Log files in Plesk

Log Browser helps you troubleshoot issues with your Plesk websites by analyzing web server logs and displaying warning and error messages in Plesk. 

On Linux, the following log file information is displayed by default: 

  • Apache access (access_log): records all HTTP requests processed by the Apache web server
  • Apache ssl access (access_ssl_log): records all HTTPS requests processed by the Apache webserver
  • Apache error (error log): contains diagnostic information and records errors that the Apache web server experiences when processing requests 
  • nginx access (proxy_access_log): records all HTTP requests processed by the nginx proxy web server 
  • nginx ssl access (proxy_access_ssl_log): records all HTTPS requests processed by the nginx proxy web server 
  • nginx error (proxy_error_log): contains diagnostic information and records errors that the nginx proxy web server experiences when processing requests

On Windows, the IIS log information, a record of all HTTP and HTTPS requests processed by the webserver, and errors encountered. 

How to access Log Browser 

You can also add any custom log file from your site directory so you can track it in the Log Browser. Follow these steps to learn how: 

  1. Access your Plesk control panel through your HostPapa Dashboard
  2. Go to Websites & Domains

websites-and-domains

  1. Click on Logs

click-on-logs

  1. A list of messages from your logs will be displayed. Current messages will display by default. To refresh the list, click Refresh

click-refresh

  1. To have messages continually added to the list, click Start real-time updates

start-real-life-updates

How to manage log files 

Follow these steps view all the messages in a log: 

  1. Go to Websites & Domains
  2. Go to Logs
  3. Click Manage Log Files.  

manage-log-files

4. A list of all tracked log files will appear. You can click the blue list icon to open the list in a separate window or the green arrow icon to download it. 

list-of-tracked-files

To save disk space, you can enable log rotation (automatic compression and/or deletion of outdated website log files). To do this, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to Websites & Domains.
  2. Go to Logs
  3. Click Manage Log Files.  
  4. Click on Log Rotation. 

log-rotation

5. Enter your details, then click OK to configure log rotation. 

configure-log-rotation

Note: You can delete rotated log files, but not files that have not been rotated. 

How to add a custom log file 

You can add a custom log file from your website directory to track its changes in Log Browser. To do so, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to Websites & Domains
  2. Go to Logs
  3. Click Manage Log Files.  
  4. Click Add Custom Log

add-custom-log

5. Your website folder tree will display. Select the file you want to add to the Log Browser, then click OK. Your selected log file will be displayed in the list of managed log files. 

Note: You can only select plain text files, and your custom log files should have timestamps for every log entry, or they won’t be analyzed correctly. 

add-log-ok

Note: Log rotation is unavailable for custom log files. 

If you need help with Plesk, please open a support ticket from your dashboard.

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