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Is is possible to configure Apache to reliably generate access logs in W3C extended format idential to that generated by IIS? I can't seem to track down a detailed description of specifics like delimiters, field formats, etc. No doubt there is an apache log format string that can do it, but I don't have enough info to create or even know for sure if it can write the data in the correct format.

I am using a web access log analyzer (SmarterStats) that does not support custom log file formats - it only supports Common Log Format, or W3C extended format. Unfortunately CLF has only very limited data, so doesn't allow particularly interesting analysis.

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  • what OS are you running Apache on? I ask because depending on OS, there may be a tool that can help you transform your output to be more in line with what you're looking for. Commented Sep 21, 2011 at 20:13
  • It's running on RHEL, but I could do some post-processing of the logs if need be. Commented Sep 21, 2011 at 20:31

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The W3C Extended Log File Format lets you define a set of fields in metadata at the top of the log. The defaults for IIS 6 seem to be:

#Fields: date time c-ip cs-username s-ip s-port cs-method cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query sc-status cs(User-Agent)

You should check your IIS log to see that this is the case (and what your parser expects) - look for the #Fields line at the top.

You can generate an Apache log in this format using a LogFormat line something like this:

LogFormat "%{%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S}t %a %u %A %p %m %U %q %>s \"%{User-agent}i\"" w3c_extended CustomLog /var/log/apache2/extended_access_log w3c_extended

(I can't test this at present: please edit the post or comment if you try it).

Check Apache's custom log formats to see how I derived that.

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  • This is what I would have done, but it turns out that SmarterStats requires the header/metadata at the top of the log like IIS produces. Back to the drawing board... Commented Sep 23, 2011 at 16:51
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There is this sourceforge project

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    Last updated 2001; would be a bit scared to use that! Commented Sep 21, 2011 at 20:44
  • Nice find, but with over a decade since the code was last updated... Would be a good place to start though, if I need to go the route of writing a custom logging module. Commented Sep 22, 2011 at 16:17
  • Code that doesn't need to be updated, isn't updated. Code has no Best-before date; you need to inspect the code with your eyes instead of a raised nose! Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 19:09

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