Manage Log Files in Patch My PC Publisher

Applies to: Patch My PC Publisher V3.x

Clicking the Logs button in Patch My PC (PMPC) Publisher provides you with the following options:

Open Logs Folder	Open wsyncmgr.log	Collect Logs

Open Logs Folder

Clicking the Open Logs Folder button opens the folder used to store the logs generated by Publisher, which by default is:

C:\Program Files\Patch My PC\Patch My PC Publishing Service\Logs

Open wsyncmgr.log

Clicking the Open wsyncmgr.log button opens the wsyncmgr.log file, which can be useful for troubleshooting software update synchronization behavior.

Note

The Open wsyncmgr.log button is only available if Publisher is installed on a ConfigMgr Site Server.

Collect Logs

Clicking the Collect Logs button allows you to collect all of the required logs for troubleshooting a Publisher issue.

When you click Collect Logs, you are prompted to select a location to create a ZIP file containing all relevant Publisher log files.

The ZIP is called PMPCPublisherDiagFiles-M-DD-YYYY-H-MM AM/PM

For example:

PMPCPublisherDiagFiles-7-13-2026-7-40 AM

The generated ZIP file is intended for troubleshooting and is particularly useful when working with support, as it includes the files needed to diagnose most Publisher-related issues.

Note

See the Log File Reference for more details about the logs created by Publisher.

Logs collected

Publisher keeps logs in two places, and where they live depends on whether you are running the Settings console locally or remotely:

• Settings Console (client) logs - These are written by the Settings console you are using. On a remote workstation, these are stored in your own user profile, not on the server.

• Service logs - written by the Publisher PatchMyPCService on the server.

Note

See Overview Remote UI for more information on the Remote UI feature of Publisher.

There are two scenarios for collecting logs, depending on where the Settings console is running:

• Settings console running on the server

• Settings console running remotely

Settings Console running on the server

If the Settings console is running on the same server as the PatchMyPCService service, clicking Collect Logs gathers the service's logs directly, exactly as it always has.

Settings Console running remotely

If the Settings console is running on a remote workstation, clicking Collect Logs gathers both sets of logs and puts each in its own folder inside the zip:

• Client folder containing the logs from your workstation

• Service folder with the logs pulled from the server.

The Settings console asks the service for its logs over the same secure connection you already use, so you do not need any extra access to the server's file system.

If the server logs cannot be collected

If the console cannot retrieve the server-side logs for any reason, it does not fail silently. It still produces the zip with your Client logs, adds a small marker file noting that the service logs were unavailable, and shows a message telling you that only the client logs are included. You can still send that zip to support; it just won't contain the server-side logs.

Who can collect logs

Any connected administrator can collect logs, including a read-only session. Collecting logs is a read-only, diagnostic action, so it is intentionally available to everyone who can connect - you do not need write access or the editing session to do it.

Tips

• Reproduce the problem first, then collect logs, so the relevant activity is captured.

• When you open a support case from a remote console, the combined zip (client plus service) is the most useful thing to attach, because it shows both ends of the connection.