The Microsoft Online Services Diagnostics and Logging (MOSDAL) Support Toolkit

Download location

To download the MOSDAL Support Toolkit, go the following Microsoft website:

System requirements

The MOSDAL Support Toolkit requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (or a later version) and is compatible with all major versions of the Windows operating system (Windows XP SP3 or a later version).

Note Services such as the "Domain Verification and DNS Setup" service and the "Single Sign-on with Active Directory Federation Services" service require you to have the Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell already installed on your computer. MOSDAL uses the Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell to connect to Office 365 and to collect data by using the credentials that you supply in MOSDAL.

Notes

• All 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows operating systems are supported. However, you should install the version of the MOSDAL Support Toolkit that is appropriate for your operating system.
• The MOSDAL Support Toolkit is currently incompatible with Macintosh operating systems.

Installation and usage instructions

1. Download the MOSDAL setup package that is appropriate for the language and the processor type (32-bit or 64-bit) of your computer.
2. Extract the contents of the MOSDAL setup package to a location that you can easily access.
3. Run the Setup.exe file.
   
   Note The MOSDAL.msi file must exist in the same folder as the Setup.exe file.
4. Follow the step-by-step instructions that are provided in the Setup wizard.
   
   The installer puts the MOSDAL Support Toolkit in the specified location and then creates shortcuts for the Start menu and desktop that enable easy access.
5. An Installation Complete window appears after the installation is complete.

Notes

• Users who are using earlier versions of the MOSDAL Support Toolkit should uninstall earlier versions before they try to install a newer version of MOSDAL.
• For detailed installation information, see the Readme file in the MOSDAL Support Toolkit.

Toolkit functionality

Why use the MOSDAL Support Toolkit, and what can it help me do?

The MOSDAL Support Toolkit should be used as a preemptive tool before you contact Microsoft Online Services Support. If it is possible, use the MOSDAL Support Toolkit at the time that you experience a problem or an issue with Office 365.

What kinds of services can the MOSDAL Support Toolkit help me with?

Office 365
• Email and Calendar with Exchange Online
• Instant messaging (IM) and online meetings with Lync Online
• Office Web Apps
• Websites and collaboration with SharePoint Online
• Office Professional Plus
• Directory synchronization (Admins only)
• Single sign-on (SSO) with Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) (Admins only) 
• Domain verification and DNS setup (Admins only)
• Exchange hybrid configuration (Admins only)

Other
• Microsoft Live Meeting

New in the MOSDAL Support Toolkit 4.6

With the release of the MOSDAL Support Toolkit 4.6, we introduce several exciting new features and improve the user experience yet again so that both users (information workers) and admins can collect the correct data for the correct problem. In this release, we tried to make the MOSDAL tool and its output more user-friendly. We made improvements to the user interface (UI) to help guide users through the data-collection process, and we improved the readability of many reports that MOSDAL generates. MOSDAL 4.6 includes the following improvements:

• UI changes: A new UI adds information to help users collect the appropriate data and understand what data MOSDAL collects.
• Smaller download: MOSDAL downloads only the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 and Windows Installer 3.0 if they are not present on the system. This reduces the size of the installation package by more than half.
• Exchange ActiveSync diagnostics: In addition to testing the Exchange Autodiscover service process, MOSDAL also performs ActiveSync connectivity tests. These tests are run sequentially, and their results are viewable in a web format that resembles the following:
  
  
  http://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com
• Compatibility with Microsoft Office 2013 and Microsoft Office Click-To-Run: MOSDAL collects data for Microsoft Outlook 2013 and Microsoft Lync Server 2013. Additionally, if you install Office 2013 through Click-To-Run, MOSDAL collects data to help troubleshoot Click-To-Run installation issues and activation issues.
• Compatibility with Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and the .NET Framework 4.5: MOSDAL runs without issues on Windows 8, on Windows Server 2012, and on systems on which the .NET Framework 4.5 is installed.
• WebDAV ETL component logging for SharePoint Online: MOSDAL collects logs to help troubleshoot WebDAV and SharePoint Online connectivity issues.
• Directory synchronization, Domain/DNS, and Exchange hybrid configuration reports in XML: Many reports that MOSDAL generates are in XML format. This makes them easier to read and makes it easier to create automated diagnostics to help identify issues quicker.
• Windows network trace logging: Network tracing uses the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) framework that is available in Windows. Network components such as Winsock, TCP/IP, NDIS, packet capture, and so on register as ETW trace provides and emit events that are related to network activity. Any recordable activity of significance can be an event that is logged to ETW. Tracing for these network components and packet captures can be enabled by using the netsh context that acts as an ETW controller. For more information about network tracing, go to the following Microsoft website:
  
  
  Network Tracing in Windows 7: Architecture

  (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd569137(v=vs.85).aspx)

How to collect the correct data by using the MOSDAL Support Toolkit

The MOSDAL Support Toolkit must be run on the computer on which the problems occur and in the context of the user who is experiencing issues with the service. If you use MOSDAL to collect data for any of the following services, you should run MOSDAL on the computer on which those applications are hosted in the on-premises environment:

• Directory synchronization for Office 365
• Single Sign-on with Active Directory Federation Services for Office 365
• Domain verification and DNS setup for Office 365
• Exchange hybrid configuration for Office 365

To start the MOSDAL Support Toolkit, click Start, point to All Programs, click MOSDAL Support Toolkit, and then click MOSDAL Support Toolkit. Or, double-click the icon on the desktop.

