The cPanel & WHM Log Files
Last modified: November 1, 2024
Overview
This document describes the location of all of the log files in cPanel & WHM, Webmail, and MySQL®. This document also provides examples of each log file.
- The directories and files in this document reflect unaltered configurations.
- You can alter a log file’s location with a configuration file.
We use the following examples in this document:
USER
represents the cPanel account name.HOSTNAME
represents the server’s hostname.domain
represents a domain on the cPanel account.
General
/var/log/messages
(Red Hat®-based servers) or /var/log/syslog
(Ubuntu® servers)
This file contains the login attempts and general error messages for the following services:
-
The nameserver daemons:
named
orbind
- PowerDNS
-
The SSH daemon (
sshd
).
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/var/log/secure
This file contains the login attempts for the SSH daemon (sshd
).
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Services
Services Files
/home/USER/.cpanel/logs
This directory contains records of errors within a user’s task queue.
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/home/username/logs/DAV-debug.log
- You should only enable this log file if you need to troubleshoot issues with your account’s calendars or contacts. This file can quickly fill up your account’s disk quota.
- This log file is only available in cPanel & WHM versions 120 and above.
This file contains cPanel user debug output from the cpdavd
service.
To enable this log file, create the /home/username/.caldav/.debug
touch file, either in cPanel’s File Manager interface (cPanel » Home » Files » File Manager) or on the command line. You must remove the touch file when you are done with troubleshooting.
Some of the output in this log file appears in color. Each line displays log information in the following format:
[420074] [Tue Jan 30 19:00:59 2024] [Cpanel/DAV/CaldavCarddav.pm : 4457 ] ❱❱❱ load_metadata at Cpanel/DAV/CaldavCarddav.pm : 4496
- PID — The
cpdavd
process ID. - Time — The date and time of the message, in
WD MM DD HH:mm:SS YYYY
format, where:WD
represents the day of the week.MM
represents the month.DD
represents the day of the month.HH
represents the hour in 24-hour time.mm
represents the minute.SS
represents the second.YYYY
represents the year.
- The calling file and line number — The
cpdavd
file and line number in the file that generated the output. - Message — The output message.
/home/username/logs/DAV-error.log
This log file is only available in cPanel & WHM versions 120 and above.
This file contains output from the cpdavd
service. Each line displays log information in the following format:
[02/Nov/2023:21:47:53] 10.3.5.127 [email protected] "PROPFIND /calendars/user%40example.com/" 2298 "400 Bad Request" 424 "Evolution/3.50.1"
- Time — The date and time that the error occurred, in
DD/Mon/YYYY:HH:MM:SS
format, where:DD
represents the date.Mon
represents the month.YYYY
represents the year.HH
represents the hour.MM
represents the minute.SS
represents the second.
- IP address — The remote client’s IP address.
- Username — The authenticated user’s account.
- Request method — The request method that the client sent to the server.
- Requested URI — The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that the client requested from the server.
- Request size — The size of the request that the client sent to the server.
- Response status — The error code and message that the server sent to the client.
- Response size — The size of the server’s response to the client, in bytes.
- User agent — The program that the remote client used to access the server.
/home/username/logs/DAV-io.log
- To enable this log file, create the
/home/username/.caldav/.debug
touch file, either in cPanel’s File Manager interface (cPanel » Home » Files » File Manager) or on the command line. - This log file is only available in cPanel & WHM versions 120 and above.
This file contains cPanel user request and payload data from the cpdavd
service. Each line displays log information in the following format:
[2213123] [Tue Jan 30 08:28:35 2024] [Cpanel/DAV/CaldavCarddav.pm : 1126] >>>A long string that contains the request and payload data>>>>
- PID — The
cpdavd
process ID. - Time — The date and time of the message, in
WD MM DD HH:mm:SS YYYY
format, where:WD
represents the day of the week.MM
represents the month.DD
represents the day of the month.HH
represents the hour in 24-hour time.mm
represents the minute.SS
represents the second.YYYY
represents the year.
- The calling file and line number — The
cpdavd
file and line number in the file that generated the output. - Message — The request/payload message.
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/access_log
This file contains records of when a cPanel & WHM user accesses their account.
