Field note / 26 May 2014
A practical ULS reading kit for SharePoint
The old log viewer disappeared, but the diagnostic habit it supported is still worth keeping.
SharePoint writes a great deal of information into its unified logging service, usually called ULS. The raw files are plain text, which is both a blessing and a problem. They are easy to open and difficult to read when thousands of lines arrive faster than a person can scan them.
A log viewer helps by filtering, colouring and correlating entries. When one is no longer available from its original home, the answer is not to stop reading logs. It is to build a small, dependable routine around the tools that remain.
Start with a question, not the file
The most common mistake is opening the newest log and reading from the top. State the symptom first, then identify the process, time window and correlation identifier that should contain it. Filter to that window and only expand outward when the first pass produces nothing useful.
Keep a short sheet beside the investigation: the user action, the exact time, the server, the web application and the error code. That record turns a pile of text into a reproducible case and makes it easier to compare a failing request with a successful one.
The short list
Checks worth running
- Use a time window based on the user report rather than the current log file.
- Look for the correlation identifier across front end and application server logs.
- Record the conclusion and the evidence so the next person does not repeat the search.
The companion checklist on the downloads page covers this workflow. It is deliberately plain. A good diagnostic routine should survive changes in the tool that happens to be installed.
Outside reading
Reference shelf
Official documentation and independent community reading for the subjects in this note.
- Microsoft Support (opens in a new tab)Support articles, troubleshooting steps and product help from Microsoft.
- Microsoft Download Center (opens in a new tab)Official downloads for Microsoft tools, updates and supporting packages.
- Microsoft Learn: Windows Server documentation (opens in a new tab)Current guidance for Windows Server roles, networking, storage and management.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint administration (opens in a new tab)Operational guidance for service settings, site management and the modern admin experience.
- Microsoft Tech Community (opens in a new tab)Community discussion, product announcements and practical posts from Microsoft teams.
- Microsoft Learn Q&A (opens in a new tab)A community question and answer space hosted by Microsoft.
- SharePoint Stack Exchange (opens in a new tab)An independent question and answer community for SharePoint practitioners.
- SharePoint community on Reddit (opens in a new tab)An independent discussion space for administrators, developers and users.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint documentation (opens in a new tab)The starting point for current SharePoint administration, development and hybrid guidance.
- Microsoft Learn: PowerShell documentation (opens in a new tab)Language reference, cmdlet documentation and guidance for repeatable automation.
- Microsoft Security Response Center (opens in a new tab)Security advisories, update guidance and vulnerability response information.
- Microsoft Learn: SQL Server documentation (opens in a new tab)Official reference material for database engine configuration, performance and recovery.
- Microsoft Learn: SharePoint search (opens in a new tab)Documentation for search architecture, crawling and result management.
- PowerShell Gallery (opens in a new tab)A public repository for PowerShell modules and scripts. Review package provenance before use.
- Microsoft Learn: Server memory configuration (opens in a new tab)How SQL Server allocates memory and how the maximum server memory setting is applied.