views:

50

answers:

2

(Briefly, like this question but for Windows servers.)

I have several Win2003 servers running custom application services (C/C++, not Java) that write text-based logs in a custom format.

[2009-07-17 12:34:56.7890]\t  INFO\t<ThreadID>\tLog message...
[2009-07-17 12:34:56.7890]\t *WARN\t<ThreadID>\tLog message...
[2009-07-17 12:34:56.7890]\t**ERR \t<ThreadID>\tLog message...

I would like to have a way to easily and efficiently (over a not-very-fast VPN) "watch" these logs for lines that match a pattern (like tail -f |grep -E on linux). Ideally the output would need to be aggregated, not one window/shell per file or per server, and a Windows application would be best, so that I can put it in front of people who are command-line-phobic.

Any recommendations?

edit: fixed link

+1  A: 

Try using baretail

Jon
I wish it didn't put each file in a separate tab, but it's workable. Thanks.
Tim Sylvester
A: 

splunk from www.splunk.com is the way to go. It is free & does exactly what you are asking for.

msvcyc
Yeah, I intended to mention that. I saw it on the question I linked, but I'm going to have a hard time getting approval for anything installed on a server, and I was hoping for a free solution. (500MB/day is not even enough for one server.)
Tim Sylvester