SCCM+Log+Files

Here, we'll keep some information about SCCM log files.

A good overall reference can be found here:

[|List of Log Files in Configuration Manager 2007] [|Technical Reference for Log Files in Configuration Manager (2012)] [] Download technical documentation for SCCM 2012 referenced in the Survival Guide []

To find the log files on a workstation, either use Right Click Tools -> Client Log Files -> Client Logs, or browse to:

32-bit OS - C:\Windows\System32\CCM\Logs 64-bit OS - C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CCM\Logs

If you're looking for log files during an OSD Task Sequence, look at this resource:

[|SCCM task sequence log file locations] (I don't know if these are still accurate for 2012)

Here are some log files that I (Adam) find particularly useful: If user or machine policies aren't getting applied correctly, you may want to look at **PolicyAgent.log**, **PolicyAgentProvider.log**, or **PolicyEvaluator.log**.
 * CcmExec.log** - Records activities of the client and the SMS Agent Host service. If the SCCM client is having problems, you may want to check here.
 * Execmgr.log** - Records advertisements that run. If you're having problems with packages not installing, check here.
 * DataTransferService.log** - Records all BITS communication for policy or package access. A good place to look if files aren't getting downloaded properly.


 * Smsts.log** - General location for all operating system deployment and task sequence log events. **Critical for troubleshooting OSD problems!** This one is not found in the same location as the others. See the link above.

If I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem with SCCM, I'll generally find the log file which might contain relevant information, open it up with Trace32 or CMTrace, look for any red lines, and copy/paste any parts of that line that look important in to a Google search. If you're getting an error code that looks like "0x800..." or "800...", you may want to try searching for that code by iteslf. Domains that generally provide good results include:
 * technet.microsoft.com
 * blogs.technet.com
 * windows-noob.com