Endpoint Services, MECM, Useful MECM logs for troubleshooting

Overview

Follow this guide for a summary of relevant MECM log files.

Systems

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM)

Intended Audience

University of Illinois IT Pros leveraging MECM, hosted by Technology Services' Endpoint Services team

General Information

Use Support Center for client troubleshooting, real-time log viewing, or capturing the state of an MECM client computer for later analysis. This application is available in MECM as 'Configuration Manager Support Center - Latest'.

Microsoft's documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/plan-design/hierarchy/log-files has useful information on relevant log files. This article also refers to information originally from https://www.ronnipedersen.com/2014/08/12/sccm-2012-r2-smsts-log-located/:

Task Sequences - smsts.log is the log for troubleshooting task sequence issues, and Endpoint Services will ask for the log if a ticket is submitted. The location of the log depends on where the task sequence fails:
- Windows PE
  (Before the hard disk is formatted) x:\windows\temp\smstslog\smsts.log
- Windows PE
  (After the hard disk is formatted) x:\smstslog\smsts.log and copied to c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\Smstslog\smsts.log
- Windows Operating System
  (Before the MECM client is installed) c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\Smstslog\smsts.log
- Windows Operating System
  (After the MECM client is installed) c:\windows\ccm\logs\Smstslog\smsts.log
- Windows Operating System
  (When the Task Sequence is complete) c:\windows\ccm\logs\smsts.log
Application Deployment
- AppDiscovery.log in c:\windows\ccm\logs\AppDiscovery.log checks to see whether applications that should be installed on the system are installed
- AppEnforce.log in c:\windows\ccm\logs\AppEnforce.log documents the deployment action once it has been initiated
- AppIntentEval.log in c:\windows\ccm\logs\AppIntentEval.log works with the above logs to determine the behavior of a deployment

Troubleshooting and logs for other areas (device collection, user collection, group policy, software packaging, imaging, etc.)

Log file locations depend on the MECM component generating the log, therefore Microsoft recommends searching for the name of the log file rather than directing IT Pros to a particular directory to find the logs.

The log files can be opened with Support Center (OneTrace) or CMTrace, a log file analysis tool you can download from Microsoft which will help you find potential errors and look up obscure error codes. CMTrace is also automatically installed along with the Configuration Manager client. It's added to the client installation directory, which by default is %WinDir%\CCM\CMTrace.exe.

Additional sources for more information

CMTrace is part of the System Center Configuration Manager Toolkit
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50012
CMTrace can look up error codes as well
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/configmgrdogs/2012/06/06/trace32-execmtrace-exe-hidden-features/

Contact the EPS team