C# Signature:

[DllImport("advapi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool BackupEventLog(IntPtr hEventLog, string backupFile);

VB Signature:

Declare Function BackupEventLog Lib "advapi32.dll" (TODO) As TODO

User-Defined Types:

None.

Alternative Managed API:

EventLogSession from the namespace System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader can be used in most cases (Windows Vista and above only and .NET 4 or above. This throws a PlatformNotSupportedException on Windows XP and Windows 2003 with .NET 4)

To save the 'Appllication' event log:

EventLogSession eventLogSession = new EventLogSession();

eventLogSession.ExportLogAndMessages("Application", PathType.LogName, "", @"logFile.evtx", /tolerateQueryErrors*/ false, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);

Notes:

None.

Tips & Tricks:

Please add some!

Sample Code:

Save the application log to disk:

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
    static extern IntPtr OpenEventLog(string UNCServerName, string sourceName);

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
    static extern bool BackupEventLog(IntPtr hEventLog, string backupFile);

    [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    static extern bool CloseEventLog(IntPtr hEventLog);

    void SaveLog(string eventLogName, string destinationDirectory)
    SaveLog()
    {
        string exportedEventLogFileName = Path.Combine(destinationDirectory, eventLogName + ".evt");
        string exportedEventLogFileName = Path.Combine(destinationDirectory, eventlogName + ".evt");

        //Returns handle to Application log if Custom log does not exist.    
        IntPtr logHandle = OpenEventLog(Environment.MachineName, eventLogName);
        IntPtr logHandle = OpenEventLog(Environment.MachineName, eventlogName);

        if (IntPtr.Zero != logHandle)
        {
           bool retValue = BackupEventLog(logHandle, exportedEventLogFileName);
           //If false, notify.
           CloseEventLog(logHandle);
        }
    }

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