Exporting Wonderware System Management Console (SMC) Log Files

Overview

Exporting of Wonderware Log Files is done from the SMC software. This can be useful for backing up logs prior to purging them, or for sending them to Technical Support.

Resolution

The Wonderware SMC provides functionality to export log files. First we will filter the logs to ensure only the needed time frame is selected, which helps reduce the size of the logs backed up.

Opening the Wonderware Log Viewer

• Click on the Start Button and browse to Programs > Wonderware > System Management Console.
• On the left of the SMC window expand Log Viewer, Default Group, Local (Or whichever PC you want the logs from).

Filtering the logs:

• At the top of the window a row of icons will be displayed. Click the Filter icon. 
• You will be presented with 3 tabs to filter your logs.
  • On the Messages tab make sure that all of the options are unselected.
  • On the Time Range tab select the time range you are interested in. In most cases, at minimum, this will involve changing the From: criteria to Messages On, and selecting a date.
  • On the Terminal Sessions tab, unless you are using a Terminal Server and know that a particular session should be used, make sure that nothing is selected.
• Press the OK button.

Exporting the logs:

• In the icons at the top of the screen select the Export option.
• Select where the file should be saved to on your system.
• A filename will automatically be created which includes the date the file was created. If you are exporting multiple logs it is helpful to prefix this with the name or role of the computer these logs are for. Ex: GRNode_LogExport01012000.aalgx
• Ensure the Save as type is selected as “Log Files (*.aaLGX)”. The .aalgx files are much easier to search and read, so these are preferred over .txt files.
• If using a filter, ensure the “Export only messages matching the current filter” option is selected.
• Press the Save button to begin the export process.

Compressing the files:

• Find the .aalgx file that you have exported.
• Right click on the file and select Send To > Compressed (zipped) Folder.