How to Find the alert.log File (11g and Later)
Purpose: This bulletin is to find alert log file in its new destination in 11g
Scope: All DBA
Details: Beginning with Release 11g of Oracle Database, the alert log is written as both an XML-formatted file and as a text file, as in earlier releases.Both these log files are stored inside the ADR home.The ADR root directory is known as ADR BASE.The Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) is a directory structure that is stored outside of the database.This parameter is set by DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter.
If this parameter is omitted or left null, the database sets DIAGNOSTIC_DEST upon startup as follows: