Digging through log files? SMS Trace is the way to go!

Sometimes troubleshooting is required. This involves digging into all kinds of log files. When a log file isn’t too big, Notepad will do the trick. But when a log file is some MBs in size, Notepad isn’t good anymore. Why?

Two main reasons:

1. When the log file is opened in Notepad new entries – written to the log file after it has been opened – won’t be shown. Notepad must be closed and the log file reopened, again and again…;
2. Notepad displays text and no colors. So one has to look for errors him-/herself. Changes are that some crucial information is overlooked.

So how to go about it? Good news! There is a tool – for free – which elevates both mentioned issues. When opened the log file will be refreshed and warnings and errors are automatically color coded: yellow for warnings, red for errors.

This tool – SMS Trace - is part of the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Toolkit V2 and can be downloaded from here. Install the tool (completely or only the part containing SMS Trace) and be happy.

Now the log file looks like this: