How to enable logging in WDS in Windows

This article describes how to enable logging in Windows Deployment Services (WDS) in Windows Server.

Original product version: В Windows Server 2012 R2
Original KB number: В 936625

This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, see Windows registry information for advanced users.

Introduction

This article discusses how to enable logging in WDS in Windows Server. Additionally, this article describes how to gather data in WDS.

You can use this information to help troubleshoot issues that you may experience in WDS.

Overview

Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Each WDS component has a mechanism that you can enable for logging and for tracing. You can then analyze the results for troubleshooting. Use the information in the following sections to enable logging and tracing for WDS components.

General WDS server health

Type the following command to generate general server health information:

This command causes general server health information to be logged in the Application log and in the System log.

WDS server component

Type the following command to generate health information about the WDS server component:

This command causes WDS information to be logged in the Application log and in the System log.

Obtain trace logs for Windows Server

To obtain trace information for Windows Server, do the following:

1. Open Event Viewer (eventvwr).
2. Browse to Windows Logs\Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\Deployment-Services-Diagnostics.
3. Right-click the channel and choose Enable Log.

Then, configure the components that you want to be logged by setting one or more of the following registry keys to a 0 value.

WDS servers also support the following additional tracing:

You can set these registry keys to the following values to control what is included:

• 7F0000: This value includes packet tracing and protocol tracing.
• 3F0000: This value excludes packet tracing.
• 3E0000: This value excludes packet tracing and protocol tracing. By default, this value is used.

A tracing process may affect performance. Therefore, we recommend that you disable the tracing functionality when you do not have to generate a log.

After you set this registry entry, trace information for the WDS server component is logged in the following file:%windir%\Tracing\wdsserver.log

WDS management components

Type the following command to generate management component health information:

This command causes WDS component health information to be logged in the Application log and in the System log.

Enable tracing

To obtain trace information, you must enable tracing in the WDS management component and in the WDS Microsoft Management Console (MMC) component. To do this, set the following registry entries:

For the management component

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\WDSMGMT
• Name: EnableFileTracing
• Value type: REG_DWORD
• Value data: 1

For the MMC component

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\WDSMMC
• Name: EnableFileTracing
• Value type: REG_DWORD
• Value data: 1

After you set these registry entries, trace information for the WDS management component is logged in the %windir%\Tracing\wdsmgmt.log file.

Additionally, trace information for the WDS MMC component is logged in the %windir%\Tracing\wdsmmc.log file.

Although the WDS MMC component and the WDSUTIL component share the same API layer, MMC sometimes adds processing and functionality. If an error occurs, it is frequently worthwhile to use WDSUTIL to try to reproduce the failure. WDSUTIL may help you determine whether the error is local to MMC or whether the error is a general management API failure. Frequently, the WDSUTIL component provides more detailed error output when tracing is not enabled. Where applicable, use the following options to obtain extra information:

WDS legacy components

If you perform legacy management functions, set the following registry entry to enable tracing in the RISetup component:

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\RISetup
• Name: EnableFileTracing
• Value type: REG_DWORD
• Value data: 1

To obtain the trace log in the WDSCapture operation, follow these steps:

Start the Capture Windows PE boot image.

When the Capture Wizard starts, press SHIFT+F10 to open a command prompt.

Enable tracing in the WDSCapture component. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Registry Editor.
2. Set the following registry entry to enable tracing in the WDSCapture component:

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\WDSCapture
• Name: EnableFileTracing
• Value type: REG_DWORD
• Value data: 1

Start a second instance of the WDSCapture component. Then, reproduce the problem by using the second instance of WDSCapture.

Don’t close the original instance of WDSCapture. If you close the original instance of WDSCapture, Windows PE restarts. Instead, press ALT+TAB to switch between the instances of WDSCapture.The following trace log file is generated: X:\Windows\Tracing\WDSCapture.log.

WDS client components

To turn on the client logging functionality, run the following command on the WDS server:

Then, run the following command on the WDS server to change which events are logged:

Each category includes all the events from the previous categories.

The following are the definitions of the logging levels:

• The NONE logging level disables the logging functionality. By default, this logging level is used.
• The ERRORS logging level logs only errors.
• The WARNINGS logging level logs warnings and errors.
• The INFO logging level logs errors, warnings, and informational events. This logging level is the highest logging level.

To view the event logs, follow these steps:

1. Open Server Manager, and then click Diagnostics.
2. Click Event Viewer.
3. Click Applications and Services Logs.
4. Click Microsoft, click Windows, and then click Deployment-Services-Diagnostics.

In the tree structure of event logs, the Admin log contains all the errors, and the Operational log contains the information messages. The following are the definitions of the architectures that are listed for some errors in these logs:

• The Architecture 0 is the x86 processor architecture.
• The Architecture 6 is the IA-64 processor architecture.
• The Architecture 9 is the x64 processor architecture.

Setup logs from the client computer

The location of the setup logs depends on when the failure occurs.

If the failure occurs in Windows PE before the disk configuration page of the WDS client is completed, you can find the logs at the X:\Windows\Panther folder. Use Shift+F10 to open a command prompt, and then change the directory to the location.

If the failure occurs in Windows PE after the disk configuration page of the WDS client is completed, you can find the logs on the local disk volume at the $Windows.

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BT\Sources\Panther folder. The local disk volume is usually the drive C. Use Shift+F10 to open a command prompt, and then change the directory to the location.

If the failure occurs on the first boot after the image is applied, you can find the logs in the \Windows\Panther folder of the local disk volume. The local disk volume is usually the drive C.

Windows 10 stuck at log in screen after upgrade

Some users who upgraded to Windows 10 are reporting that their PC is now stuck at the log in screen. In some cases, the field to enter the password is missing, in other cases, the keyboard is missing or the password is not being accepted. In yet a related case, the mouse just appears on a blank black screen with the blue spinning circle. If you are facing such issues and cannot log into Windows 10, read on.

Windows 10 stuck at log in screen

While the reason for each user could be different, here are some general troubleshooting steps which come to my mind. I cannot say that they will help you, but go through them and see if any of these help you.

1. Check if your keyboard and mouse
2. Restart using the Power button
3. Access On-screen keyboard from the Ease of Access menu
4. Use the Wi-Fi button on the login screen
5. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del
6. Reconnect the router
7. Run ChkDsk in Safe Mode
8. Check the status of Credentials Manager Service
9. Repair Windows via Advanced Startup Options
10. Use Reset This PC option.

Let us take a look at them.

1] Check if your keyboard and mouse

Check if your keyboard and mouse are working properly. Unplug then and reconnect them if you are working on a desktop.

2] Restart using the Power button

Using the Power button in the bottom right corner, restart the computer once or twice, and see if you can proceed.

3] Access On-screen keyboard from the Ease of Access menu

Can you use the On-screen keyboard from the Ease of Access menu at the bottom right corner of the login screen? If so, see if you can type using it.

4] Use the Wi-Fi button on the login screen

Using the Wi-Fi button in the bottom right corner, connect to an Internet connection and then see if the PC accepts your Microsoft Account login credentials. If not, then try your PIN.

5] Reconnect the router

If you are already connected, unplug the router, terminate the connection and try. Some have reported that this helped.

6] Press Ctrl+Alt+Del

If you do not see the box to log in, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and see if it brings up the login box to enter your password.

7] Run ChkDsk in Safe Mode

Restart and boot Windows 10 in Safe Mode and run ChkDsk. Restart your PC and try.

8] Check the status of Credentials Manager Service

In Safe Mode, Run services. msc and make sure the Credentials Manager Service is set on Automatic.

9] Repair Windows via Advanced Startup Options

In Safe Mode, access the Advanced Startup Options and see if you can repair the installation.

10] Use Reset This PC option

Else while in Safe Mode, either Reset This PC or Rollback to your earlier OS.

This post shows you how to access Safe Mode or Advanced Startup Options when Windows 10 is stuck on loading some screen with the spinning dots animation moving endlessly, welcome mode, login screen, starting Windows, or will not boot.

These are the only thing that comes to my mind. If anyone has any ideas, please do share them below in the comments.

Date: August 27, 2019 Tags: Login, Troubleshoot

View Blue Screen Event Logs

I am fixing a friends laptop, because she keeps on getting the blue screen. Is there anyway i can view the logs (like event viewer?) As i am not to sure what is causing this. She gets it about 2 times a day.

We do need the DMP file as it contains the only record of the sequence of events leading up to the crash, what drivers were loaded, and what was responsible.

If you are overclocking STOP

You may be able to get the DMP files without crashing by booting into safe mode (F8) with networking.

Please follow these instructions to collect data from the crashes and upload them here, to your Skydrive or a file sharing service like Rapidshare.

To enable us to assist you with your computer’s BSOD symptoms, upload the contents of your «\Windows\Minidump» folder.

* Copy the contents of \Windows\Minidump to another (temporary) location somewhere on your machine.
* Zip up the contents of that folder
Please upload them to skydrive or a file sharing service and put a link to them in your next post.

Please also go to start>search/run>cmd>msinfo32 and include it in the upload

To ensure minidumps are enabled:

* Go to Start, in the Search Box type: sysdm.cpl, press Enter.
* Under the Advanced tab, click on the Startup and Recovery Settings. button.
* Ensure that Automatically restart is unchecked.
* Under the Write Debugging Information header select Small memory dump (256 kB) in the dropdown box (the 256kb varies).
* Ensure that the Small Dump Directory is listed as %systemroot%\Minidump.
* OK your way out.
* Reboot if changes have been made.

Please also go to start>run>msinfo32 and save the results. Upload it with the DMP files, thanks.

Save Screen (program) output to a file

I need to save the whole output of Screen to a file to check later all the content.

The reason is that I’m dumping a flash memory through a serial port, using Screen to interface with it. I would like to save it to a file to check memory structure.

And I’ve also tried to use bufferfile from screen, but I don’t understand how to use it.

Is there an easy way?

11 Answers 11

There is a command line option for logging. The output is saved to screenlog.n file, where n is a number of the screen. From man pages of screen:

‘-L’ Tell screen to turn on automatic output logging for the windows.

You can also use Control-a + H to save loggings into screenlog.n file. One more Control-a + H to turn off.

C-a H: Begins/ends logging of the current window to the file «screenlog.n».

The following command works for Screen version 4.06.02:

You can check the existing version of Screen using screen -version. You can download and install the latest Screen version from https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/.

The selected answer doesn’t work quite well with multiple sessions and doesn’t allow to specify a custom log file name.

For multiple screen sessions, this is my formula:

Create a configuration file for each process:

If you want to do it «on the fly», you can change logfile automatically. \012 means «new line», as using \n will print it on the log file: source.

Start your command with the «-c» and «-L» flags:

That’s it. You will see «test.log» after the first flush:

I found that «-L» is still required even when «log on» is on the configuration file.

I couldn’t find a list of the time format variables (like %m) used by screen. If you have a link of those formats, please post it bellow.

Extra

In case you want to do it «on the fly», you can use this script: