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Log File Formats Summary works with logs from the following servers (and many others):
Summary will automatically recognize the following log formats: Demon Internet native log format Many servers can be configured to produce log files in several different formats. Additionally, you can sometimes configure which specific log fields appear. There is often a trade off between large log files with lots of information and smaller log files that don't tell you everything but actually fit on your hard disk. The following comments will help you choose between the different options, and tell you how to best configure your server for use with Summary. Comments on specific servers and log formatsAppleShare IPAppleShare IP, version 5.0 and higher, writes a log file in WebSTAR format. The log file is stored in System Folder, Preferences, AppleshareIP Preferences, HTTP Logs, HTTP Log. The log format is not configurable and AppleShare does not log referrer or agent information so reports that depend on those fields will be blank. ApacheApache has a highly configurable log format which, unfortunately, is not self documenting. That means that Summary can not automatically determine the format of an Apache log file unless it is in one of the standard formats. The two most common formats used with Apache are NCSA Common and NCSA Combined. I highly recommend that you configure Apache to produce NCSA Combined format logs. The Apache configuration command for this format is:
When running multiple virtual domains with a single copy of Apache it is common practice to log each virtual domain into its own log file. This is important because NCSA Combined format logs don't contain the virtual domain name. It is impossible to determine which log entry goes with which virtual domain when using a single log file in NCSA Combined format with entries from multiple virtual domains. You can reconfigure Apache to put the virtual domain name in each log entry, but that makes the configuration process much more complex. FileMaker ProVersion 5 or newer produces logs in a standard format that Summary will recognize automatically. With older versions of FileMaker Pro, Summary can only read the web logs if they are in brief format. , To get Summary to read brief format, you will need to specify a "User log format definition" (entered on the Miscellaneous configuration page) of:
Log-FMLog-FM is not officially supported but you might want to try the following "User log format definition" (entered on the Miscellaneous configuration page):
Note that this must all be entered on a single line even though it probably appears as two lines above. Microsoft IISIIS Versions 4.x and newer support Common Log Format, Microsoft Extended Format, and W3C Extended Format (ExLF). We recommend using the W3C ExLF format since that allows you to customize the tokens appearing in the log file. See the discussion of W3C ExLF for more information about the various tokens. IIS Version 3.x supports Common Log Format and Microsoft Extended Format. Neither one provides referrer or agent information. Summary supports FlashLog Format, using a server plugin from Maximized Software http://www.maximized.com/products/flashstats/flashlog.htm which adds the referrer and agent information to the end of the line. Summary also supports the WebTrends modified format http://www.webtrends.com/ if cookie logging is enabled. Microsoft Personal Web Server for MacintoshMicrosoft Personal Web Server for Macintosh produces logs compatible with WebSTAR format containing the following log items:
Older versions are not completely compatible with WebSTAR format. If your log can't be read, try the following "User log format definition" (entered on the Miscellaneous configuration page):
Note that this must all be entered on a single line even though it possibly appears as two lines above. NCSA Common
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| DATE | Date of request. |
| URL | The requested item. Same as CS-URI and CS-URI-STEM. |
| HOSTNAME | Name or IP address of the requesting computer. You can use C-IP if you always leave DNS lookups off in WebSTAR but it is slightly larger. In WebSTAR 5.x you will need to use C-IP, since HOSTNAME has been removed. You can use C-IP and C-DNS together in that order to keep all available information even though Summary won't take advantage of it and your log will be larger. CS-IP and CS-HOST together in that order work but they are not recommended. This field is required for a great number of different reports. |
The following fields are very highly recommended:
| TIME | Time of request. Required for the Hourly, Time of Day, and Gaps in Service reports. |
| BYTES | Bytes sent, same as BYTES_SENT. Required for all of the Bytes related columns in various reports. |
| SC-STATUS | Result code, the same as STATUS. This provides just slightly more information than RESULT (which is also acceptable). CS-STATUS will work but it is not recommended. Required for the Bad Links and Failed Requests reports and the Errors column in various reports. |
| REFERRER | Site and page that referred the visitor to your site. Slightly shorter than CS(REFERER), which also works. This field will increase the size of log files substantially. Required for all of the referrers and paths reports. |
The following fields provide additional information for Summary, which enables additional reports. You can decide if they are worth it. Listed from most interesting to least interesting overall, although that is partly a personal preference.
