scriptsandthings / crashlogger

Microsoft Office 2016 Crash Logger Tool

CrashLogger

Microsoft Office 2016 Crash Logger Tool

Purpose: Configures the computer to log and archive Office 2016 crash reports
Usage: CrashLogger [--Install] [--Uninstall] [--ViewLog]
Example: CrashLogger --Install

NOTE: CrashLogger requires Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac 15.28 or later

How CrashLogger works
CrashLogger leverages a new ability in Office 2016 15.28 to save the last crash log to disk.
When CrashLogger --Install is run, the following occurs:

1. The CrashLogger script is copied to $HOME/Library/Application Support/com.microsoft.CrashLogger
   
2. A scratch area is created: $HOME/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.ms/MerpScratch/
   
3. An archive area is created: $HOME/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.ms/MerpArchive/
   
4. A LaunchAgent is configured to monitor the creation of new crash reports
   
5. MERP crash logging is enabled through defaults write com.microsoft.errorreporting IsStoreLastCrashEnabled -bool TRUE
   

What happens when an Office application crashes?

1. Microsoft Error Reporting will send the crash report to the Watson server and then persist the log to disk at $HOME/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.ms/MerpTempItems/LastSentCrashReport.zip
   
2. The LaunchAgent will be triggered
   
3. The LaunchAgent unzips the crash log, extracts key information, then moves the report to the archive area using a file name based on the date and time of the crash
   
4. The LaunchAgent writes a one-line summary of the crash to $HOME/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.ms/MerpArchive/CrashSummary.txt
   
5. The LaunchAgent will send the one-line summary to the console log
   

Example of console log entry
11/1/16 7:34:21.943 PM pbowden[60463]: com.microsoft.CrashLogger 2016-11-02 02:34:17 com.microsoft.Excel 15.28.0.161031 SIG_FORCE_QUIT 29c2 CrashReport-161101-193421.txt