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Iszi
Asked: 2011-05-21 10:31:36 +0800 CST

What data is collected by "Turn on logging in Communicator"?

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In Communicator, there are a few logging options available in the Options dialog.

  • Under Personal:
    • Save my instant message conversations in the Outlook Conversation History folder.
    • Save my call logs in the Outlook Conversation History folder.
  • Under General:
    • Turn on logging in Communicator
    • Turn on Windows Event logging for Communicator

The first two options are fairly straightforward - they do what they say they do.

The last two are a bit more ambiguous. Here's my questions:

  • What "logging" does "Turn on logging in Communicator" enable exactly, and where is it stored?
  • I presume "Turn on Windows Event logging" sends some logs to the Event Viewer (eventvwr.exe) but what gets logged there?
  • How do these options differ from each other, in data collection and storage terms?

The General tab has a "More Information..." button in the Logging section, but that only takes you to a Privacy Statement - this tells you what Microsoft will and won't do with the information that is collected, but doesn't tell you what information is collected by which specific feature.

logging ms-office-communicator

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The page that opens when you click on the "Help" button in this dialog has some of the information you're looking for.

    Turn on logging in Communicator You can enable this option to create a log file, Communicator-uccapi-0.uccapilog, that contains information about the interaction of Office Communicator 2007 R2 with Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The Communicator-uccapi-0.uccapilog file is created in the Windows \Tracing folder. This option also creates a Communicator.etl file, which is trace file that is created for administrators and Microsoft Customer Service and Support to help troubleshoot issues.

    NOTE To enable Turn on logging in Communicator, you must be a member of the Performance Log Users group.

    Turn on Windows Event logging for Communicator Select this option to turn on Windows Event logging for Communicator. Events can be viewed in the Windows Event Viewer.

    There is also an article on Microsoft TechNet that goes into more details about Windows event logging in Communicator:

    When logging is enabled on a client, Communicator writes the following types of errors to the Windows system event log, along with detailed troubleshooting information:

    • Errors that prevent a user from signing in to the server, such as host or domain name errors, or an invalid certificate.
    • Diagnostic messages returned by the server, such as version check failures, problems with sign-in credentials, or errors generated in response to a SIP INVITE message from the client.
    • Windows event trace log (ETL) files, which may also be generated on your computer in the /Tracing folder, enable administrators and Microsoft support technicians troubleshoot problems. For details, contact your Microsoft Customer Service and Support representative.
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