Help › When something does not work › H19

Collect logs and send them to support

Where BrowserDesk keeps its logs on Windows, macOS and Linux, which files support needs, which you should never send — and how to send everything to info@browserdesk.de.

Preview this guide has not yet been clicked through on a real device. Button names and steps come from the program but may differ in details.

For: Private helper · Person at the device · Technician · Account administrator · Own-relay operator · Employee working from home
Applies to: Free · Cloud · Own relay
Controlled device: Windows · macOS · Linux
Control from: Program (Windows, macOS, Linux)

What it is for

When something does not work and no page of this manual helps, support needs BrowserDesk's logs. They record step by step what the program did. This page tells you where the logs are on each system, which files to send — and which never.

What you need

Access to the computer in question. With a connection problem often both: the controlled device and the technician's computer.
The time the error happened (to the minute if possible).
On Windows, administrator rights for some files.

How to do it

1. The quick way: report from the program

On Windows, macOS and Linux: EinstellungenAllgemein (Settings > General) → Rückmeldung senden (send feedback).

Choose Fehler (bug), fill in Titel (title) and the description.
Leave Diagnose mitsenden (send diagnostics) on (version, system, language).
Switch on Protokollauszug anhängen (attach log excerpt) — this attaches the last lines of this program. They may contain computer names and addresses.
Senden (send).

The feedback goes to your relay. On browserdesk.de it therefore reaches us directly. With an own relay it reaches your relay's operator, who can forward it to us (F9).

If the excerpt is not enough, support will ask for the full files — then step 2.

2. Collect the files yourself

Windows

What	Where
Service and supervisor (sign-in at the relay, lock screen, updates)	`C:\ProgramData\BrowserDesk\Logs\` — above all `bd-service.log`
Update and recovery log	`C:\ProgramData\BrowserDesk\watchdog.log`
State of the service	`C:\ProgramData\BrowserDesk\health.json`
Your side as technician (connecting, drops)	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\BrowserDesk\Logs\betrachter.log`
Network test	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\BrowserDesk\netzwerk-diagnose.txt` (see step 3)

How: type the location into the Explorer address bar, select the files, right-click → "Send to" → "Compressed (zipped) folder".

macOS

What	Where
Device and program (picture, sign-in, permissions)	`~/Library/Application Support/BrowserDesk/Logs/bdhost.log` (and the previous file `bdhost.log.1`)
Your side as technician	`~/Library/Logs/BrowserDesk/betrachter.log`

In the Finder: "Go" → "Go to Folder …", enter the location, select the files, right-click → "Compress".

Linux

What	Where
The user's service	`journalctl --user -u browserdesk.service -b > browserdesk.txt`
Service at the sign-in screen	`sudo journalctl -u browserdesk-system.service -b > browserdesk-system.txt`
Updates	`/var/log/browserdesk-update.log`
Your side as technician	usually `~/.local/state/browserdesk/logs/betrachter.log`

Run the commands in a terminal; they write the log since the last boot into a file.

3. Network problem? Add the network test

EinstellungenNetzwerk (Settings > Network) → card Netzwerktest (network test) → Test starten (run test), then Diagnose exportieren (export diagnostics). The program puts the report on the clipboard, saves it and names the location: "Diagnose in die Zwischenablage kopiert und gespeichert: …" (diagnostics copied to the clipboard and saved) (H10).

4. Send

An e-mail to info@browserdesk.de with:

the files or the ZIP file,
the ID of the device (with a connection problem, of both sides),
date and time of the error,
the sentence you saw, best as a screenshot,
and what you did before.

How you know it worked

You get an answer to your e-mail. For feedback from the program, the window Rückmeldung gesendet (feedback sent) shows "Danke! Ihre Rückmeldung ist als Nr. … angekommen." (thank you, your feedback arrived as no. …).

Good to know

The logs may contain computer names, addresses and IDs. Send them only to support.
Collect first, repair afterwards. The repair (H18) deletes the logs.
bdhost.log and betrachter.log do not grow endlessly. From a fixed size a new file starts, the previous one is kept as predecessor (… .1).
Phone, tablet, Fire TV and browser: for the apps and the web access there is no way yet to collect logs yourself. Describe the case by e-mail and add a screenshot.
Own relay: the logs of the relay itself are up to its operator.
The knowledge base has the article Collect and send logs. Its command (Windows, PowerShell) collects all logs into one ZIP file at once — only *.log, *.txt and health.json, without the files from the caution box.

If it does not work

You see	Meaning and fix
The folder `C:\ProgramData` is not visible in Explorer	It is hidden. Type the location into the address bar anyway.
A file cannot be opened or copied	It belongs to the service. Use Explorer or the terminal as administrator.
A file from the table is missing	That part never ran on this computer (for example no service installed) — just leave it out.
Rückmeldung senden reports an older version	Your relay does not know feedback yet. Send the files by e-mail.
Diagnose exportieren does nothing	First Test starten — without a test result there is nothing to export.

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