Analysing the SharePoint Logs (v 1.3)

The SharePoint infrastructure has a comprehensive logging system, often referred to as the Unified Logging System ("ULS"), which is used by the SharePoint Connector for Confluence to report errors and exception conditions. In the event of errors or other unexpected behaviour, examining the SharePoint logs can often provide clues as to the source of the problem.

Locating the Log Files

The log files from the Unified Logging Service are located in the SharePoint "Hive" directory, which is different depending on which version of SharePoint you have installed. Consult the table below to identify the location of your log files.

SharePoint Version

Log File Location

SharePoint 2007

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\LOGS

SharePoint 2010

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\LOGS

The Unified Logging Service uses a 'rolling' log file system, so the LOGS folder is likely to contain multiple log files, each of which represents the log messages that were generated during a certain period of time. It may be helpful to sort the files by their Last Modified Date so that the most recent log file is displayed at the top of the folder.

Analyzing the Log Files

Locating pertinent information in the SharePoint log files can be challenging due to the sheer content of information in the log. When searching for information from the SharePoint Connector in the log, you should search for lines that contain the text "Atlassian Confluence"; which will prefix every line generated by the SharePoint Connector.

The example belows shows a log message generated by the SharePoint Connector:

01/01/2001 12:00:23.23 w3wp (0x18F8) 0x0390 Atlassian Confluence Web Part Error CSIz Exception System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: com.atlassian.confluence.rpc.RemoteException: The user 'test' does not exist.