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Bitwarden Server uses Serilog for structured logging with support for file-based logging, console output, and various log levels. Proper logging configuration is essential for troubleshooting and monitoring.

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Logging System Overview

The logging system is implemented in src/Core/Utilities/LoggerFactoryExtensions.cs and provides:
  • Structured JSON logging
  • File-based log rotation
  • Configurable log levels
  • Development vs. Production modes
  • ASP.NET Core integration

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Configuration

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File Logging Configuration

Bitwarden Server supports two configuration approaches for file logging: Add to your appsettings.json: 
{
  "Logging": {
    "PathFormat": "/etc/bitwarden/logs/{Date}.txt",
    "FileSizeLimitBytes": 10485760,
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information",
      "System": "Warning"
    }
  }
}

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Legacy Configuration

Alternatively, configure under GlobalSettings: 
{
  "globalSettings": {
    "projectName": "Api",
    "logDirectory": "/etc/bitwarden/logs",
    "logDirectoryByProject": true,
    "logRollBySizeLimit": 10485760
  }
}

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Configuration Options

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PathFormat
string
default:"/etc/bitwarden/logs/{Date}.txt"
Path template for log files. Use {Date} for daily rotation or a static filename for size-based rotation.
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FileSizeLimitBytes
number
default:"null"
Maximum file size in bytes before rotation. If set, logs rotate by size instead of date. Recommended: 10485760 (10 MB).
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LogDirectoryByProject
boolean
default:"true"
When using legacy configuration, creates separate subdirectories for each project (Api, Identity, etc.).
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LogRollBySizeLimit
number
default:"null"
Legacy option for size-based rotation in bytes.

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Log Levels

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Available Log Levels

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore": "Warning",
      "System": "Warning",
      "Bit.Api": "Debug",
      "Bit.Core": "Information"
    }
  }
}
Log Level Hierarchy:
  1. Trace - Most verbose, includes all details
  2. Debug - Debugging information
  3. Information - General operational messages
  4. Warning - Warning messages
  5. Error - Error messages
  6. Critical - Critical failures
  7. None - Logging disabled
{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Warning",
      "Bit.Core.Services": "Information",
      "Bit.Core.Utilities": "Information",
      "Microsoft": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information",
      "System": "Warning"
    }
  }
}
Setting log levels to Trace or Debug in production can significantly impact performance and generate large log files. Use these levels only for troubleshooting specific issues.

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Service-Specific Configuration

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API Service

Default location: src/Api/appsettings.json 
{
  "globalSettings": {
    "projectName": "Api"
  },
  "Logging": {
    "PathFormat": "/etc/bitwarden/logs/api/{Date}.txt"
  }
}

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Identity Service

Default location: src/Identity/appsettings.json 
{
  "globalSettings": {
    "projectName": "Identity"
  },
  "Logging": {
    "PathFormat": "/etc/bitwarden/logs/identity/{Date}.txt"
  }
}

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Other Services

Each service (Admin, Events, Notifications, Icons, SSO, SCIM) supports the same logging configuration.

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Log File Locations

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Default Paths

ServiceDefault Path
API/etc/bitwarden/logs/Api/{Date}.txt
Identity/etc/bitwarden/logs/Identity/{Date}.txt
Admin/etc/bitwarden/logs/Admin/{Date}.txt
Events/etc/bitwarden/logs/Events/{Date}.txt
Notifications/etc/bitwarden/logs/Notifications/{Date}.txt
Icons/etc/bitwarden/logs/Icons/{Date}.txt
SSO/etc/bitwarden/logs/Sso/{Date}.txt
SCIM/etc/bitwarden/logs/Scim/{Date}.txt

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Log Rotation

Daily Rotation (Default): 
api_2026-03-10.log
api_2026-03-11.log
api_2026-03-12.log
Size-Based Rotation: 
api.txt
api_001.txt
api_002.txt

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Development vs. Production

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Development Mode

File logging is automatically disabled in development environments (configured in LoggerFactoryExtensions.cs:20): 
if (context.HostingEnvironment.IsDevelopment())
{
    return; // No file logging
}
Development environments use console logging only.

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Production Mode

Production deployments enable file logging with the configured settings. Logs are written to the specified directory.

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Request Logging

Bitwarden Server includes request logging middleware (src/SharedWeb/Utilities/RequestLoggingMiddleware.cs) that logs:
  • Request method and path
  • Response status codes
  • Request duration
  • User context (if authenticated)
Enable in Startup: 
app.UseMiddleware<RequestLoggingMiddleware>();

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Event Logging

Bitwarden uses a separate event logging system for audit events. See EventLogging configuration in GlobalSettings. 
{
  "globalSettings": {
    "eventLogging": {
      "azureServiceBus": {
        "connectionString": "SECRET",
        "eventTopicName": "events",
        "integrationTopicName": "integrations"
      },
      "rabbitMq": {
        "hostName": "rabbitmq",
        "username": "guest",
        "password": "SECRET"
      }
    }
  }
}
See Compliance and Audit Logging for details.

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Log Management

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Viewing Logs

1

Access Log Directory

Navigate to the configured log directory:
cd /etc/bitwarden/logs
2

View Recent Logs

View the most recent log entries:
tail -f Api/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).txt
3

Search Logs

Search for specific patterns:
grep -i "error" Api/*.txt

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Log Retention

Implement a log retention policy to prevent disk space issues: 
#!/bin/bash
# Delete logs older than 30 days
find /etc/bitwarden/logs -name "*.txt" -mtime +30 -delete
Schedule with cron: 
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/cleanup-logs.sh

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Centralized Logging

For production environments, consider shipping logs to a centralized logging system: Fluentd/Fluent Bit: 
<source>
  @type tail
  path /etc/bitwarden/logs/**/*.txt
  pos_file /var/log/fluentd/bitwarden.pos
  tag bitwarden
  format json
</source>

<match bitwarden>
  @type elasticsearch
  host elasticsearch
  port 9200
  index_name bitwarden
</match>
Filebeat: 
filebeat.inputs:
- type: log
  enabled: true
  paths:
    - /etc/bitwarden/logs/**/*.txt
  json.keys_under_root: true
  json.add_error_key: true

output.elasticsearch:
  hosts: ["elasticsearch:9200"]
  index: "bitwarden-%{+yyyy.MM.dd}"

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Troubleshooting Logging Issues

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Logs Not Being Created

Check Permissions: 
ls -la /etc/bitwarden/logs
chown -R bitwarden:bitwarden /etc/bitwarden/logs
chmod -R 755 /etc/bitwarden/logs
Verify Configuration: 
# Check if PathFormat is set
docker exec bitwarden-api cat /app/appsettings.json | grep -A 5 Logging

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Log Files Too Large

Enable Size-Based Rotation: 
{
  "Logging": {
    "FileSizeLimitBytes": 10485760
  }
}
Reduce Log Level: 
{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Warning"
    }
  }
}

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Best Practices

Use Appropriate Levels

Set Information for important operations, Warning for recoverable issues, Error for failures.

Rotate Regularly

Use daily rotation for high-volume services, size-based for lower volume.

Monitor Disk Space

Set up alerts when log directories exceed 80% capacity.

Centralize in Production

Ship logs to a centralized system for better analysis and retention.

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