Firewall packet logging

This article explains what firewall packet logging is and how to use it.

If programs have problems accessing the Internet, it is useful to see what is happening on the firewall by creating a packet log. The packet log collects information about the IP network traffic. By default, packet logging is turned off. Packet logging is mainly aimed at experienced users who are familiar with computer networks. You can turn packet logging on if you have created your own set of firewall rules, and want to check how they block traffic. You can also do this if you suspect malicious network activity.

Information is gathered into ten files (packetlog.0 - packetlog.9). Each time you turn on the logging, the packet log is collected into a new file. Once the tenth file becomes full, the next log is collected again to the first file. In this way, you can view the previous logs while a new log is generated.

For more detailed information about the packet log contents, see the product online help. If necessary, you can send the log file also to our technical support for further analysis.

To start packet logging:

Open the product main user interface by clicking the F-Secure icon located in the bottom-right corner of your screen.
On the main page, click Settings.
Select Network connections > Logging.
Use the recommended logging time and file size that are shown in the Logging time and Max log file size fields. You can also change them if you want to.
Click Start Logging. A new file is added to the list of log files. The size of the file increases as information is gathered to the file. If the list already contains 10 log files, the next log is gathered into an existing file.
To stop the logging manually, click Stop Logging. Logging stops automatically after the defined logging time period has elapsed, or the defined maximum log file size has been reached.

The default logging directory is C:\ProgramData\F-Secure\Logs\FSFW.

A new log file is generated and added to the log files list. You can send this file to us in an email attachment with your support request.