Log Files

By default, IIS services create log files in the Windows directory, usually in \Windows\System32\LogFiles. The Web service log files are in subfolder W3SVC1 and are named exyymmdd.log, where yymmdd are digits indicating the current date. By default, a new log file is created on any day on which Web server activity occurs.

The FTP service follows a similar format, storing its log files in \Winnt\System32\LogFiles\MSFTPSVC1.

You can change the period for changing log files from daily to hourly, weekly, or monthly, or you can base this change on the log file growing to a certain size. To do so, you use the Default Web or FTP Site Properties dialogs. Just locate the Enable Logging check box, and click the Properties button next to it.

The log files are plain ASCII text files that contain a line for each file or page retrieved from the Web server. Each line contains the time, the browser's IP address, the HTTP method used (usually GET), and the URL requested.

If you are interested in analyzing the use of your Web site, several free or shareware analysis tools are available. And, you may want to adjust the list of fields recorded in the log file. Of course, you also can hire hugely expensive consultants for intense analysis of your Web server activity logs for marketing research, but this in-depth analysis is probably more than you want.