Protocol logs capture the SMTP communications that occur between servers. The information that is written to the protocol log files looks very similar to what you see when you are using Telnet to make an SMTP connection.
This information is invaluable in troubleshooting scenarios, because it captures events that occur during message delivery that may not appear in other logs on the server.
For example, many administrators are used to looking in message tracking logs when they troubleshoot email delivery. But message tracking logs only record events for messages once they are in the transport pipeline. If a message is never sent/received because the SMTP connection itself is rejected, the message tracking log will show no useful troubleshooting information.
There are two parts to the configuration of protocol logging in Exchange Server, and they are basically the same across Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, and Exchange 2013.
Example of a protocol logging log file
This information is invaluable in troubleshooting scenarios, because it captures events that occur during message delivery that may not appear in other logs on the server.
For example, many administrators are used to looking in message tracking logs when they troubleshoot email delivery. But message tracking logs only record events for messages once they are in the transport pipeline. If a message is never sent/received because the SMTP connection itself is rejected, the message tracking log will show no useful troubleshooting information.
There are two parts to the configuration of protocol logging in Exchange Server, and they are basically the same across Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, and Exchange 2013.
