couchdb log files missing, can't get any to be created :-(

Question

I'm running couchdb 1.0.1 on ubuntu and everything is working OK - except that I've just seen that my log files are non existent. They seem to have been like this for nearly a year, but to be fair I haven't really been using the system as it is a test bed for a project I've just picked up again.

/var/log/couchdb contained 2 files. An old (many months!) couch.log.1 and a couch.log with size 0 - which is suspicious. I've deleted the old files and now tried restarting couch, but the log files stubbornly stay absent!

I've restarted couch using

/etc/init.d/couchdb restart

But no joy.

My local.ini file has this entry;

[log]
level = debug
file = /var/log/couchdb/couch.log

And /var/log/couchdb is owned by couchdb and is in group couchdb so I don't think it is a permission issue. There is plenty of disk space on the server too.

I've rebooted the server as well in frustration - no difference.

How do I persuade couchdb to start logging anything again? The reason it has become an issue is that I'm trying to PUT some standalone attachments, but only the small ones are working so I'm trying to look in my (non-existent) log files to see what the problem might be.

Any ideas?

What do you get when you issue a GET request to http://localhost:5984/_config/log (change your host if needed) — Dominic Barnes
Just missed this comment before I answered, but yes indeed, that shows where the logs REALLY are, rather than where I thought they were. If you'd like to answer the question with that info I'll be happy to accept it too. — Roger

Dominic Barnes Dominic Barnes · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-01T19:11:24

There is a possibility that the log file configuration is being set by some other .ini file.

Issue a GET request to http://localhost:5984/_config/log to see what CouchDB has set.

I had stuff like this happen to me because I had installed CouchDB multiple times using different methods. (compiling from source, using apt, the install script that was put out by CouchOne at one point, etc.) It was hard to figure out exactly what local.ini was the real one!

couchdb log files missing, can't get any to be created :-(

2 Answers