Octopus Server and Tentacles write diagnostic log messages to their local Windows filesystem. The files are rolled periodically to avoid consuming excessive space.
Recent Errors The most recent warnings and errors can be view on the Configuration ➜ Diagnostics page
Finding the log files for Octopus Server and Tentacle
When Octopus applications are installed, a “home directory” is chosen - this is usually C:\Octopus.
Octopus stores its logs in the Logs subdirectory. Three sets of log files may be present: OctopusServer.txt, OctopusTentacle.txt. Older versions of these files will be stored with numeric suffixes in their names, e.g. the most recent archived server log file will be in OctopusServer.0.txt.
When requesting support, send as much log information as possible - the repetitive nature of the files means they usually zip down well.
Changing log retention
To increase the number of log files Octopus will store, find the octopus.server.exe.nlog file associated with the application. This is usually in a subfolder of the Octopus “Program Files” folder. Take a backup of the file before making changes.
The retention of the logs is controlled by the maxArchiveFiles property, it defaults to 7 and can be increased or decreased. The Octopus process will automatically switch to the new logging level as soon as the file is saved.
Updates reset the nlog file
When you use the Octopus installer to update the version of Octopus the octopus.server.exe.nlog will be reset to the default values that ship with Octopus.
Changing log levels for Octopus Server
Occasionally it may be necessary to change the logging level of an Octopus application.
First, ensure the environment variable OCTOPUS__Logging__File__LogEventLevel is set to Verbose or any other desired log level.
A restart of Octopus Server is required A server restart is required in order to apply the changes to environment variables.
Then, find the octopus.server.exe.nlog file associated with the application. This is usually in a subfolder of the Octopus “Program Files” folder. Take a backup of the file before making changes.
The verbosity of file logging is controlled in the octopus-log-file section:
<logger name="*" minlevel="Info" writeTo="octopus-log-file" />
The minlevel attribute is most useful for configuring the logging level. Change this value to Trace to gather more information.
The Octopus process will automatically switch to the new logging level as soon as the file is saved.
Don’t forget to reset your changes
Leaving your minlevel too low will impact the performance of Octopus Server. We recommend resetting back to the default logging configuration once you have completed your diagnostics session.
Changing log levels for Halibut
To change the logging level for Halibut as logged in the Octopus Server, we follow a similar process as described above with a few changes.
First, ensure the environment variable OCTOPUS__Logging__File__LogEventLevel is set to Verbose or any other desired log level.
Next, change the minimum Halibut log level value by setting the environment variable OCTOPUS__Logging__Context__Halibut__LogEventLevel to Verbose. This change ensures all logs from Halibut will be processed by Octopus Server.
A restart of Octopus Server is required A server restart is required in order to apply the changes to environment variables.
Then, find the octopus.server.exe.nlog file associated with the application. This is usually in a subfolder of the Octopus “Program Files” folder. Take a backup of the file before making changes.
The verbosity of file logging is controlled in the octopus-log-file section:
<logger name="Halibut" minlevel="Info" writeTo="octopus-log-file" />
The minlevel attribute is most useful for configuring the logging level. Change this value to Trace to gather more information.
The Octopus process will automatically switch to the new logging level as soon as the file is saved.
Don’t forget to reset your changes
Leaving your minlevel too low will impact the performance of Octopus Server. We recommend resetting back to the default logging configuration once you have completed your diagnostics session.
Changing log levels for Tentacle
Occasionally it may be necessary to change the logging level of a Tentacle instance.
First, find the tentacle.exe.nlog file associated with the application. This is usually in a subfolder of the Octopus/Tentacle “Program Files” folder. Take a backup of the file before making changes.
The verbosity of file logging is controlled in the octopus-log-file section:
<logger name="*" minlevel="Info" writeTo="octopus-log-file" />
The minlevel attribute is most useful for configuring the logging level. Change this value to Trace to gather more information.
The Tentacle process will automatically switch to the new logging level as soon as the file is saved.
Don’t forget to reset your changes
Leaving your minlevel too low will impact the performance of Octopus Server. We recommend resetting back to the default logging configuration once you have completed your diagnostics session.
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Page updated on Tuesday, July 25, 2023