When MOSDAL starts, click to select the check box next to the services with which you are experiencing an issue. Depending on the services that you select, MOSDAL collects information about the applications that are used by that service and stores the data in centralized folder. This makes it easier to analyze the data or to send the data to Microsoft Support for additional assistance. Local admins on the computer have additional options for Exchange migration, directory synchronization, and SSO. However, these services should be diagnosed only on the computers that host those features, such as the AD FS 2.0 server or the server on which the Windows Azure Active Directory Sync Tool is installed.

Entering credentials in MOSDAL

Depending on the services that you select, MOSDAL may require you to enter your Office 365 credentials to perform diagnostics and connect to certain Office 365 services. The credentials that you enter will be used for various tests. However, MOSDAL will not store these credentials anywhere. If you decide not to enter credentials, the following modules will not be completed.

• In all Office 365 services:
  • Office 365 Single Sign-on authentication diagnostics
• In the Email and Calendar with Exchange service:
  • Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer (RCA)
  • Exchange Online DNS
• In the IM and Online Meetings with Lync Online service:
  • Lync Online DNS
• In Single Sign-on with Active Directory Federation Services:
  • ADFS SSO PowerShell
• In Domain Verification and DNS Setup:
  • Domains Verification and DNS Setup report
  
  Note The credentials that you enter are not required, and they are not saved or stored anywhere by the MOSDAL Support Toolkit. However, if you decide not to enter credentials, certain important diagnostic data may not be collected.

Next, MOSDAL asks you to close all applications and then restart only the application in which you are experiencing the issue. For example, if you experience an issue with sending and receiving email messages, close and reopen Microsoft Outlook, try to reproduce the issue, and then let MOSDAL collect the log files that are generated while you reproduce the issue. MOSDAL turns on additional levels of logging for certain applications, such as Outlook and Microsoft Lync 2010. After you reproduce the issue and then click Generate Report, the logging options are returned to their earlier state.

When the report generation is finished, click Exit and Show Files to view the report. When a new report is generated, a folder is created in the MOSDAL subfolder in the user's My Documents folder. The folder that is created is named by using the following format: For example, REPORTS_6_17_2011_10_25_21_AM indicates that files were collected on June 17, 2011, at 10:25:21 AM. The compiled report is compressed into a file that is named MOSDALREPORT.zip.

What kind of data is collected by the MOSDAL Support Toolkit?

The data that the MOSDAL Support Toolkit generates and collects contains log files that are specific to the applications that are related to the services that are selected. The data also contains information about the computer on which MOSDAL is installed. The results are organized into a folder hierarchy, based on the application or the component. The following tables list the applications for which MOSDAL collects data, based on the services that are selected when MOSDAL starts.

Note MOSDAL collects information about the computer configuration in the context of the user who is currently logged on to the system and who runs the tool. MOSDAL can be run by an admin or by a non-admin user.

The following table shows the mapping of Office 365 services to the modules in MOSDAL.

Network configuration and diagnostics

In addition to collecting information about the computer or about installed applications, the MOSDAL Support Toolkit also obtains information about the network configuration of the computer and about the network to which the computer is connected. MOSDAL also uses standard command-line tools to perform network diagnostics against specific URLs in both public domains (such as Bing.com) and private domains (Office 365 data centers). Configuration information that is captured includes the computer's IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, Domain Name System (DNS) servers, Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) tables, Host file, static routes, and other similar information.

Prominent data that is collected about the system will help troubleshoot problems that include Windows firewall settings, proxy settings, installed applications, installed hotfixes, event logs, and Msinfo32 output. For each application that is listed in the tables earlier in this article, MOSDAL verifies that the application is installed and then collects the version number of certain program files, relevant registry keys, configuration files, logs, and other such pertinent data.

Making sense of MOSDAL output

The following table outlines where the results of each module are stored. Cross-reference the tables in the previous section to see the service that you should diagnose to obtain results for the following modules.

Additional scenario-based troubleshooting help

This article does not include detailed information about how to use the data that is collected by the MOSDAL Support Toolkit to troubleshoot specific scenarios and issues. For more information about how to diagnose specific issues by using MOSDAL, download the training package that is available on the MOSDAL download website.

Microsoft Support assets that demonstrate the MOSDAL Support Toolkit

To see a list of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and videos that uses and demonstrate the MOSDAL Support Toolkit, go to the folloiwng Office 365 Community website:For more information about tools and diagnostics that you can use to help troubleshoot issues with Office 365, go to the following Office 365 Community website:

Personally identifiable information (PII) that is collected by MOSDAL

The data that is collected by the MOSDAL Support Toolkit contains personally identifiable information (PII) such as user names, IP addresses, network configuration, and other items that could potentially identify a person. The MOSDAL reports are not automatically transmitted to Microsoft or to any other service. They must be manually transmitted. To review the Microsoft privacy policy for Office 365, go to the following Microsoft website:

• Privacy Notice (Office 365)
  (http://www.microsoft.com/online/legal/v2/?langid=en-us&docid=18)

Support and feedback for the MOSDAL Support Toolkit

You can submit your feedback about the MOSDAL Support Toolkit to Microsoft at the following email address:

Still need help? Go to the Office 365 Community website.