CRM 2011 Enable trace logging on server

Sometimes it can happen that something unexplainable happens when using CRM. In this case you can always try to enable the Verbose logging on the server. Below you find a small step-by-step guide on how to do this.

Note: Try to avoid this on production environments with people working on. It can result in a slower performance. On servers with a lot of activity, verbose logging files can grow to multiple gigabytes in less than a few minutes.

1. Log on the server where the CRM is installed
2. Open the registry with the “regedit” command in the “run” window:
3. Navigate to the following folder in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > MSCRM
4. Change the following values:
   • TraceCategories: Depending on the number of logging you might change it to “Verbose” (for all information) or “Error” if you only want the critical requests;
   • TraceEnabled: 1 (to enable, to disable, change it to 0);
   • TraceRefresh: Change number to another value. The nummer doesn’t really matter;

To analyse the trace logs you can use “CRMTraceReader”, which can be downloaded for free on CodePlex.

Just don’t forget to disable the logging again after you’ve reproduced your issue.