The log data sets store the messages for the z/OS NFS start-up procedures. This log can be used to identify the user's correctable errors or the user's problem errors. There are two logs that this information is stored in; the primary log and the secondary log. The primary log is used at start-up until it is filled and then overflows into the secondary log. When the secondary log is full, the primary log will then be overwritten with new error messages. The number of log records is dependent on the number of transactions that the server can handle.

The z/OS® NFS server also records messages and diagnostic information in a z/OS component trace buffer, if one is specified. Component trace buffers can be used in addition to or instead of the log data sets. Using a component trace buffer can provide performance improvements over the log data sets. For details, see Using z/OS component tracing.