Procedure: Enable DNS Diagnostic Events

Article
08/31/2016

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

DNS server debug logging is enabled by default with individual diagnostic events disabled. You can use the procedures in this topic to enable diagnostic event logging and change other event log parameters.

Tip

By default, the DNS debug log is located in the %windir%\system32\dns directory.

In this section

View and modify the event logging status

Membership in the Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete these procedures. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

To view event logging status

Open an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt on a DNS server.

Use the Get-DnsServerDiagnostics cmdlet to view the status of individual diagnostic events. See the following example.

PS C:\> Get-DnsServerDiagnostics

SaveLogsToPersistentStorage          : False
Queries                              : False
Answers                              : False
Notifications                        : False
Update                               : False
QuestionTransactions                 : False
UnmatchedResponse                    : False
SendPackets                          : False
ReceivePackets                       : False
TcpPackets                           : False
UdpPackets                           : False
FullPackets                          : False
FilterIPAddressList                  :
EventLogLevel                        : 4
UseSystemEventLog                    : False
EnableLoggingToFile                  : True
EnableLogFileRollover                : False
LogFilePath                          :
MaxMBFileSize                        : 500000000
WriteThrough                         : False
EnableLoggingForLocalLookupEvent     : False
EnableLoggingForPluginDllEvent       : False
EnableLoggingForRecursiveLookupEvent : False
EnableLoggingForRemoteServerEvent    : False
EnableLoggingForServerStartStopEvent : False
EnableLoggingForTombstoneEvent       : False
EnableLoggingForZoneDataWriteEvent   : False
EnableLoggingForZoneLoadingEvent     : False

To enable diagnostic events in the event log

Open an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt on the DNS server where you wish to enable event logging.

Use the Set-DnsServerDiagnostics cmdlet to enable individual diagnostic events, or you can enable all diagnostic events at once. See the following example.

PS C:\> Set-DnsServerDiagnostics -All $true

The previous command will set the status of all diagnostic events to True.

Important

The Set -DnsServerDiagnostics -All $true cmdlet implicitly sets the -EnableLogFileRollover option to $true. This setting means that when the log file reaches its maximum size, Windows starts a new log file instead of overwriting the existing log file. The computer can accumulate enough log files to affect its performance and fill its hard drive. To avoid these issues, consider enabling individual diagnostic events. Alternatively, if you can capture the information that you want in the log file before the file grows to 500 MB, enter the Set -DnsServerDiagnostics -EnableLogFileRollover $false cmdlet after the Set -DnsServerDiagnostics -All $true cmdlet.

You can verify this status with the Get-DnsServerDiagnostics cmdlet. See the following example.

PS C:\> Get-DnsServerDiagnostics

SaveLogsToPersistentStorage          : True
Queries                              : True
Answers                              : True
Notifications                        : True
Update                               : True
QuestionTransactions                 : True
UnmatchedResponse                    : True
SendPackets                          : True
ReceivePackets                       : True
TcpPackets                           : True
UdpPackets                           : True
FullPackets                          : True
FilterIPAddressList                  :
EventLogLevel                        : 7
UseSystemEventLog                    : False
EnableLoggingToFile                  : True
EnableLogFileRollover                : True
LogFilePath                          :
MaxMBFileSize                        : 500000000
WriteThrough                         : True
EnableLoggingForLocalLookupEvent     : True
EnableLoggingForPluginDllEvent       : True
EnableLoggingForRecursiveLookupEvent : True
EnableLoggingForRemoteServerEvent    : True
EnableLoggingForServerStartStopEvent : True
EnableLoggingForTombstoneEvent       : True
EnableLoggingForZoneDataWriteEvent   : True
EnableLoggingForZoneLoadingEvent     : True

You can also enable only selected diagnostic events. See the following example.

PS C:\> Set-DnsServerDiagnostics -Queries $true -Answers $true -Notifications $true -SendPackets $true -ReceivePackets $true -TcpPackets $true -UdpPackets $true
PS C:\> Get-DnsServerDiagnostics

SaveLogsToPersistentStorage          : False
Queries                              : True
Answers                              : True
Notifications                        : True
Update                               : False
QuestionTransactions                 : False
UnmatchedResponse                    : False
SendPackets                          : True
ReceivePackets                       : True
TcpPackets                           : True
UdpPackets                           : True
FullPackets                          : False
FilterIPAddressList                  :
EventLogLevel                        : 0
UseSystemEventLog                    : False
EnableLoggingToFile                  : False
EnableLogFileRollover                : False
LogFilePath                          :
MaxMBFileSize                        : 500000000
WriteThrough                         : False
EnableLoggingForLocalLookupEvent     : False
EnableLoggingForPluginDllEvent       : False
EnableLoggingForRecursiveLookupEvent : False
EnableLoggingForRemoteServerEvent    : False
EnableLoggingForServerStartStopEvent : False
EnableLoggingForTombstoneEvent       : False
EnableLoggingForZoneDataWriteEvent   : False
EnableLoggingForZoneLoadingEvent     : False

To enable debug log rollover

Open an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt on the DNS server where you wish to enable event logging.
Use the Set-DnsServerDiagnostics cmdlet to enable debug log rollover. See the following example.
```
PS C:\> Set-DnsServerDiagnostics -EnableLogFileRollover $true
```

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