How to Find and Read BenchVue Log Files

When trying to find the cause of a problem with BenchVue, it is useful to look at the log files.

How to Find and Read BenchVue Log Files

 

When trying to find the cause of a problem with BenchVue, it is useful to look at the log files.

 

How to Find the Log Files

There are several ways the log files can be viewed

1. Run the Keysight BenchVue Troubleshooting Wizard (in the Windows Start menu). Click “Start” to run the wizard. Once done, click the yellow Caution triangle (“Report an Issue”), then enter your email address and click “Send”. You can also hover on the icon next to the text “Attached log files” to see the path to the logs.

2. If using the platform, click the “Contact Support” button in the chat icon in the upper right corner, which brings up the form shown below. Click the “View Logs” button in the lower left corner or fill out the form and click “Send”, which will bring up an email ready to send, in which the log files are attached.

 

3. Log files are stored in one of two places

1. If using the platform, go to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Keysight\BenchVue\Logs
2. If using a standalone app, go to

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Keysight\PathWave\Logs

 

How to Read the Log Files

Once you have the logs, there are several things to look for.

4. Host ID and user info. This is available at the very top of the in the “CrashReport.log”:

The bottom of this log provides info about the PC:

5. Licensing info. There are several files:

3. TrialLicense.log – shows attempts to locate trial licenses
4. Licenses.zip – Transportable and Node-locked licenses that are normally found in C:\Program Files\Agilent\licensing
5. LicensesOnSystem.csv – All installed licenses:
   
6. Network licenses – shows floating licenses and USB portable licenses
7. Note: “BenchVue Included” licenses don’t show up here. The file that contains these is called Bundled LicenseDB.db. It is there for backwards compatibility, but these are now obsolete. If customers use instructions found in old instrument boxes, they will have trouble, because the new versions of BenchVue do not support activation of these licenses. Instead, customers should use the totally free “Basic” apps – no license activation required at all.
   
   

6. Keysight BenchVue Service.log – This file contains a wealth of info generated as BenchVue runs, such as:

8. (Search for “ispri”) – tells you whether our IO Libs are primary or secondary:

Oct 17 2024 10:01:18.832 [ 64404][ ]| [InstManagerResourceManager] GetIOLibraries found: {"Vendor":0,"ApplicationName":"Keysight Connection Expert","IsPrimary":true,"ApplicationPath":"C:\\Program Files\\Keysight\\IO Libraries Suite\\ACE2-UI.exe","Version":"21.0.47.0"}

 

9. Info on instruments (S/N, connection type, etc.) that IO Libs found:
   
   

Mar 21 2025 08:34:24.125 [ 30936][ ]|           USB0::0x2A8D::0x0501::MY57700313::0::INSTR                         - keysight,34470a,my57700313                    - {"Id":"keysight,34470a,my57700313","Manufacturer":"Keysight Technologies","Model":"34470A","SerialNumber":"MY57700313","FirmwareRev":"A.03.03-02.40-03.03-00.52-03-01","Description":"","IsFavorite":true,"Connections":{"USB0::0x2A8D::0x0501::MY57700313::0::INSTR":{"VisaAddress":"USB0::0x2A8D::0x0501::MY57700313::0::INSTR","SiclAddress":"usb0[10893::1281::MY57700313::0]","IoType":"USB","Action":"Updated","State":"Verified","IsStaticallyDefined":true,"IsPxi":false,"ChassisNumber":-1,"SlotNumber":-1,"Aliases":["USBInstrument9"]}}}

 

10. Error messages. Many can be ignored, but sometimes true errors (search for “exception”) are found with data about where the error occurred:
    
    

Oct 17 2024 18:54:04.186 [ 64404][ ]| [UnhandledException] System.Net.WebSockets.WebSocketException (0x80004005): An internal WebSocket error occurred. Please see the innerException, if present, for more details.  ---> System.IO.IOException: Unable to write data to the transport connection

 

7. Keysight BenchVue.log – This is where Test Flow initialization and operation are logged. It’s also where memory management errors show up:

Mar 27 2025 13:45:12.087 [ 22432][ ]| Background memory management thread could not allocate 256 Mbytes

Mar 27 2025 13:45:12.087 [ 22432][ ]| Reducing memory use...

 

8. Individual instrument logs, such as Keysight BenchVue DMM.log. Note: Standalone apps have only these logs, and they are located in the folder: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Keysight\PathWave\Logs

 

What to Look for

 

General things to look for:

9. Recent errors in any of the log files. All these logs can date back many months or years, so be sure to look at the date. It is useful to scroll all the way to the bottom to see if the last entry in the file is recent.
10. The Troubleshooting Wizard does not log date/time, so sometimes data there is old and not too useful. Best to run it again to get current info.
11. When doing any troubleshooting on IO Connectivity issues, it is very useful to start an IO Monitor session and watch the SCPI commands to and from the instrument as you excite the problem. Any timeouts or command errors will show up here. IO Monitor is run from the IO icon in your Windows System Tray, usually inside the “up arrow” button.
12. It can also be helpful to look in the Windows Application Event Log. Click the Windows symbol, then type “Ev” to access the Event Viewer. Look in the Windows Application logs. It can take a while for this window to populate, so be patient! Look for red error icons or yellow caution icons.