A simple cross browser JQuery console logging framework JLoggins

Cross browser logging with JQuery

A couple of months ago I tried to find a simple logging framework for JQuery and the browser console. I wanted something simple that supported logging levels and could be easily dropped in to assist in debugging complicated call stacks. I came across some libraries and example code but, I wasn't finding exactly what I was looking for. As a result I decided to put together JLoggins. I have had the code posted for several months on Google code but since JQuery has finally standardized on Github I re-posted it.

Deleting logs with PowerShell and Scheduled Tasks making the mundane a little less painful

This is a new take on an age old problem purging or rotating outdated logging information from servers and workstations alike. I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of batch files and PowerShell scripts that delete old log files, but what if someone wrote one that not only deletes the old files but is also self aware. Ok.. Maybe not self aware and a far cry from Skynet, but how about one that allows you to schedule and un-schedule it self using the provided parameters as a Windows Scheduled Task.

Well look no further someone has; drop the snippet below into a file called Delete-Logs.ps1 and you too can delete all the things with ease. I have tested this script with Windows 7 and Server 2008 using PowerShell 2.0. While researching I discovered there are also some convenience cmdlets for task scheduler allowing you to manage tasks however, for compatibility reasons I decided stick with schtasks.exe. You will notice I had to remove the path characters from the task name :.(. I had to remove them because of a bug limiting special characters from the scheduled task name.

# Parameters
# -Path A valid absolute path to a log folder or collection of folders script will recursively scan folders
# -Include A wildcard pattern used to include files for consideration 
# -Days Number of days before deleting file from folder
# -Schedule Creates a scheduled task using the provided path, include, and days parameter. Task will run as system user and execute every night at 12:00 AM every 
#  number of days provided in days parameter
# -Unschedule Removes scheduled task that was previously configured for the provided path
# Examples
# Run as stand alone
# .\Delete-Logs.ps1 -Path:'D:\Logs' -Days:4
# Schedule Windows Task
# .\Delete-Logs.ps1 -Path:'C:\Temp' -Include:'*.tmp' -Days:7 -Schedule
# Unschedule Windows Task
# .\Delete-Logs.ps1 -Path:'C:\Temp' -Include:'*.tmp' -Days:7 -Unschedule
Param ($Path='C:\Logs',[string]$Include='*.log', [int]$Days=30, [switch]$Schedule,[switch]$Unschedule)
$Path = New-Object PSObject -Property:@{ Value = $Path; Name = $($Path -replace '\:\\|\\',' ')}
if($Schedule)
{
 Invoke-Expression "C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /create /tr `"`"$PSHome\powershell.exe`" -File '`"'$($MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path)'`"' -Path '`"'$($Path.Value)'`"' -Include '`"'$Include'`"' -Days $Days`" /tn `"Rotate $($Path.Name) every $Days days`" /sc daily /mo $Days /st 00:00 /ru SYSTEM"
}
elseif($Unschedule)
{
 Invoke-Expression "C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /delete /tn `"Rotate $($Path.Name) every $Days days`" /F" 
}
else
{
 $count = 0;
 $start = Get-Date;
 Write-Host "Begin log rotation of $($Path.Value) at $start"
 Get-ChildItem $($Path.Value) -Recurse -Include:$Include | Where-Object {($_.CreationTime -le $(Get-Date).AddDays(-$Days))} | ForEach-Object {
  $date = Get-Date;
  $age = $date.ticks - $_.CreationTime.ticks;
  $age = New-Object -TypeName:'TimeSpan' -ArgumentList:$age;
  Write-Host "Rotating $_ at $date file was $age old";
  Remove-Item $_ -Force;
  $count++;
 }
 $end = Get-Date;
 $duration = $end - $start
 Write-Host "End log rotation of $($Path.Value) at $end $count file(s) were rotated in $duration"
}

Windows Azure Accelerator for Web Roles Missing Trace Logging By Default

After upgrading our applications to Windows Azure Accelerator for Web Roles I found that the trace messages disappeared. Windows Azure Accelerator for Web Roles default project does not enable trace logging by default. To fix this simply add the following lines to the WebRole.cs of the Windows Azure Accelerator for Web Role project.

private static void ConfigureDiagnosticsMonitor()
{
//... Omitted from example
   // Trace Logs
   diagnosticMonitorConfiguration.Logs.ScheduledTransferLogLevelFilter = LogLevel.Undefined;
   diagnosticMonitorConfiguration.Logs.ScheduledTransferPeriod = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1);
//... Omitted from example
}