| AGENT | Browser making the request. Slightly shorter than CS(USER-AGENT) which also works. This field will noticeably increase the size of the log file. It provides information for the Browser and computer reports and also improves visit tracking. |
| USER | Authenticated user name entered into a name and password dialog when some portion of the site is restricted. Provides information for the Auth User report. |
| TRANSFER_TIME | time to send data in 1/60ths of seconds. This field provides information for the Modem Speed report. Avoid TIME_TAKEN which is sometime in hours:minutes:seconds, sometimes in seconds, and sometimes in 1/60ths of seconds which can cause inaccurate results. |
| CS(HOST) | The name of the domain the user sent the request to, the same as HOST and HOSTFIELD. This field provides information for the Virtual Domain report and can be very useful in configuring sub-reports. |
| SEARCH_ARGS | CGI arguments. Same as CS-URI-QUERY. This field provides information for the CGI Arguments report, which must also be enabled in the Summary configuration. The value of this report will depend on your use of CGI and plug-in arguments. |
| METHOD | The method from the request header, GET, PUT, etc. Same as CS-METHOD and slightly shorter than CS(METHOD). This field provides information for the Method Report. Fairly technical. |
| CS(COOKIE) | Any cookies sent by the browser, the same as COOKIE. This field provides information for the Cookie report, which must also be enabled in the Summary configuration. Not used by most sites. |
There are a few other fields that WebSTAR supports, which might be of some use to someone, but Summary doesn't use them:
| FROM | Almost always empty. This field used to be the e-mail address of the visitor but privacy concerns caused browsers to stop sending it. Occasionally filled in by web robots. |
| CONNECTION_ID | The internal WebSTAR id number associated with this connection. I can't imagine ever using this. |
| PATH_ARGS | Portion of the request after a '$' character. This is a WebSTAR specific feature, designed to make programming CGI code easier but it is hardly ever used. |
This is a highly configurable format, but not all servers allow all of the options.
Summary requires the following tokens in the log file:
| DATE | Date of the request. |
| CS-URI | The requested item, essentially the same as CS-URI-STEM which also works. |
| C-IP | Client IP address. Use along with C-DNS if you have DNS lookups turned on, as long as C-IP appears first. CS-IP and CS-HOST can be used together in that order instead but they are obsolete and not recommended. Required for a great number of different reports. |
The following fields are very highly recommended:
| TIME | Time of the request. Required for the Hourly, Time of Day, and Gaps in Service reports. |
| BYTES | Bytes sent. Same as SC-BYTES. Required for the Bytes related columns in various reports. |
| SC-STATUS | Result code. CS-STATUS will work but it is obsolete and is not recommended. Required for the Bad Links and Failed Requests reports and the Errors column in various reports. |
| CS(REFERER) | Site and page that referred the visitor to your site. This field will increase the size of log files substantially. Required for the referrers and paths reports. |
The following fields provide additional information for Summary, which enables additional reports. You can decide if they are worth it. Listed from most interesting to least interesting overall, although that is partly a personal preference.
