We created a tool called LogViewer that makes it easier to search and find events in FileMaker Server log files. FileMaker Server produces several log files and FileMaker Pro generates at least a couple as well. Below is a partial list, and contains the ones most commonly used:
- Event.log (FileMaker Server) – Contains file open / close events, script errors, scheduled server script run times, etc.
- Access.log (FileMaker Server) – Contains all connections and disconnections from clients.
- wpe.log (FileMaker Server) – Contains events related to the Web Publishing Engine.
- Recover.log (FileMaker Pro) – Results from a file recovery performed by FileMaker Pro.
- Import.log (FileMaker Pro) – Results from a schema copy / paste (or import) operation.
With the exception of Recover.log and Import.log, which are saved to the local machine, log files are found on the server. You can download raw log files from the FileMaker Admin console interface.
While handy, raw log files can be difficult to read and hard to find good information. Sometimes, you need to go back beyond 15 days to find what you’re looking for. Or, perhaps FileMaker Inc. tech support is asking you to send them your log files. Once you locate and open the appropriate log files in the Console app (or Windows equivalent), you might be looking at something like this:
LogViewer will help you isolate an event across multiple log files.
With it you can easily:
- View multiple log files at once (and not just the ones FileMaker Server allows).
- Dial in a date / time range to the second (instead of to the day).
- Access log entries older than 15 days.
- Easily export the currently viewed data to any format FileMaker supports.
- Filter by √ Severity Level √ Code and √ Description.
- View warnings and errors with color coding.
- Get a quick count of warnings and errors.
- Hover over Code for a description (especially useful for Import.log).
Keep in mind that this file should be used locally or a LAN based FMS. Log imports can easily cause the file size to balloon to several hundred MB and can take a very long time, as the indexes are being created. For that reason you will want to probably purge the file of log entries after a specific project to avoid taking up unnecessary disk space.
Fill out this form to download the LuminFire FileMaker Log Viewer: