How Do I Check the System Logs on the IQ5 NS Alarm System?

To check the System Logs on the IQ5 NS, open the IQ Installer app, enter the Installer Code, then navigate to System Logs. From here you can manually upload logs to the server, turn on Auto Upload Logs, and adjust the Log Level for troubleshooting bugs with Alarm Grid's own support.

What System Logs Actually Do

On the IQ5 NS (available in AT&T LTE and Verizon LTE), System Logs is a diagnostic feature rather than a homeowner-facing alarm history screen. It allows the panel to send non-customer identifying information to Qolsys's server, which is used to troubleshoot bugs and diagnose panel problems at the software level. If you're looking for a record of arming, disarming, or alarm events specifically, that's tracked separately through your monitoring account and the Alarm.com event history, not through this menu. Since the IQ5 NS has no display, this entire menu is accessed and managed through the IQ Installer app.

System Logs exists mainly for technical support purposes. If Alarm Grid or Qolsys support is helping troubleshoot an issue with your security system, they may ask you to upload logs so they can review what the panel's software was actually doing leading up to a problem, rather than relying only on a description of the symptoms.

How to Access System Logs

1. Open the IQ Installer app and connect to the panel. The app communicates directly with the IQ5 NS over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to load its configuration menus.

2. Enter the Installer Code when prompted. The default Installer Code is 1111, though your account admin may have changed it to something else, like 2222.

3. Navigate to System Logs. This opens the System Logs settings, separate from the Devices, Dealer Settings, Sirens and Alarms, and Security and Arming categories in the same menu structure.

IQ5 NS navigation path to System Logs in the IQ Installer app

The Three Settings Inside System Logs

Upload Logs to the Server requires a manual push in the app, meaning nothing uploads until you or support specifically trigger it, and it sends whatever activity history is currently saved in the panel's memory. Auto Upload Logs is disabled by default, and when turned on, it automatically uploads the system's logs to the server every 24 hours without needing a manual trigger each time. Log Level controls how much detail gets recorded in the first place, ranging from No Log Output, which records nothing, up through Fatal, Error, Warn, Info, Debug, and finally Verbose, which records the most detail. The panel defaults to Debug, which records diagnostic messages, Info, Warnings, Errors, and Fatal issues together.

A higher Log Level captures more detail but doesn't change what the panel actually does, only what gets written down about it. Support may ask you to raise the Log Level to Verbose temporarily while reproducing an intermittent issue, then lower it back down afterward, since Verbose logging isn't necessary for day-to-day operation.

When You'd Actually Use This Menu

Most homeowners will never need to open System Logs unless specifically instructed to during a support call. If your panel is behaving unexpectedly, dropping connectivity, or showing a software glitch that's hard to describe, uploading logs gives support a much clearer picture than a verbal description alone. It's worth noting that System Logs is separate from the panel's own System Tests menu, which actively checks hardware like WIFI, sensors, and Z-Wave, rather than reviewing software activity after the fact.

If You're Looking for Alarm or Arming History Instead

If what you actually want is a record of arm, disarm, or alarm events for your household, rather than software diagnostic logs, that information lives in the Alarm.com customer website or mobile app under the account's activity or event history, not in the IQ Installer app. That history shows things like which user code armed or disarmed the system and when, which is a completely different kind of record than the software logs described here. Checking with your monitoring provider is the right path if you need that kind of activity history rather than diagnostic data.

Privacy and What Gets Sent

Since System Logs are described as non-customer identifying information, they're built to capture software behavior, error codes, timestamps, and internal state changes rather than personal details like your name, address, or specific user codes. This distinction matters if you're ever asked to upload logs through the app and want to know what's actually being sent. The logs focus on how the panel's software performed technically, not on private household information, which is part of why Qolsys and Alarm Grid can use this data for bug diagnosis without it constituting a privacy concern in the way that, say, camera footage or Alarm.com activity history would.

Understanding what System Logs actually does on the IQ5 NS helps you use it correctly during support troubleshooting instead of expecting a homeowner activity history on the IQ5 NS. For help with System Logs or other diagnostic settings or other configurations on your IQ5 NS, contact the Alarm Grid support team. We are here Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Email us at support@alarmgrid.com, call us at 888-818-7728, or visit our website and chat with a live support agent.