Logs

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Log Types

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Application Logs

• Container stdout/stderr: Standard output and error streams from running containers
• Docker Compose logs: Aggregated logs from multi-container applications
• Database logs: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, and Redis logs

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Deployment Logs

• Build logs: Docker image build output, including layer creation and dependency installation
• Deploy logs: Container startup, health checks, and initialization
• Git operations: Clone, pull, and repository sync messages
• Error logs: Failed deployments, build errors, and validation issues

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System Logs

• Docker cleanup: Automated cleanup of unused images, containers, and volumes
• Backup operations: Database backup and restore processes
• Server operations: Remote server deployment and configuration
• Stats collection: Monitoring service operations

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Viewing Logs

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Application Logs

1. Navigate to your Project
2. Select the Application or Service
3. Click the Logs tab
4. View real-time log output with automatic scrolling

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Log Features

• Auto-refresh: Logs update automatically as new entries are added
• Search: Filter logs by keyword or pattern
• Timestamps: View exact time of each log entry
• Color coding: Differentiate log levels (info, warning, error)
• Download: Export logs for offline analysis

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Deployment Logs

1. Navigate to Application > Deployments
2. Select a deployment from the list
3. Click View Logs to see the complete deployment process
4. Monitor build, test, and deploy stages

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Deployment Log Stages

[Building] Pulling source code...
[Building] Running npm install...
[Building] Creating Docker image...
[Building] ✅ Build completed successfully

[Deploying] Stopping old containers...
[Deploying] Starting new containers...
[Deploying] Running health checks...
[Deploying] ✅ Deployment completed

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Database Logs

1. Navigate to Project > Database (Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, or Redis)
2. Click the Logs tab
3. View database-specific logs including queries, connections, and errors

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Database Log Examples

2024-01-19 10:30:45.123 UTC [1] LOG:  database system is ready to accept connections
2024-01-19 10:31:12.456 UTC [123] ERROR:  relation "users" does not exist at character 15

2024-01-19T10:30:45.123456Z 0 [System] [MY-010931] /usr/sbin/mysqld: ready for connections.
2024-01-19T10:31:12.456789Z 8 [Warning] [MY-013360] Plugin mysql_native_password is not loaded

{"t":{"$date":"2024-01-19T10:30:45.123Z"},"s":"I","c":"NETWORK","msg":"Waiting for connections","attr":{"port":27017}}
{"t":{"$date":"2024-01-19T10:31:12.456Z"},"s":"E","c":"COMMAND","msg":"Command failed"}

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Log Retention

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Application Logs

• Default driver: json-file with automatic rotation
• Retention: Logs are retained as long as the container exists
• Size limits: Configurable per container (default: 10MB per file, 3 files)

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Deployment Logs

• Retention: All deployment logs are kept indefinitely
• Access: Available through the Deployments tab
• Storage: Database records include deployment status, timestamps, and full logs

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System Logs

• Path: /home/dokploy/logs/ (configurable)
• Retention: Managed by log cleanup cron job
• Cleanup schedule: Configurable via logCleanupCron (default: daily at midnight)

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Log Cleanup

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Configure Cleanup Schedule

1. Navigate to Settings > Server
2. Enable Docker Cleanup
3. Set Log Cleanup Cron: Cron expression for cleanup schedule

{
  "enableDockerCleanup": true,
  "logCleanupCron": "0 0 * * *"  // Daily at midnight
}

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Manual Cleanup

# Remove old Docker container logs
docker system prune -a --volumes

# Clean up specific application logs
docker logs --tail 1000 container-name > container-name.log
docker rm container-name

# Remove deployment logs (database query)
DELETE FROM deployments WHERE createdAt < NOW() - INTERVAL '30 days';

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Log Analysis

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Searching Logs

1. Open the Logs tab
2. Use the search box to filter by keyword
3. Search supports:
   • Simple text matching
   • Regular expressions
   • Case-sensitive/insensitive options

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Log Patterns

error|ERROR|Error|exception|Exception|failed|Failed

timeout|slow|latency|delayed

unauthorized|forbidden|authentication|permission denied

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Exporting Logs

1. Click the Download button in the Logs tab
2. Choose format: Plain text or JSON
3. Save to local file system

# Export container logs via Docker
docker logs container-name > logs.txt

# Export with timestamps
docker logs --timestamps container-name > logs-timestamped.txt

# Export last 1000 lines
docker logs --tail 1000 container-name > logs-recent.txt

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Integration with External Tools

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Forwarding to Log Aggregators

{
  "log-driver": "syslog",
  "log-opts": {
    "syslog-address": "tcp://192.168.1.100:514"
  }
}

{
  "log-driver": "fluentd",
  "log-opts": {
    "fluentd-address": "localhost:24224",
    "tag": "dokploy.{{.Name}}"
  }
}

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}

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Monitoring Integration

1. Configure log shipping: Use Docker logging drivers or log forwarders
2. Set up alerts: Configure notification rules based on log patterns
3. Create dashboards: Visualize log metrics and trends

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Troubleshooting

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Logs Not Appearing

docker ps -a
docker inspect container-name

docker inspect --format='{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}' container-name

df -h

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Logs Growing Too Large

1. Configure log rotation in Docker daemon:

{
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "5"
  }
}

2. Enable Docker cleanup in Dokploy settings
3. Set up regular log cleanup cron jobs

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Missing Historical Logs

• Container logs: Lost when container is removed
• Deployment logs: Check database for records
• System logs: Verify log cleanup schedule hasn’t removed needed logs

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Performance Issues

1. Reduce log verbosity in application configuration
2. Use asynchronous logging in applications
3. Configure appropriate log rotation limits
4. Consider using a dedicated logging driver

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Best Practices

1. Set Log Rotation: Configure max-size and max-file to prevent disk exhaustion
2. Enable Timestamps: Always include timestamps for accurate troubleshooting
3. Use Structured Logging: Output JSON logs for easier parsing and analysis
4. Monitor Log Volume: Track log growth and adjust retention policies
5. Implement Log Levels: Use appropriate severity levels (debug, info, warn, error)
6. Secure Sensitive Data: Never log passwords, API keys, or personal information
7. Regular Cleanup: Schedule automatic cleanup of old logs
8. Centralize Logs: Consider log aggregation for multi-container applications

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Log Format Examples

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Application Log Format

{
  "timestamp": "2024-01-19T10:30:45.123Z",
  "level": "error",
  "message": "Failed to connect to database",
  "service": "api",
  "error": {
    "code": "ECONNREFUSED",
    "stack": "..."
  }
}

[2024-01-19 10:30:45] ERROR: Failed to connect to database

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Deployment Log Format

=== Deployment Started ===
Timestamp: 2024-01-19T10:30:00.000Z
Application: my-app
Commit: abc123

[Build] Cloning repository...
[Build] ✅ Clone completed
[Build] Building Docker image...
[Build] ✅ Build completed

[Deploy] Stopping old containers...
[Deploy] Starting new containers...
[Deploy] ✅ Deployment successful

=== Deployment Completed ===
Duration: 2m 34s
Status: Success

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Next Steps

• Configure Real-Time Metrics for performance tracking
• Set Up Notifications for log-based alerts
• Monitor Overview for complete observability setup