The system displays these records in a standardized text format, called the Common Log Format. Each line displays log information in the following syntax:
192.168.0.20 - example [10/08/2016:13:37:32 -0000] "GET /cpsess1234567890/frontend/jupiter/index.html HTTP/1.1" 200 0 "" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:49.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/49.0" "s" "-" 2083
Syntax | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
IP Address | The client’s IP address. | 192.168.0.20 |
User-identified | An unused user identification protocol field. cPanel & WHM log files always display one of the following values in this field:
|
none |
User | A valid cPanel & WHM account name or an email address. | skipperdan |
Time | The date and time when the visitor accessed your website, in MM/DD/YYYY:HH:MM:SS -ZZZZ format, where:
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10/21/1985:16:42:23 -0000 |
Client request | The web request that the client issued to the server. | GET /.__cpanel__service__check__./serviceauth?sendkey=__HIDDEN__&version=1.2 HTTP/1.0 |
HTTP Status | The result of the HTTP request. For more information, read Wikipedia’s List of HTTP status codes documentation. | 200 |
Response Size | The size of the object returned to the client, in bytes. | 1500 |
Referrer | The web address from which the visitor navigated to the resource. | ftp://cpanel.com |
User Agent | The browser that the visitor used to access cPanel & WHM. | Safari |
Authentication method | The method that authenticated the request, where:
|
s |
The X-Forwarded-For header |
The IP address of the client when the user makes a connection request via service subdomains (proxy domains). | X-Forwarded: for:192.0.2.60 |
Service port | The server port number that the client accessed in the request. | 2083 |
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/api_log
This file contains a human-readable log of all cPanel API1, successful API2, and successful UAPI calls made by a single cPanel user. To view this file, your system administrator must enable this setting in the Tweak Settings interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Tweak Settings » Logging) or by calling the WHM API 1 set_tweaksetting
function.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/api_tokens_log
This file contains WHM’s API tokens logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/build/locale_database_log
This file contains information about when a user edits a locale.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpdavd_error_log
This file contains the Web Disk feature’s error logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpdavd_session_log
This file contains the Web Disk feature’s activity logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpgreylistd.log
This file contains the Greylisting daemon’s (cpgreylistd
) activity logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cphulkd_errors.log
This file contains the Brute Force Protection daemon’s (cphulkd
) error logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cphulkd.log
This file contains the cphulkd
daemon’s activity logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpwrapd_log
This file contains the cPanel & WHM service manager daemon’s (cpsrvd
) activity logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/dnsadmin_log
This file contains dnsadmin
request logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/error_log
This file contains general cPanel & WHM errors (for example, a fatal error or timeout occurred while processing this directive
error).
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/incoming_http_requests.log
This file contains the logs of connection requests to the cPanel account’s server.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/license_log
This file contains the server’s license update logs and license errors.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/login_log
This file contains the login attempts to the cpsrvd
daemon.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/panic_log
This file contains a cPanel account’s severe error logs.
This file should not contain any entries. If this file contains entries, thoroughly investigate the entries and contact your hosting provider.
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/queueprocd.log
This file contains the cPanel TaskQueue Processing daemon’s (queueprocd
) logs.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/safeapacherestart_log
This file contains information about each time that Apache restarted on the server.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/session_log
This file contains logs of a user’s activities while they are logged in to the cPanel account.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/setupdbmap_log
This file contains the cPanel account’s database-related activities.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/stats_log
This file contains the bandwidth statistics for all of the server’s cPanel accounts.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/tailwatchd_log
This file contains the Tailwatch Driver’s (tailwatchd
) logs.
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/home/USER/logs/publish_timestamp.log
This file contains the logs and download status of files from the Sitejet Website Builder (CMS).
[2024-02-02 16:22:45 -0600] info [uapi] [0 s] Starting sync for sub1.nositejet.tld at 1706912565.
[2024-02-02 16:22:45 -0600] info [uapi] [0 s] Download sitemap xml:https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io/sitemap.xml
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] Store content for /sitemap.xml
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] Save file /home/nositejet/sub1.nositejet.tld/sitemap.xml
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] Prepare request for https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] URI: 'https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io', 200
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] Prepare request for https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io/legal-notice
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] URI: 'https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io/legal-notice', 200
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] Prepare request for https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io/privacy
[2024-02-02 16:22:46 -0600] info [uapi] [1 s] URI: 'https://123456789.preview.sitehub.io/privacy', 200
/var/cpanel.bandwidth.cache
This file contains the cached bandwidth history for each cPanel account on your server.
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/var/cpanel/accounting.log
This file contains records of cPanel account actions, such as creation and deletion.
The system prints these records in the following standardized order:
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Time and date — The time and date when you or another user on your server performed the account action in
WD MM DD:HH:mm:SS YYYY
format, where:WD
represents the day of the week.MM
represents the month.DD
represents the day of the month.HH
represents the hour in 24-hour time.mm
represents the minute.SS
represents the second.YYYY
represents the year.
