Where is smsts.log located?

To troubleshoot the SCCM OSD deployment issues we can enable the F8 feature in our Windows PE boot images. Below is the process for the same:-

ü Enable the Command Prompt on your boot image
Boot images have an option to enable a command shell while running in Windows PE. This is turned off by default for security reasons but can be enabled on the “Windows PE”property page.

1. Open the boot image’s properties dialog
2. On the Windows PE tab check the “Enable command support (testing only)” option

When a task sequence is running in Windows PE you can open a command shell by pressing F8. As long as the command-shell is open the task sequence will not reboot the machine. This gives a chance to verify network connectivity, diagnose driver issues, and view/copy the log files.

ü Client Log Files Location
All actions in a task sequence log to the smsts.log file. This file is moved around during different stages of an operating system deployment so that it does not interfere with the imaging process.

During OS Deployment
Before your hard drive is formatted and partitioned
X:\windows\temp\smstslog\
After your hard drive is partitioned formatted
X:\smstslog\ and then is in C:\_SMSTaskSequence\logs\smstslog\

Within Windows
Within Windows before the SCCM agent is installed:
C:\_SMSTaskSequence\logs\smstslog\
Within Windows after the SCCM agent installed:
C:\windows\system32\ccm\logs\smstslog\
When the Task Sequence completes on a x86
C:\windows\system32\ccm\logs\

For x64 Systems
C:\windows\SysWOW64\ccm\logs\

Ø If the task sequence finishes in the full operating system and there is no ConfigMgr client installed then the log is copied to the Windows temp directory.

In order to access these logs you need to press F8 to bring up the cmd prompt.

After accessing the smsts.log we can use the below commands to copy the same on network share.

net use \\somefolderonyournetwork (net use h: \\servername\share)
enter your credentials
copy smsts.log \\somefolderonyournetworkThen we can review the logs and troubleshoot as required.


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