Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit: A Complete Toolkit for Microsoft's Undocumented Log Analysis Tool 1st Edition

Log Parser can be a Windows sys admin's dream come true. In one tool, it can input from a large variety of sources (file system, registry, log files, IIS log flavors, command line tools, etc.), has an extensible architecture, provides a SQL-like syntax to query, and provides a variety of output formats, including graphs, text, syslog, XML, HTML, email, and such.The book is written by the author of the tool. The tool's interface appears simple. The power of it is revealed in the variety of uses to which it can be put -- those uses involve the sophisticated command variations possible. The book reveals precisely this.If you're overwhelmed by system information and how to monitor that without a bunch of 3rd party tools, take a look at Log Parser. It may be just what you need.Syngress was acquired by Elsevier Publishing. The source files are now available at [...]

Being able to easily correlate information from multiple event logs is a big help.Many of the examples are aimed at maintaining and improving security. I found the techniques described helpful for chasing linked defects in a multiple-machine server farm.Unfortunately, the examples from the book are no longer available on the publisher's web site.

I was asked by my manager to come up with an automated IIS log file analysis process so that we can present the data in an online dashboard environment. After searching the web for ideas I came upon this book, bought it and just love it. There is a lot of information here and while you won't use all of it you'll find yourself picking and choosing techniques and scripts for implementation in your own environment.The data extract process has been completed and the gurus are now building the dashboards ... but so far everyone who has seen preliminary results of the analysis really likes what they see - and I'm recommended this book to several co-workers with similar tasks facing them.I can't recommend this book highly enough - it's great!

This book is factual, accurate, and authoritative. But I don't like technical books that read like technical books. "Huh?" you say.If I were to write this book, I would make it easier to understand with ample examples. It's better than Log Paser's Help, but not by a whole lot. I believe that technical books should be reasonably easy to understand - even by the non-technical.My 3 star rating is just my opinion/experience. Others may find this book to be just the ticket.

However, a couple of points:1. many pages in the book use a dark gray background with black text to highlight ideas - its hard to read, not enough contrast.2. Not found anything in the book that isn't already on the web - in large numbers, with hundreds (thousands) of sites churning the same information (welcome to the internet). But it is still a valuable resource for writing scripts.

looks like a good reference book for log passers. However, there are enough examples on line to avoid the need to buy the book if you want a desk reference this seems helpful.

This review is not so much about the book's content as it is the quality of this particular book's Kindle version. I'll be purchasing the physical book and will review its content once I have a chance to get into it.I've read a ton of Kindle books, and have bought a number of Kindle versions of tech books, and never have I had this issue. I was so excited to get this book because I need to collect web traffic information for literally thousands of IIS servers. What a disappointment. The regular text of of the book is completely normal--you can resize it, change the color, etc. However, the log parser examples are apparently images, and many are absolutely, hilariously, MICROSCOPIC in the KIndle version. They don't enlarge when the text is enlarged and they don't copy. I tried a number of work arounds to enlarge them (mainly doing a screen capture and copying them into Word or a graphics program), and since they're so small they don't enlarge well--they just look like a bunch of pixels. I tried reading the book on a Kindle, my Samsung S5, and in Kindle for PC, and it's all the same. On my phone, which has a nice big screen, it's really hard to tell that the examples are actually text--they just look like fuzzy lines.So, now I have to pay more for the physical book and lug it around with me rather than having the convenience and flexibility of a Kindle version. That really sucks, as I'm a huge fan of KIndle books (not to mention a fan of paying less).

I bought this book thinking it would be a good reference point for using Log Parser 2.2, and am exceedingly impressed with the volume of real-world, practical examples.Within minutes I had several scripts in production and was on my way to writing much more complex queries to squeeze every drop of valuable data from my logs. I'm querying IIS logs, Event Logs, CSV files and more with ease.I've got this book at my side any time I go to write a new script. I would definitely recommend it to others.