This section describes important considerations in implementing protocol logging on your SMTP virtual server.
The default format for SMTP is W3C Extended Log File Format.
Note Logging services are provided by IIS, installed with Windows 2000. Consult the IIS documentation for more information on protocol logging.
Determining which format to use
The four default formats provided by IIS differ mainly in presentation of data, although the information each tracks is similar.When choosing a format, you should determine how you want to review the data. Three of the four formats write records to ASCII text files, some in space-delimited format and some in comma-delimited format. The fourth option writes records to an ODBC-compliant database.
Determining how to set up the log file
Consider the following before setting up protocol log files, regardless of which format you choose.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Recording frequency | Determine if you want the files to log daily, weekly, or monthly. |
| Log file contents | Determine what to include in a log file. If you use the default file names for all IIS services, and use the same format, the transaction records can be merged into one log file. If you use the same format for all services and want a separate file for SMTP, designate a separate file for the protocol log. |
| Log file size | Determine if you want the file size to be unlimited or set to a specific size. |