Exploring Airport Extreme: Understanding Log Insights

If you want to check your Airport Extreme logs, you can use the Airport Utility software. However, it seems that the latest version of the software (Airport Utility 6) does not have the ability to view logs. To view logs, you will need to use an older version of the software (Airport Utility 5.6). You can download Airport Utility 5.6 and use it to enable SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) on your Airport Extreme. Once SNMP is enabled, you can use a tool like Netuse to monitor your network activity and view the logs. It's worth noting that Apple no longer supports Airport Utility 5.6, so you may need to use workarounds to install it on newer versions of macOS.

Using Airport Utility 5.6 on Windows

To use Airport Utility 5.6 on Windows, you need to download the utility, which is available on the Apple Support Downloads website. This utility allows users to configure an AirPort Wi-Fi Base Station to create a wireless network and manage a USB device (e.g., a printer or external hard drive) attached to the AirPort device.

Once you have downloaded and installed Airport Utility 5.6 on your Windows machine, you can use it to view the logs of your Airport Extreme. Here's how:

• Open Airport Utility 5.6.
• Enter the IP address and password of your AirPort Extreme.
• Navigate to the logs section within the utility.

Note that Airport Utility 5.6 may not be compatible with newer versions of the macOS, such as Sierra (10.12) and Mountain Lion. In such cases, you may need to use a Windows machine or an older version of macOS to run Airport Utility 5.6 and view the logs.

Additionally, Airport Utility 5.6 may not be compatible with newer Airport Extreme models, such as the 6th Generation Airport Extreme. However, some users have reported that it is still possible to use the utility to configure and manage these newer models, despite receiving a message stating that it is not adequate for the latest model.

Using Airport Utility 5.6 on Mac

To use Airport Utility 5.6 on Mac to check Airport Extreme logs, follow the steps below:

• Download Airport Utility 5.6 for Lion and move the file AirPortUtility56.pkg contained within the dmg to your ~/Downloads folder.
• In a Terminal window, run the following commands:

$ cd ~/Downloads

$ pkgutil --expand ./AirPortUtility56.pkg ~/Downloads/AirPortUtility56

$ gunzip -c < ./AirPortUtility56/AirPortUtility56Lion.pkg/Payload | sudo tar -C / -xvf - "./Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility 5.6.app"

The above commands will install the app without any issues on Mountain Lion.

• To modify the package to skip the check, download "Flat Package Editor" to edit the file called "Distribution" in AirPortUtility56.pkg.
• Drag out the "Distribution" file and remove the following lines:

// Less than 10.8

If(-1 != system.compareVersions(my.target.systemVersion.ProductVersion, '10.8')) {

My.result.type = 'Fatal';

My.result.message = system.localizedString('ERR_OSHIGH');

Return (false);

}

Drag the new version back in, delete the old "Distribution" file and save.

Alternatively, you can copy Airport Utility 5.6 from a machine running Lion. Copy it from the Applications folder onto a formatted thumb drive or similar. Then, copy the app to the desktop on your Mountain Lion machine, rename it to Airport Utility 5.6.app and copy it to the Applications folder.

Using a syslog server

To view logs for an AirPort Extreme router, you can use a syslog server.

Setting up a syslog server on macOS

• Install and run a syslog server on your Mac.
• In Airport Utility, select the base station to configure, and click 'Edit'.
• Go to 'File' and export the configuration file.
• Open the configuration file in a text editor, and search for the key 'slCl'.
• Edit the string field to match the IP address of the syslog server.
• You can also set the log level by adjusting the string for key 'slvl'.
• Go to 'File' again and import the configuration file to update the settings.

Setting up a syslog server on Windows

• Download and install Airport Utility 5.6.1 for Windows.
• Enter the IP address and password of the AirPort Extreme.
• In Airport Utility, enable SNMP.
• Install and run a syslog server on your Windows machine.

Using a third-party app like Netuse

If you want to check the logs on your Airport Extreme, you can use a third-party app like Netuse. This app uses SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to get network usage data from your router and then presents this information in the form of real-time and historic data.

To use Netuse, you will first need to enable SNMP on your Airport Extreme. You can do this by installing version 5 of the Airport Extreme software. Once SNMP is enabled, you can then use Netuse to monitor your network traffic.

In addition to Netuse, there are other third-party apps that can help you monitor your network traffic, such as:

• MRTG: This is a Perl-based tool that uses SNMP to monitor your router and generate graphs.
• ProteMac Meter: This is a network traffic logger that records all Internet and network activity on your Mac.
• Eavesdrop: A Mac-native network sniffer.
• Pinggy: A commercial application for monitoring LAN traffic.

Using the Airport Utility for Lion

To check Airport Extreme logs using the Airport Utility for Lion, you will need to download the older version of the software, Airport Utility 5.6. This is because the newer version, Airport Utility 6.0, does not support logging.

• Download Airport Utility 5.6 for Lion.
• Open the Airport Utility 5.6 application.
• Select the AirPort Express or older AirPort Extreme from the list of devices.
• Click on the "Advanced" tab at the top of the next window.
• Click on "Logging and Statistics" to view the logs for your selected device.

It is important to note that Airport Utility 5.6 will not work with the newer models of AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule. If you are using one of these devices, you will not be able to view the logs, even with Airport Utility 5.6 installed.

Frequently asked questions