Monthly Archives: April 2012

How to Install the Service Trace Viewer Tool (SvcTraceViewer.exe) to View *.svclog Files

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Microsoft .NETI work with WCF services day to day, so sometimes I need to check the service logs to debug an issue or provide a stack trace for a bug report. To view *.svclog files, you need to install the Service Trace Viewer Tool from Microsoft.

Installing the Service Trace Viewer Tool

1) Go to the Windows SDK page and click Install Now
2) On the next page click Download and then run the web installer (winsdk_web.exe)
3) The default installation will install a lot of development tools, including the Service Trace Viewer Tool. But if you’re a minimalist and you’re just looking for the Service Trace Viewer Tool, just install the .NET Development Tools.

Install Service Trace Viewer

My machine required those additional reference assemblies, but your mileage may vary depending on what you’ve already installed.

Good luck debugging!