How to Acquire Console and Crash Logs

a guide on how to acquire console logs and sync different operating systems devices across
multiple machines, including the retrieval of web browsers’ console logs

Table of contents:
1. Acquiring Android crash logs on Windows machines
2. Acquiring Android crash logs on Mac OS machines
3. Acquiring Android crash logs on Linux machines
4. Acquiring iOS crash logs on Windows machines
5. Acquiring iOS crash logs on Mac OS machines
6. Acquiring console logs on Chrome
7. Acquiring console logs on Firefox
8. Acquiring console logs on Safari
9. Acquiring console logs on Opera
10. Acquiring console logs on MAC for Desktop apps
11. Acquiring console logs on Windows for Native apps
   Acquire Crash Logs on Android devices using Windows machines
1.

1. Open your browser and open the following link:

https://developer.android.com/studio/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy7DN--Kr4AIVJjbTCh3_lQLmEAAYASA
AEgKN8vD_BwE
2. Download and Install the application
3. Open the application

4. Select Next
5. Select Standard and Next
6. In the last screen select Finish (the application will start downloading components)

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7. After the components are downloaded select

8. Select Next and Finish in the next screens

9. The application Home screen will be present

10. Select SDK Manager Icon

11. Make sure that in the SDK Platforms section your device os version is installed (if not, select the
version and select apply)
12. In the SDK Tools, make sure that you have GPU Debugging Installed
13. On your phone go to Settings > System > About Phone and tap 7 times on Build Number (this will
enable the device’s developer tool. Note that the steps above can vary from phone to phone)
14. Return to Settings > System > Developer options > Enable USB Debugging
15. Connect the phone to your PC while the Android Studio app is running
16. A pop up notification appears in which you have to tap on OK
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 17. In the Android Studio app select Logcat on the bottom of the page
18. You will see the logs that are generated in the application

19. On your mobile device reproduce the crash (Make sure that you start to gather the logs when you
reproduce the crash)
20. Unplug the device after the crash has occurred
21. Copy and paste the logs in a .txt file

  Acquire Crash Logs on Android devices using Mac OS machines

2.

Obtain the crash logs via Android Studio

From our past experience, the data provided by logs created with other applications (installed on the
device) does not provide accurate and full device and app information.

Firstly, you will need to install Android Studio for Macintosh

(note you need approximately 500mb free space on your computer)

● http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html?hl=sk

1. From the above link, click on the green “Download Android Studio” button

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2. Make sure you read the terms and conditions, then tick the checkbox before downloading the
application

3. After the .dmg file is downloaded; run it then drag and drop it on the Applications folder icon

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4. Launch Spotlight Search (cmd + space), type “android studio” and launch the application (click Open in
the warning alert)

5. When first opened, a “Java not found” pop up will appear - click on the link to download Java.

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6. Proceed with downloading Java

7. After the download is finished, open javaforosx.dmg and double click on JavaForOSX.pkg

8. Proceed through the installation Wizard

9. After the Java installation has been completed, run Android Studio again and proceed through the
onboarding flow:

10. When reaching the “Welcome to Android Studio” screen, select “Start a new Android Studio project”
and set up the work environment (you can use the pre-selected options).

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11. After the project has been set up, click on the Android Device Monitor icon in the toolbar:

12. Connect your Android device to your Mac machine using a USB cable (note: USB debugging must be
turned on - this can be done in the Developer Options area of the device’s Settings app;)

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13. Optionally, for ease of access, lock the Android Device Monitor app in the dock:

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   Acquire Crash Logs on Android devices using Linux machines
3.

Obtain the crash logs via Android Studio

From our past experience, the data provided by logs created with other applications (installed on the
device) does not provide accurate and full device and app information.

Firstly, you will need to install Android Studio for Linux

(note you will need approximately 1.5gb free space on your computer)

● http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html?hl=sk

1. From the above link, click on the green “Download Android Studio” button

2. Make sure you read the terms and conditions, then tick the checkbox before downloading the
application

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 3. Download the file ​appropriate for your linux os. Ex:
Linux x64 172.84 MB jdk-8u60-linux-x64.tar.gz

4. Unzip the downloaded content in the Desktop folder.

Open terminal application (CTRL+ALT+T)

5. Cd into the /BIN directory inside the unzipped content (MainDir/Desktop/adroid-studio/bin)

6. Run the .sh executable ( ./studio.sh)
7. Notice the error displayed(JDK and JRE need to be installed and configured)
8. Launch another Terminal
9. Install JDK using the following commands in terminal:
● sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
● sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install oracle-jdk7-installer
10. After installation you have to enable JDK:
● update-alternatives --display java
11. Check if Ubuntu uses Java JDK 7
● java -version
● If all went right the answer should be something like this:
● java version “1.7.0_25″ Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_25-b15) Java
HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 23.3-b01, mixed mode)
12. Check what compiler is used
● javac -version
● It should show something like this

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 ● javac 1.7.0_25
13. Add JAVA_HOME to environment variable
● Edit /​ etc/environment​ and add J​ AVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle​ to the end of the
file
● sudo nano /etc/environment
● Append to the end of the file
● JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle
14. Get back to the first instance of the Terminal application and re-run the last
command(/.studio.sh).

