# Log system GitLab has an advanced log system where everything is logged so that you can analyze your instance using various system log files. In addition to system log files, GitLab Enterprise Edition comes with Audit Events. Find more about them [in Audit Events documentation](http://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/audit_events.html) System log files are typically plain text in a standard log file format. This guide talks about how to read and use these system log files. ## `production_json.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/production_json.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/production_json.log` for installations from source. (When Gitlab is running in an environment other than production, the corresponding logfile is shown here.) It contains a structured log for Rails controller requests received from GitLab, thanks to [Lograge](https://github.com/roidrage/lograge/). Note that requests from the API are logged to a separate file in `api_json.log`. Each line contains a JSON line that can be ingested by Elasticsearch, Splunk, etc. For example: ```json {"method":"GET","path":"/gitlab/gitlab-ce/issues/1234","format":"html","controller":"Projects::IssuesController","action":"show","status":200,"duration":229.03,"view":174.07,"db":13.24,"time":"2017-08-08T20:15:54.821Z","params":[{"key":"param_key","value":"param_value"}],"remote_ip":"18.245.0.1","user_id":1,"username":"admin","gitaly_calls":76} ``` In this example, you can see this was a GET request for a specific issue. Notice each line also contains performance data: 1. `duration`: the total time taken to retrieve the request 2. `view`: total time taken inside the Rails views 3. `db`: total time to retrieve data from the database 4. `gitaly_calls`: total number of calls made to Gitaly User clone/fetch activity using http transport appears in this log as `action: git_upload_pack`. In addition, the log contains the IP address from which the request originated (`remote_ip`) as well as the user's ID (`user_id`), and username (`username`). ## `production.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/production.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/production.log` for installations from source. (When Gitlab is running in an environment other than production, the corresponding logfile is shown here.) It contains information about all performed requests. You can see the URL and type of request, IP address and what exactly parts of code were involved to service this particular request. Also you can see all SQL request that have been performed and how much time it took. This task is more useful for GitLab contributors and developers. Use part of this log file when you are going to report bug. For example: ``` Started GET "/gitlabhq/yaml_db/tree/master" for 168.111.56.1 at 2015-02-12 19:34:53 +0200 Processing by Projects::TreeController#show as HTML Parameters: {"project_id"=>"gitlabhq/yaml_db", "id"=>"master"} ... [CUT OUT] Namespaces"."created_at" DESC, "namespaces"."id" DESC LIMIT 1 [["id", 26]] CACHE (0.0ms) SELECT "members".* FROM "members" WHERE "members"."source_type" = 'Project' AND "members"."type" IN ('ProjectMember') AND "members"."source_id" = $1 AND "members"."source_type" = $2 AND "members"."user_id" = 1 ORDER BY "members"."created_at" DESC, "members"."id" DESC LIMIT 1 [["source_id", 18], ["source_type", "Project"]] CACHE (0.0ms) SELECT "members".* FROM "members" WHERE "members"."source_type" = 'Project' AND "members". (1.4ms) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "merge_requests" WHERE "merge_requests"."target_project_id" = $1 AND ("merge_requests"."state" IN ('opened','reopened')) [["target_project_id", 18]] Rendered layouts/nav/_project.html.haml (28.0ms) Rendered layouts/_collapse_button.html.haml (0.2ms) Rendered layouts/_flash.html.haml (0.1ms) Rendered layouts/_page.html.haml (32.9ms) Completed 200 OK in 166ms (Views: 117.4ms | ActiveRecord: 27.2ms) ``` In this example we can see that server processed an HTTP request with URL `/gitlabhq/yaml_db/tree/master` from IP 168.111.56.1 at 2015-02-12 19:34:53 +0200. Also we can see that request was processed by `Projects::TreeController`. ## `api_json.log` Introduced in GitLab 10.0, this file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/api_json.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/api_json.log` for installations from source. It helps you see requests made directly to the API. For example: ```json {"time":"2017-10-10T12:30:11.579Z","severity":"INFO","duration":16.84,"db":1.57,"view":15.27,"status":200,"method":"POST","path":"/api/v4/internal/allowed","params":{"action":"git-upload-pack","changes":"_any","gl_repository":null,"project":"root/foobar.git","protocol":"ssh","env":"{}","key_id":"[FILTERED]","secret_token":"[FILTERED]"},"host":"127.0.0.1","ip":"127.0.0.1","ua":"Ruby"} ``` This entry above shows an access to an internal endpoint to check whether an associated SSH key can download the project in question via a `git fetch` or `git clone`. In this example, we see: 1. `method`: The HTTP method used to make the request 1. `path`: The relative path of the query 1. `params`: Key-value pairs passed in a query string or HTTP body. Sensitive parameters (e.g. passwords, tokens, etc.) are filtered out. 1. `ua`: The User-Agent of the requester ## `application.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/application.