of the trace providers under Providers.
    Screenshot of Select Trace Providers page with A S P and A S P Net selected as trace providers.

  8. On the Select Trace Providers page, select one or more of the verbosity levels under Verbosity.
    Screenshot of Select Trace Providers page with A S P and A S P Net selected for Providers verbosity.

  9. If you selected the ASPNET or WWW Server trace provider in step 8, select one or more functional areas for the provider to trace under Areas of the Select Trace Providers page.

  10. Click Finish.

Configuration

You can configure the <traceFailedRequests> element at the server level in the ApplicationHost.config file or at the site level, application level, or URL level in the appropriate Web.config file.

Attributes

None.

Child Elements

Element Description
add Optional element.

Adds a path to the collection of path definitions.
remove Optional element.

Removes a reference to a path from the path definitions collection.
clear Optional element.

Removes all references to paths from the path definitions collection.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration example configures tracing at the server level in the ApplicationHost.config file. It sets tracing for all .aspx files, uses the <traceAreas> element to set the ASPNET provider and trace against all ASP.NET areas, which are Infrastructure, Module, Page and AppServices. The sample also uses the verbosity attribute to set the amount of information returned to the tracing file to warning. Lastly, the sample uses the <failureDefinitions> element to trace only requests that generate a HTTP 404 status code.

<tracing>
   <traceFailedRequests>
      <add path="*.aspx">
         <traceAreas>
            <add provider="ASPNET" areas="Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices" verbosity="Warning" />
         </traceAreas>
         <failureDefinitions statusCodes="404" />
      </add>
   </traceFailedRequests>
</tracing>

Sample Code

The following examples enable verbose failed request tracing for HTTP 500 errors in ASP.NET content on all requests to *.aspx pages.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests /+"[path='*.aspx']" 

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests /+"[path='*.aspx'].traceAreas.[provider='ASPNET',areas='Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices',verbosity='Verbose']" 

appcmd.exe set config "Contoso" -section:system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests /[path='*.aspx'].failureDefinitions.statusCodes:"500"

C#

using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;

internal static class Sample
{
   private static void Main()
   {
      using (ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager())
      {
         Configuration config = serverManager.GetWebConfiguration("Contoso");
         ConfigurationSection traceFailedRequestsSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests");
         ConfigurationElementCollection traceFailedRequestsCollection = traceFailedRequestsSection.GetCollection();

         ConfigurationElement addElement = traceFailedRequestsCollection.CreateElement("add");
         addElement["path"] = @"*.aspx";

         ConfigurationElementCollection traceAreasCollection = addElement.GetCollection("traceAreas");
         ConfigurationElement addElement1 = traceAreasCollection.CreateElement("add");
         addElement1["provider"] = @"ASPNET";
         addElement1["areas"] = @"Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices";
         addElement1["verbosity"] = @"Verbose";
         traceAreasCollection.Add(addElement1);

         ConfigurationElement failureDefinitionsElement = addElement.GetChildElement("failureDefinitions");
         failureDefinitionsElement["statusCodes"] = @"500";
         traceFailedRequestsCollection.Add(addElement);

         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      }
   }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.Web.Administration

Module Sample
   Sub Main()
      Dim serverManager As ServerManager = New ServerManager
      Dim config As Configuration = serverManager.GetWebConfiguration("Contoso")
      Dim traceFailedRequestsSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests")
      Dim traceFailedRequestsCollection As ConfigurationElementCollection = traceFailedRequestsSection.GetCollection

      Dim addElement As ConfigurationElement = traceFailedRequestsCollection.CreateElement("add")
      addElement("path") = "*.aspx"
      Dim traceAreasCollection As ConfigurationElementCollection = addElement.GetCollection("traceAreas")
      Dim addElement1 As ConfigurationElement = traceAreasCollection.CreateElement("add")
      addElement1("provider") = "ASPNET"
      addElement1("areas") = "Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices"
      addElement1("verbosity") = "Verbose"
      traceAreasCollection.Add(addElement1)

      Dim failureDefinitionsElement As ConfigurationElement = addElement.GetChildElement("failureDefinitions")
      failureDefinitionsElement("statusCodes") = "500"
      traceFailedRequestsCollection.Add(addElement)

      serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub
End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso";
var traceFailedRequestsSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso");
var traceFailedRequestsCollection = traceFailedRequestsSection.Collection;

var addElement = traceFailedRequestsCollection.CreateNewElement("add");
addElement.Properties.Item("path").Value = "*.aspx";
var traceAreasCollection = addElement.ChildElements.Item("traceAreas").Collection;

var addElement1 = traceAreasCollection.CreateNewElement("add");
addElement1.Properties.Item("provider").Value = "ASPNET";
addElement1.Properties.Item("areas").Value = "Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices";
addElement1.Properties.Item("verbosity").Value = "Verbose";
traceAreasCollection.AddElement(addElement1);

var failureDefinitionsElement = addElement.ChildElements.Item("failureDefinitions");
failureDefinitionsElement.Properties.Item("statusCodes").Value = "500";
traceFailedRequestsCollection.AddElement(addElement);

adminManager.CommitChanges();

VBScript

Set adminManager = createObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso"
Set traceFailedRequestsSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/tracing/traceFailedRequests", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Contoso")
Set traceFailedRequestsCollection = traceFailedRequestsSection.Collection

Set addElement = traceFailedRequestsCollection.CreateNewElement("add")
addElement.Properties.Item("path").Value = "*.aspx"
Set traceAreasCollection = addElement.ChildElements.Item("traceAreas").Collection

Set addElement1 = traceAreasCollection.CreateNewElement("add")
addElement1.Properties.Item("provider").Value = "ASPNET"
addElement1.Properties.Item("areas").Value = "Infrastructure,Module,Page,AppServices"
addElement1.Properties.Item("verbosity").Value = "Verbose"
traceAreasCollection.AddElement addElement1

Set failureDefinitionsElement = addElement.ChildElements.Item("failureDefinitions")
failureDefinitionsElement.Properties.Item("statusCodes").Value = "500"
traceFailedRequestsCollection.AddElement addElement

adminManager.CommitChanges()