Log File Investigation Part 3 (Package Deployment Log Reading)

Welcome back to the returning episode of...

Ok not funny :P In this part 3 of the investigation series, I put more focus on Package deployment. IMHO, this portion is more catered like a transition portal for those packages that were created in CM 2007 to move to CM 2012.

This can be still useful, but moving on we should be adopting application deployment approach as application is more application aware and the deployment follow the users rather than their machines. (CM 2012 onward is more user centric)

As usually here are the following log file we will look into: 

1. CAS: Content Access service. Maintains the local package cache on the client.
   
   
2. Execmgr: Records details about packages and task sequences that run on the client.

The above definition was taken from: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-sg/library/hh427342.aspx#BKMK_ClientOpLogs

Strictly speaking, execmgr log file alone will do fine, why I add in a CAS log file, is because sometimes, your customer or boss could ask you how long it takes for a package of 500 mb or more to get delivered to the client machine and which ccmcache folder it will stored? That is why I throw in the CAS log file.

Now, the location of the CCM logs:

CAS log:

What the above literally means is that at the stated point of date and time (because of the length, I trimmed the date and time on the far left) the client has detected a deployment, it will attempt to download from SCCM server, and download the items to the folder that is created in CCMCache folder, in this example the folder name is ‘2’.

At the end of the log file you will see that the content is successfully save with the Content ID. That is why, I mentioned in part 2 that it will be better to turn on the header view with Package and Content ID so that you know what you are looking at: http://cmxp.blogspot.sg/2015/04/log-file-investigation-part-2.html

 Next we will look at Execmgr.log file:

You could do some comparison with CAS log file, both files should be updating almost at the same, what the log is trying to tell you is that it receives a deployment and it is ready to get the package to be installed after the download is complete it will go to the CCMCache folder execute the script in folder 2, the system will actually decide whether it has pass the command line or not, should your script installation parameter is wrong it will not go ahead, and if the installation parameter is correct then it will pass the command and gives you a program exit code of 0.

Happy investigating! J

SY