Changing the default options for the log files

By default, these log files are created at install time under the temp directory: xe1instlog.txt and xe1instlogmsi.txt. You can use the command line or setup.ini to change the log file names and locations.

The log files contain this information:

xe1instlog.txt: Cumulative log that contains only trace information from the custom actions during the installation. You cannot change the default options or target location for this log file.
xe1instlogmsi.txt: Contains MSI action information and trace information from the custom actions during the install. It logs all information except for verbose output. You can change the default options, target location and file name for this log file from the command line or setup.ini.

You can use setup.ini or command line parameters to change the default options for xe1instlogmsi.txt.

To use command line parameters to change the default options for xe1instlogmsi.txt, enter this command: setup /v"/l<logging parameters> log_path\file_name.ext"

The most common logging parameters are:

*: Logs status messages, warnings and error messages.
v: Turns verbose mode on.
x: Logs additional debugging information.

For example: setup /v"/l*v C:\MyPath\log.txt" generates a log file called log.txt under the MyPath folder containing status messages, warnings and error messages and logs verbose information.

Note: The quotation marks enclosing the path need to be escaped with a backslash in order to avoid interfering with the outer quotation marks.

To get the complete list of logging parameters taken by the /l option, enter msiexec in the command line.

If the directory path contains spaces, you must use quotation marks. For example: setup /v"/l*v \"C:\My Path\log.txt\""

If you do not specify a destination directory, the log is created under the same path from which setup is being launched.