| CS(USER-AGENT) | Browser making the request. This field will noticeably increase the size of the log file. It provides information for the Browser and computer reports and is also used to improve visit tracking. |
| CS-USERNAME | Authenticated user name entered into a name and password dialog when some portion of the site is restricted. Provides information for the Auth User report. |
| TIME_TAKEN (WebSTAR) or TIME-TAKEN (Microsoft) | The time taken to respond to the request and transfer the data back to the visitor. This field provides information for the Modem Speed report. |
| CS(HOST) | The name of the domain the user sent the request to. You can also use S-IP or S-DNS instead if they are available. This field provides information for the Virtual Domain report and can be very useful in configuring sub-reports. |
| CS-URI-QUERY | CGI arguments. This field provides information for the CGI Arguments report, which must also be enabled in the Summary configuration. The value of this report will depend on your use of CGI and plug-in arguments. |
| CS-METHOD | The method from the request header, GET, PUT, etc. Slightly shorter than CS(METHOD). This field provides information for the Method report. Fairly technical. |
| CS(COOKIE) | Any cookies returned by the browser. This field provides information for the Cookie report, which must also be enabled in the Summary configuration. Not used by most sites. |
| CS-VERSION | The HTTP protocol version number. |
There are many fields that ExLF supports, which might be of some use to someone, but Summary doesn't use them. Here are a few of them:
| CS-FROM | Almost always empty. This field used to be an e-mail address of the visitor but privacy concerns caused browsers to stop sending it. Occasionally filled in by web robots. |
| CS-BYTES | The number of bytes in the original request sent by the client to the server. |
If your server produces logs with a format not listed here, you may be able to configure Summary to read the log file by specifying the format manually. You specify your log format by making a string with the following tokens in the order that the fields appear in your log file and entering that string into User log format definition.
| DATE-CLF | Full date/time, as used in Common Log File format |
| DATE-DMY | Day, month, year |
| DATE-MDY | Month, day, year |
| DATE-YMD | Year, month, day |
| UNIX-TIME | The number of seconds since January 1, 1970 |
| TIME-24 | Hour, minute, second |
| TIME-12 | Hour, minute, second, AM/PM |
| YEAR | Two or four digit year number |
| MONTH | One or two digit month number |
| MONTH-NAME | Three character month name |
| DAY | One or two digit day of the month |
| HOUR | One or two digit hour of the day |
| MINUTE | One or two digit minute of the hour |
| SECOND | One or two digit second of the minute |
| FULL-REQUEST | The original HTTP request line |
| HOST | Host name, the domain name or IP address of the visitor |
| URI | The requested resource, with optional '?' portion |
| URI-QUERY | The '?' portion of the request |
| STATUS | Three digit HTTP response code |
| WEBSTAR-RESULT | WebSTAR four character response code |
| BYTES | Number of bytes transferred |
| TRAN-TIME-SECS | The transfer time in seconds |
| TRAN-TIME-TICKS | The transfer time in 1/60ths of a second |
| TRAN-TIME-MILLI | The transfer time in milliseconds |
| TRAN-TIME-HMS | The transfer time in HH:MM:SS, or 1/60ths |
| REFERER | The referer from the HTTP header |
| AGENT | The agent from the HTTP header |
| USER | The user name from authorization |
| USER-BRACKET | The user name from authorization, terminated by a " [" |
| METHOD | The HTTP request method |
| PROTOCOL | The transfer protocol (such as HTTP/1.0) |
| DOMAIN | The domain name, often from HTTP host field |
| MAY-DOMAIN | The server name, often from HTTP host field. This will not override a preceeding DOMAIN value. |
| SERVER | The physical server name |
| COOKIE | The HTTP cookie field |
| SKIP | Skip to the next field |
| IF-EOL | If at the end of the line, return a valid entry, otherwise continue parsing |
| MUST-EOL | Must be at the end of the line, otherwise it is a corrupt line |
| EOL | Skip everything to the end of the line, must be last if used |
| W3SVC | Field must start with "W3SVC". Log entries with values starting with "MSFTPSVC" for this field are skipped. |
| FIXUP | Fix FlashLog parsing to WebTrends layout |
| WN | Check for CLF, Combined, or WN Verbose log |
| CHAR | Skip one character of input |
| WHITE | Skip any number of spaces and tabs |
| DATE-APACHE | Date and time in Apache error log format |
| SESSION | The session key. Used to identify visits. |
| MAY-SESSION | The session key, but don't replace one gotten from a SESSION field. |
| LANG | The requested language code |
Summary will automatically parse the log file into tokens, handle quoted strings, and find fields separated by a space, comma and a space, or tabs.
For example NCSA Common Log Format and NCSA Combined format would be specified with the single string:
HOST SKIP USER DATE-CLF FULL-REQUEST STATUS BYTES IF-EOL REFERER AGENT
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