15. Launch Android Studio after the setup is finished.

16. After the project has been set up, click on the Android Device Monitor icon in the toolbar:

17. Connect your Android device to your Linux machine using a USB cable.

18. . Optionally, for ease of access, pin the Android Device Monitor app in the launch-bar:

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   Acquiring Crash Logs on iOS devices using a Windows machine
4.

The crash log files are copied to the computer when syncing your device via iTunes.

● You can download iTunes from this page: ​https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

The log can be found in the following folder:

● C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Apple
Computer\Logs\CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<DEVICE_NAME>

● note: the AppData folder is hidden by default, you might need to enable view hidden files

How to obtain the logs:

1. Reproduce the crash in your iOS device.

2. Connect your iOS device to the PC.

3. Launch iTunes.

4. Click on the iPhone button in the top-left area of the screen (iPad or iPod if you are testing on the
respective device).

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5. Sync your device with the computer

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 6. Wait for the synchronisation to finish.

7. Find your app crash log.

screenshot

note: the crash log’s name includes the following:

- App’s name
- date of the crash (year-month-day)
- time of the crash (hour-minute-second)
- device on which the crash occured

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   Acquiring Crash Logs from iOS devices using a Macintosh machine
5.

The crash log files are copied to the computer when syncing your device via iTunes.

● iTunes should arrive with your Mac OS X operation system, however you can download iTunes from
this page: ​https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

The log can be found in the following folder:

● Library\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\<DEVICE_NAME>

● note: the Library folder is hidden by default, you have to hold the option key to view it (it can be
accessed via the Finder’s menu bar)

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How to obtain the logs:

8. Reproduce the crash in your iOS device.

9. Connect your iOS device to the PC.

10. Launch iTunes.

11. Click on the iPhone button in the top-left area of the screen (iPad or iPod if you are testing on the
respective device).

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12. Sync your device with the Mac

13. Wait for the synchronisation to finish.

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 14. Find your app crash log.

note: the crash log’s name includes the following:

- App’s name
- date of the crash (year-month-day)
- time of the crash (hour-minute-second)
- device on which the crash occured

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   Acquiring console logs on Chrome
6.

1. Click on the Menu button in the upper-right corner

2. Hover the mouse cursor over “More Tools”
3. Select “Developer Tools” from the dropdown menu

alternatively, press:
- Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows)
- Cmd+Option+I (Mac)

4. Select Console from the menu bar

5. Reproduce the issue, and the log text can be copied and pasted into the bug report

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   Acquiring console logs on Firefox
7.

1. Click on the Menu button in the upper-right corner

2. Click on “Developer”
3. Click on “Console”

alternatively, press:
- Ctrl+Shift+K (Windows)
- Option+Command+K (Mac)

4. Select “Console” from the menu bar

5. Reproduce the issue, and the log text can be copied and pasted into the bug report.

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   Acquiring console logs on Safari
8.

1. On a Mac device, firstly, you need to activate Developer Mode on Safari

2. To do so, Click on Safari in the menu bar, then select Preferences (CMD+,)

3. Select the Advanced tab, then tick the “Show Develop menu in menu bar”

4. Click on Develop in the menu bar, then select “Show Error Console” (CMD+Option+C)

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5. Reproduce the issue, and the log text can be copied and pasted into the bug report.

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   Acquiring console logs on Opera
9.

4. Click on the Opera button in the upper-left corner

5. Click on “Developer”
6. Click on “Console”

alternatively, press:
- Ctrl+Shift+i (Windows)

4. Select “Console” from the menu bar

5. Reproduce the issue, and the log text can be copied and pasted into the bug report.

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10. Acquiring console logs on MAC for Native apps

1. Open the Console application (from the Utilities folder inside your Applications folder). OR use
CMD+SPACE command search CONSOLE

2. Click the leftmost button in the toolbar to show the sidebar, if it’s hidden.

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3. Select All Messages in the tab bar or if it’s a crash select Errors and Faults

4. If the Activities button in the toolbar is enabled with a blue icon, click it to turn this off.
5. Switch back to the app, and try to trigger the issue. This will (hopefully!) print some output to the
Console.
6. Return to the Console, and select the recent error messages from the main window. You can also
search over the app tested
7. The log will be displayed in the lower part of the console window

8. Select the entire log then, open the TextEdit application and Paste the copied logs into a new plain text
document.
9. Save the text document in .txt format, and attach this to your report.

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11. Acquiring console logs on Windows for Native apps

1. Go to the Start Menu

2. Type in “Event Viewer” and Select Event Viewer app. 

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3. In the left side menu, select Windows Logs>Applications

4. Navigate through the list of entries and/or adjust your filter criteria until you find what you are
looking for (event related to the app under test or the latest event created)

5. Select the event by tapping on it

6. Select Save Selected Events

7. A pop-up window is opened. Give a name to the log and select Text (*.txt) as file type

8. Click Save and Upload the *.txt file in your bug report.

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