Find and review server logs

Apache logs visitors to each site hosted on the server. A single visitor can generate multiple requests depending on the page. Most requests fall into 2 categories: GET (ie: show me an image) and POST (ie: logging into a site). The access logs also contain the timestamp, client IP address, and browser info.

cPanel Location:

HTTP log:

/usr/local/apache/domlogs/$DOMAIN

HTTPS log:

/usr/local/apache/domlogs/$DOMAIN-ssl_log

Plesk Location:

HTTP logs:

/var/www/vhosts/system/$DOMAIN/logs/access_log

HTTPS logs:

/var/www/vhosts/system/$DOMAIN/access_ssl_log

When should I review Apache Access logs?

• To see if a client’s connection makes it through the internet and firewalls and into Apache.
• If there is a problem with content editing in a CMS, the apache logs should still log a POST request. If there is no POST request, you should check the DNS, firewall(s), and the application.
• To check for DOS attacks by parsing data from these logs.

The PHP Error log contains information about errors in specific PHP files, calls to missing files, or errors related to the configuration of PHP. PHP error logs are normally found within your site's files. You can use a PHPinfo() page to confirm the log location.

Where can I find this log?
cPanel Location:

/home/cpanel_username/logs/$DOMAIN.php.error.log

Plesk Location:

/var/www/vhosts/$DOMAIN/logs/$DOMAIN.php.error.log

When should I review the PHP error log?

Anytime you are troubleshooting an issue that appears isolated to one or more PHP-based (like WordPress) sites, but not the entire server.

MySQL error log will contain information about service failures, resource issues and crashed database tables.

Where can I find this log?

For MySQL 5.5, 5.6 and MariaDB 10.2

/var/lib/mysql/$HOSTNAME.err

For mysql 5.7 and later and MariaDB 10.3 and later

/var/log/mysqld.log

When should I review the MySQL error log?

• The MySQL service will not run.
• The MySQL service is using excessive memory or CPU.
• Your database driven site (ie. WordPress) is slow.
• Your database driven site is unable to connect to MySQL.