Installing Log Parser Studio and mastering basic queries is the key to analyzing IIS logs. First, install Microsoft Log Parser first, and then install Log Parser Studio; second, after opening the software, load the IIS log file and use built-in templates to query; then, locate problems through common query tasks such as analyzing access trends, counting the most frequently visited URLs, and finding 404 or 5xx error logs; finally, you can save common queries as templates, and use field names such as cs-uri-stem, sc-status, etc. to optimize query statements, thereby improving log analysis efficiency and problem-solving capabilities.

Using Log Parser Studio to analyze IIS logs is actually quite straightforward. The key is to master several key steps and query methods. It is a powerful tool that can help you extract useful information from messy logs, such as accessing trends, error sources, most visited pages, etc.

Below are some common usage scenarios and operation suggestions, suitable for friends who are just starting out.

Installation and basic settings

Log Parser Studio is a graphical interface tool developed by Microsoft, based on the Log Parser engine. You need to install Log Parser and Log Parser Studio first.

• Installation order :
  • Install Microsoft Log Parser first (x64 or x86 according to the system)
  • Then run the installer for Log Parser Studio
• After startup :
  • Open the software and some built-in query templates will be loaded by default.
  • You can load your IIS log files (.log or .csv) via "File > Open log files"

After the setup is completed, you can start writing query statements, but don’t worry, you don’t need to start from scratch, there are many ready-made templates to refer to.

Common query tasks: Analyze visits and trends

This is one of the most common needs, like you want to know the peak of visits on a certain day or hour, or see which pages are the most popular.

For example, I want to see the request volume per hour:

 SELECT 
  TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time) AS timestamp,
  COUNT(*) AS hits
FROM 
  '[LOGFILEPATH]'
GROUP BY 
  timestamp
ORDER BY 
  timestamp

The results of this query can be graphed to see the changes in traffic over time. If you find a sudden surge in a certain period of time, you may need to further troubleshoot whether it is a crawler or an attack.

In addition, you can also count the most frequently visited URLs:

 SELECT 
  cs-uri-stem AS uri,
  COUNT(*) AS hits
FROM 
  '[LOGFILEPATH]'
GROUP BY 
  URI
ORDER BY 
  Hits DESC

Such queries are very helpful for performance optimization and content hotspot analysis.

Find error logs: Quickly locate issues

The status codes in the IIS log are the key to troubleshooting problems. For example, 404 means that the page does not exist, and 500 means that the server internal error is not present.

You can find all 404 requests like this:

 SELECT 
  cs-uri-stem AS requestedPage,
  COUNT(*) AS count
FROM 
  '[LOGFILEPATH]'
WHERE 
  sc-status = 404
GROUP BY 
  requestedPage
ORDER BY 
  count DESC

This query can help you find out if there are external links pointing to the error page, or if users frequently try to access non-existent content.

If you want to check 5xx errors, just change sc-status >=500 AND sc-status .

Custom query and save templates

Log Parser Studio supports you to create your own queries and save them as templates for later reuse.

• Click "Tools > Add Query to Library" to save your commonly used queries
• In the query, you can use the variable [LOGFILEPATH] to automatically replace the currently opened log path.
• If you want to analyze multiple log files at once, you can also use wildcards such as *.log

A practical trick is: when writing a query, first look at what the field name corresponds to. for example:

• cs-uri-stem is the requested path
• cs-username is a certified user
• c-ip is client IP
• sc-status is the response status code

Once you are familiar with these fields, it is much easier to combine queries.

Basically that's it. Log Parser Studio is not difficult to get started, but to really use it well, you have to practice it a few more times and adjust the query statements based on actual needs. At the beginning, you can start with the built-in template and slowly write down your common queries.

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