The root of all Task Sequence troubleshooting is called smsts.log — and this log is always the first step to troubleshooting any TS issue — if you have an issue, look in here first!

Unfortunately, the smsts.log can be stored in one of 7 locations, depending on the stage of the build and the architecture of the OS:

•WindowsPE, before HDD format:
x:\windows\temp\smstslog\smsts.log

•WindowsPE, after HDD format:
x:\smstslog\smsts.log and copied to c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\Smstslog\smsts.log

•Full version windows, before SCCM agent installed:
c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\Smstslog\smsts.log

•Full version windows, after SCCM agent installed:
c:\windows\system32\ccm\logs\Smstslog\smsts.log

•Full version x64 windows, after SCCM agent installed:
c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\logs\Smstslog\smsts.log

•After Task Sequence has finished running
c:\windows\system32\ccm\logs\smsts.log

•After Task Sequence has finished running(x64)
c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\logs\smsts.log

Information is also logged as SCCM client events, which can be viewed by running the SCCM report:
Last 1000 messages for a specific computer (Errors, warnings and information)

As a general rule, the SMSTS.log provides more detail, however the SCCM client events are easier to read, and, for simple issues, can lead you to the root cause very quickly.

PXE boot issues
In order to resolve PXE boot issues, there are two main log files we are interested in:

•Pxecontrol.log — which is located in the installation logs directory (eg C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\pxecontrol.log)

•Smspxe.log — which is located in MP logs directory (eg C:\Program Files (x86)\SMS_CCM\Logs\smspxe.log)