You can create a log file by either using the “/L” command line option or using the logging policy. Select the method that is best for your installation.
To use the /L command line option with Msiexec.exe
The following list of command line options relating to the log file is from the Microsoft Windows Installer SDK.
/L [i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|o|p|v|+|!]
Writes logging information into a log file at the specified path. Flags indicate which information to log. If no flags are specified, the default is ‘iwearmo.’
i – Status messages
w – Non-fatal warnings
e – All error messages
a – Action start-up
r – Action-specific records
u – User requests
c – Initial UI parameters
m – Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
o – Out-of-disk-space messages
p – Terminal properties
v – Verbose output
+ – Append to existing file
! – Flush each line to the log
“*” – Wildcard, log all information except for the v option. To include the v option, specify “/L*v”
Example for an .MSI file: MSIEXEC /I “C:\Program Files\My MSI.msi” /L*v “C:\Program Files\InstallLog.txt”
Example for an .EXE file: “C:\Program Files\My EXE.exe” /L*v “C:\Program Files\InstallLog.txt” /I
If you are creating a log file for an .EXE, you must have a /I at the end of the command line.
To use the logging policy
This policy is used only if logging has not been enabled by the “/L” command line option. With the policy set, a log file is created in the Temp directory with a random name: MSI*.LOG. Specify the logging mode by setting the policy value to a string of characters.
Set the following registry key to define the log file policy on the computer:
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
String Registry Value: Logging
Registry Value Data: This data can by any of the following letters or any combination of them.
i – Status messages
w – Non-fatal warnings
e – All error messages
a – Action start-up
r – Action-specific records
u – User requests
c – Initial UI parameters
m – Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
o – Out-of-disk-space messages
p – Terminal properties
v – Verbose output
! – Flush each line to the log
Note that you cannot use “+” and “*” for the policy.