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/application.log` for installations from source. It helps you discover events happening in your instance such as user creation, project removing and so on. For example: ``` October 06, 2014 11:56: User "Administrator" (admin@example.com) was created October 06, 2014 11:56: Documentcloud created a new project "Documentcloud / Underscore" October 06, 2014 11:56: Gitlab Org created a new project "Gitlab Org / Gitlab Ce" October 07, 2014 11:25: User "Claudie Hodkiewicz" (nasir_stehr@olson.co.uk) was removed October 07, 2014 11:25: Project "project133" was removed ``` ## `githost.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/githost.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/githost.log` for installations from source. GitLab has to interact with Git repositories but in some rare cases something can go wrong and in this case you will know what exactly happened. This log file contains all failed requests from GitLab to Git repositories. In the majority of cases this file will be useful for developers only. For example: ``` December 03, 2014 13:20 -> ERROR -> Command failed [1]: /usr/bin/git --git-dir=/Users/vsizov/gitlab-development-kit/gitlab/tmp/tests/gitlab-satellites/group184/gitlabhq/.git --work-tree=/Users/vsizov/gitlab-development-kit/gitlab/tmp/tests/gitlab-satellites/group184/gitlabhq merge --no-ff -mMerge branch 'feature_conflict' into 'feature' source/feature_conflict error: failed to push some refs to '/Users/vsizov/gitlab-development-kit/repositories/gitlabhq/gitlab_git.git' ``` ## `sidekiq.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/sidekiq.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/sidekiq.log` for installations from source. GitLab uses background jobs for processing tasks which can take a long time. All information about processing these jobs are written down to this file. For example: ``` 2014-06-10T07:55:20Z 2037 TID-tm504 ERROR: /opt/bitnami/apps/discourse/htdocs/vendor/bundle/ruby/1.9.1/gems/redis-3.0.7/lib/redis/client.rb:228:in `read' 2014-06-10T18:18:26Z 14299 TID-55uqo INFO: Booting Sidekiq 3.0.0 with redis options {:url=>"redis://localhost:6379/0", :namespace=>"sidekiq"} ``` Instead of the format above, you can opt to generate JSON logs for Sidekiq. For example: ```json {"severity":"INFO","time":"2018-04-03T22:57:22.071Z","queue":"cronjob:update_all_mirrors","args":[],"class":"UpdateAllMirrorsWorker","retry":false,"queue_namespace":"cronjob","jid":"06aeaa3b0aadacf9981f368e","created_at":"2018-04-03T22:57:21.930Z","enqueued_at":"2018-04-03T22:57:21.931Z","pid":10077,"message":"UpdateAllMirrorsWorker JID-06aeaa3b0aadacf9981f368e: done: 0.139 sec","job_status":"done","duration":0.139,"completed_at":"2018-04-03T22:57:22.071Z"} ``` For Omnibus GitLab installations, add the configuration option: ```ruby sidekiq['log_format'] = 'json' ``` For source installations, edit the `gitlab.yml` and set the Sidekiq `log_format` configuration option: ```yaml ## Sidekiq sidekiq: log_format: json ``` ## `gitlab-shell.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-shell/gitlab-shell.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab-shell/gitlab-shell.log` for installations from source. GitLab shell is used by Gitlab for executing Git commands and provide SSH access to Git repositories. For example: ``` I, [2015-02-13T06:17:00.671315 #9291] INFO -- : Adding project root/example.git at . I, [2015-02-13T06:17:00.679433 #9291] INFO -- : Moving existing hooks directory and symlinking global hooks directory for /var/opt/gitlab/git-data/repositories/root/example.git. ``` User clone/fetch activity using ssh transport appears in this log as `executing git command : worker (pid: 9094) exceeds memory limit (320626688 bytes > 247066940 bytes) W, [2015-02-13T07:16:01.313000 #9094] WARN -- : Unicorn::WorkerKiller send SIGQUIT (pid: 9094) alive: 3621 sec (trial 1) I, [2015-02-13T07:16:01.530733 #9047] INFO -- : reaped # worker=1 I, [2015-02-13T07:16:01.534501 #13379] INFO -- : worker=1 spawned pid=13379 I, [2015-02-13T07:16:01.534848 #13379] INFO -- : worker=1 ready ``` ## `repocheck.log` This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/repocheck.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/repocheck.log` for installations from source. It logs information whenever a [repository check is run][repocheck] on a project. ## `importer.log` Introduced in GitLab 11.3. This file lives in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/importer.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/importer.log` for installations from source. Currently it logs the progress of project imports from the Bitbucket Server importer. Future importers may use this file. ## Reconfigure Logs Reconfigure log files live in `/var/log/gitlab/reconfigure` for Omnibus GitLab packages. Installations from source don't have reconfigure logs. A reconfigure log is populated whenever `gitlab-ctl reconfigure` is run manually or as part of an upgrade. Reconfigure logs files are named according to the UNIX timestamp of when the reconfigure was initiated, such as `1509705644.log` ## `sidekiq_exporter.log` If Prometheus metrics and the Sidekiq Exporter are both enabled, Sidekiq will start a Web server and listen to the defined port (default: 3807). Access logs will be generated in `/var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/sidekiq_exporter.log` for Omnibus GitLab packages or in `/home/git/gitlab/log/sidekiq_exporter.log` for installations from source. [repocheck]: repository_checks.md