How to gather logs from Docker containers?

2 years ago
Benjamin Taylor
1 minute

There are several methods available to collect logs from Docker containers.

  1. You can use the “docker logs” command to view real-time logs of a container. For example, use the following command to view the logs of a container named “container_name”:
docker logs -f container_name

This will display all of the container logs and output them to the terminal. The -f option allows for realtime viewing of the logs.

  1. the directory where Docker log files are stored
  2. logs
docker run -d -v /var/log/docker:/var/log container_name

This will save the container’s log files to the /var/log/docker directory on the host.

  1. –logging driver
  2. file in JSON format
docker run -d --log-driver json-file container_name

Other log drivers such as syslog, journald, fluentd, can be used. Choose the appropriate log driver based on your needs.

  1. Utilize logging tools: Another option is to use specialized logging tools to gather logs from Docker containers. Common tools include the ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) stack, Fluentd, Splunk, and others. These tools offer more powerful and flexible capabilities for logging collection, analysis, and visualization.

Logs collected through any method can be used for troubleshooting, performance monitoring, and security auditing purposes.

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