Remove IIS Log Files (1) --- Manually

Note: this article is published on 10/12/2024.

This series of articles are to discuss a task to remove IIS Log Files. We start from doing the task manually, then make automation, and the last deploy the automation to pipelines (different servers):

Remove IIS Log Files (1) --- Manually --- this article
Remove IIS Log Files (2) --- Automation by Windows Task Scheduler
- Remove IIS Log Files (2-1) --- Handle Group User Accounts
- Remove IIS Log Files (2-2) --- Add "Log on as a batch job" Right to a user
Remove IIS Log Files (3) --- Deploy VBScript Automation by Pipeline
Remove IIS Log Files (4) --- Deploy PowerShell Automation by Pipeline

A - Introdction

The log files that IIS generates can, over time, consume a large amount of disk space. This article will discuss a way to remove the IIS Log Files, including locate the log file directory. The content of this article is

A - Introduction
B - Problem
C - How to locate the IIS Log File Folder
- C.1 - Through IIS Manager:
- C.2 - Through Windows PowerShell Script
D - Run VB Script to Remove the IIS log files

B - Problem:

IIS log files continue to grow in Web Server and can, over time, consume a large amount of disk space. Logs can potentially fill up an entire hard drive. To mitigate this problem, many users turn off logging completely. Fortunately, there are alternatives to doing so, such as the following:

Here we will discuss the third option.

C - How to locate the IIS Log File Folder

By default, the IIS log file folder is in %SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles, it is usually in C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles. However, the location can be customized by user. We have two ways to locate the IIS Log Folder

through IIS Manager
through Running a Script, such as Windows PowerShell Script

C.1 - Through IIS Manager:

Open IIS Manager => Click the Chosen Site under Sites => Double Click the Logging Icon

In the Logging page, the IIS Log File Folder is shown in the Direcitory:

such as %SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles by default

In certain case, it is set by user,

such as D:\LOGS\IIS\

C.2 - Through Windows PowerShell Script:

Import-Module WebAdministration

# Replace 'Default Web Site' with the name of your website
$siteName = 'Default Web Site'

# Get the log file directory
$logFilePath = Get-ItemProperty "IIS:\Sites\$siteName" -Name logFile | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Directory

Write-Output "The log files for '$siteName' are located at: $logFilePath"

If we put the code in a PowerShell Script file: GotLogFolder1.ps1, we got the default folder:

D - Run VB Script to Remove the IIS log files

Microsoft provide a VB Script to implement this:

You can control disk usage of log files by running a script that automatically deletes log files that are older than a certain age. Running this script in a scheduled task will keep the problem of a disk filling up under control without constant maintenance.

The following VBScript will check the age of each log file in a folder and will delete any log file older than a specified age. To customize the script for your purposes, simply change the name and path of the folder in line 1 of the script, and change the maximum age to the desired value in days, in line 2.

sLogFolder = "c:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles"
iMaxAge = 30   'in days
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
set colFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(sLogFolder)
For Each colSubfolder in colFolder.SubFolders
        Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(colSubfolder.Path)
        Set colFiles = objFolder.Files
        For Each objFile in colFiles
                iFileAge = now-objFile.DateCreated
                if iFileAge > (iMaxAge+1)  then
                        objFSO.deletefile objFile, True
                end if
        Next
Next

For multiple folders, we can do this with one more loop:

sLogFolders = Array("D:\LOGS\IIS\CRMHPE","D:\LOGS\IIS\Microsoft Dynamics CRM")
iMaxAge = 14   'in days
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
For each sLogFolder in sLogFolders
	set colFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(sLogFolder)
	For Each colSubfolder in colFolder.SubFolders
			Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(colSubfolder.Path)
			Set colFiles = objFolder.Files
			For Each objFile in colFiles
					iFileAge = now-objFile.DateCreated
					if iFileAge > (iMaxAge+1)  then
							objFSO.deletefile objFile, True
					end if
			Next
	Next
Next

How to run the VB Script:

Windows Script Host enables you to run scripts from Windows ether by WScript or CScript, you still run the scripts in the same manner. The difference is only in the output — WScript generates windowed output, while CScript sends its output to the command window in which it was started.

References: