Application control logs provide detailed information about the traffic that internet applications such as Skype are generating. The application control feature controls the flow of traffic from a specific application, and the FortiGate unit examines this traffic for signatures that the application generates.

The log messages that are recorded provide information such as the type of application being used (such as P2P software), and what type of action the FortiGate unit took. These log messages can also help you to determine the top ten applications that are being used on your network. This feature is called application control monitoring and you can view the information from a widget on the Executive Summary page.

The application control list that is used must have Enabled Logging selected within the list, as well as logging enabled within each application entry. Each application entry can also have packet logging enabled. Packet logging for application control records the packet when an application type is identified, similar to IPS packet logging.

Logging of application control activity can only be recorded when an application control list is applied to a firewall policy, regardless of whether or not logging is enabled within the application control list.