---
title: "Capture ad requests with a troubleshooting log task"
description: "Record the ad requests that match a placement, banner, IP or country for a UTC time window, with the reason each banner was or was not chosen — create the task, pick the tracking mode, reproduce the problem and download the archive — with the caveats and a fix-it checklist."
type: "howto"
audience: [admin]
keywords: [troubleshooting log, troubleshooting log task, capture requests, why no ad, diagnostics, sampling ratio, track requests, track filtered events, placement ids, banner ids, UTC window, serving trace, download archive]
ui_path: "Admin → Audit & diagnostics → Troubleshooting log tasks"
---

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. Append .md to any documentation page URL to get its markdown version.

# Capture ad requests with a troubleshooting log task

A **troubleshooting log task** records the ad requests matching your filters for a time window,
with the reason each banner was or was not chosen — the ad server's own verdict on a real request.
Use one when a placement serves nothing, a header-bidding or RTB bid is refused, or a consent or
deal question needs that verdict. It is one of the tools on
[Review the actions log and troubleshooting log tasks](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops.md); "who changed this" is
answered by the [Actions log](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops-actions-log.md).

**Example.** A publisher reports that placement 48213 on *dailynews.example.com* has shown no ad
since Tuesday. You create a task for a 15-minute UTC window with **Placement ids** = 48213,
**IPs** = the publisher's office address and **Sampling ratio** 1, ask them to reload the page
three times, download the archive, and read that every candidate banner was dropped by the
campaign's location targeting — it was switched to Germany-only on Tuesday.

## Typical scenarios

| You want | Do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| See why a header-bidding bid for banner 9120 is refused | A task with **Banner ids** = 9120, **Sampling ratio** 1 and a 10-minute UTC window, left on *Track filtered events* (*Track requests* ignores **Banner ids**); send the bid inside the window | Troubleshooting log tasks |
| Check what the ad server made of one visitor's consent string | A task with **IPs** = that visitor's address and **Cookie names** = the consent cookie | Troubleshooting log tasks |

## Step by step

Use a task when a placement serves nothing, a header-bidding or RTB bid is refused, or a consent or
deal question needs the ad server's own verdict on a real request.

1. Open **Admin → Audit & diagnostics → Troubleshooting log tasks**. The grid lists **ID**,
   **Title**, **Start date** and **End date**, newest first, with a title search above it.

2. Click **Add**. Give the task a **Title** and a **Start** and **End** — both in **UTC**. Keep
   the window short: a task records only the requests that arrive inside it.

3. Narrow what is recorded. Under **Filtering by object details (comma separated values)**:
   **Parameters names** / **Parameters values**, **Placement ids**, **Banner ids** and
   **Class names**. Under **Filtering by request details (comma separated values)**: **IPs**,
   **Countries**, **Cookie names** / **Cookie values**, a **Request URL mask**, a **Request body
   mask** and **HTTP/S**. Put several values in one field separated by commas, with no spaces.
   Leave a field empty to not filter on it; the tighter the filters, the easier the result is to
   read.

   ![Troubleshooting log task form with a UTC window, Placement IDs and IPs filled and the tracking mode choice](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/system-ops/log-task-form.webp)

4. Pick the tracking mode — *Track filtered events* (sampled, with a **Sampling ratio**) or
   *Track requests* (full capture of each matching request) — and save. The toast reads *Done*.
   *Track requests* greys out every field under **Filtering by object details**, together with
   **Sampling ratio**, **Pool size**, **Record lifetime (minutes)** and **Group logs by class
   names**, and the task ignores what they hold: only the request filters narrow it. To follow one
   placement or banner, stay on *Track filtered events* and set **Sampling ratio** to 1 — with
   **Pool size** at 0, every matching request is then recorded.

5. Reproduce the problem inside the window — load the page, play the video, send the bid.

6. After the window ends, select the task and click **Download**. You get one archive with
   everything the task recorded.

## Caveats and exceptions

- **A task records only requests that match its filters and arrive inside its UTC window**, and
  each task has a size cap: a busy placement with no other filter can hit it before the window
  ends, after which nothing more is recorded. Filter by IP or country when you reproduce from a
  known machine.
- **Track requests ignores the object filters.** With *Track requests* picked, the
  **Filtering by object details** fields — Parameters names and values, Placement ids, Banner ids,
  Class names — are greyed out, and values typed there before switching are ignored. The task
  then records every request that passes the request filters, whatever placement or banner it
  is for.
- **A Sampling ratio above 1 records only some of the matching requests**, picked at random —
  at the default 10, at most about one in ten. When you reproduce a problem a handful of times,
  set it to 1.
- **Serving traces from the AI assistant are tasks too**, titled *Serving trace of banner <id> by
  <user>*. While one runs, no other serving trace can start in the network; its summary is read
  through the [AI assistant](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant.md) by the user who started it.
- **Deleting tasks is range-aware.** With **one** row selected: delete it alone (*No, only
  selected*) or it and every older task (*Yes*). With **two**: just those two, or every task
  between them too. With three or more: the selection, after a confirm.

Who can open the page, and the caveats that apply to every tool in this group, are on
[Review the actions log and troubleshooting log tasks](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops.md#caveats-and-exceptions).

## Not working?

| Symptom | Check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The task's download is empty | The window was not UTC, a filter excluded the traffic, or a **Sampling ratio** above 1 skipped the few requests you sent; widen, set the ratio to 1 and reproduce again inside the window | The task form |
| The download holds requests for other placements or banners | *Track requests* ignores the **Filtering by object details** fields; switch to *Track filtered events*, or narrow by IP or country | The task form |
| The download stops partway through the window | The task's size cap was hit; filter by IP or country | The task form |
| A serving trace will not start | Another serving trace is running in the network | Troubleshooting log tasks grid, *Serving trace of banner …* |

The causes for the other tools in this group are on
[Review the actions log and troubleshooting log tasks](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops.md#not-working).

## Reference

The grid's controls: [Troubleshooting log tasks](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops.md#troubleshooting-log-tasks) on
the hub. What the archive tells you about a request that served nothing:
[Troubleshooting: ad not serving](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/troubleshooting/ad-not-serving.md).

## Related

- [Review the actions log and troubleshooting log tasks](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops.md)
- [Read the audit trail in the Actions log](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/system-ops-actions-log.md)
- [Troubleshooting: ad not serving](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/troubleshooting/ad-not-serving.md)
- [AI assistant](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/ai-assistant.md) — serving traces