Procedure: Enable DNS Diagnostic Events

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.

In this section

• To view event logging status

• To enable diagnostic events in the event log

• To enable debug log rollover

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

1. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt on a DNS server.

2. 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

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

2. 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
   

3. 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

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

2. Use the Set-DnsServerDiagnostics cmdlet to enable debug log rollover. See the following example.

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

See also

DNSSEC in Windows

DNSSEC Deployment Planning