-
Operation — The action that you performed. For example, all of the following are potential actions:
CREATEAPITOKEN
means that you have created an API token.ADDRESELLER
means that you have added a reseller.CHANGEOWNER
means that you have changed an account’s owner.
-
Operating account — The account with which you performed the action. For example, if you were logged in as
example
when you suspended an account, the third value in theaccounting.log
entry would beexample
. -
System account — The account which performed the action. Most internal actions execute as
root
, even if you are not logged in as theroot
user.Note:Some actions output the operating account into the fourth field instead of the system account.
Some account actions add extra fields. The following operations print extra fields:
Operation | Description | Fifth field | Sixth field | Seventh field | Eighth field |
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ASSIGN_ACCOUNT_ENHANCEMENT |
You have assigned a new account enhancement to a cPanel account. | Name — The name of the third-party application that you allowed your cPanel account to access. | Account — The username of the cPanel account that you allowed to access the third-party application. | None. | None. |
UNASSIGN_ACCOUNT_ENHANCEMENT |
You have unassigned an account enhancement to a cPanel account. | Name — The name of the third-party application that you have disallowed your cPanel account to access. | Username — The username of the cPanel account that you have disallowed to access the third-party application. | None. | None. |
CREATE |
You have created a new cPanel account. | Domain — The primary domain you associated with your new cPanel account. | Username — The username of your new cPanel account. | None. | None. |
CREATERESELLERWITHOUTDOMAIN |
You have created a new cPanel reseller account without an associated domain. | Username — The username of your new reseller account. | None. | None. | None. |
CREATEAPITOKEN |
You have created a new API token. | not-applicable — The string not-applicable . |
Name — The name of the created API token. | None. | None. |
UPDATEAPITOKEN |
You have created a new API token. | not-applicable — The string not-applicable . |
Name — The name of the created API token. | None. | None. |
REVOKEAPITOKEN |
You have created a new API token. | not-applicable — The string not-applicable . |
Name — The name of the created API token. | None. | None. |
CHANGEOWNER |
You have changed the WHM account that owns a cPanel reseller account. | Domain — The domain of the cPanel reseller account whose owner you are changing, or an empty string if the reseller did not have a primary domain. | Reseller username — The username of the cPanel reseller account whose owner you are changing. | Old owner username — The username of the WHM account that used to own the cPanel reseller account. | New owner username — The username of the WHM account that you assigned ownership of the cPanel reseller account. |
SUSPEND |
You have suspended a cPanel account. | Username — The suspended cPanel account username. | Domain — The suspended cPanel account’s primary domain. | Reason — The reason why you suspended the cPanel account. | None. |
UNSUSPEND |
You have restored a cPanel account from suspension. | Username — The restored cPanel account username. | Domain — The restored cPanel account’s primary domain. | Reason — The reason why you restored the cPanel account. | None. |
GET_TFA_CONFIG_FOR_USER |
You have retrieved a cPanel account’s two-factor authentication information. This includes the 2FA information for the email and team user accounts that the cPanel account manages. | User — The cPanel account’s username. | Data — The username of the retrieved cPanel account, email account, or team user. | None. | None. |
PURGE_TFA_CONFIG_FOR_USER |
You have deleted a cPanel account’s two-factor authentication information. This includes the 2FA information for the email and team user accounts that the cPanel account manages. | User — The cPanel account’s username. | Data — The username of the cPanel account, email account, or team user whose 2FA data you deleted. | None. | None. |
SET_TFA_CONFIG_FOR_USER |
You have set a cPanel account’s two-factor authentication information. This includes the 2FA information for the email and team user accounts that the cPanel account manages. | User — The cPanel account’s username. | Data — The username of the cPanel account, email account, or team user for which you set 2FA information. | None. | None. |
/var/log/chkservd.log
This file contains the service status logs.
[2015-11-02 13:52:20 -0500] Service check ....queueprocd [[check command:+][socket connect:N/A]]...named [[check command:+][socket connect:N/A]]...mysql [[check command:+][socket connect:N/A]]...imap [[socket_service_auth:1][check command:+][socket connect:+]]...ftpd [[check command:+][socket connect:+]]...entropychat [[check command:N/A][socket connect:N/A]]...cpsrvd [[http_service_auth:1][check command:N/A][socket connect:+]]...cpanellogd [[check command:+][socket connect:N/A]]...clamd [[check command:+][socket connect:N/A]]...Done
/var/log/cpanel-install.log
This file contains the cPanel & WHM installation logs.
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PHP and PHP-FPM
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/php-fpm/error.log
This file contains PHP-FPM implementation errors. These errors include errors for the cpsrvd
and cpdavd
services.
This file does not include errors for customer sites.
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/var/cpanel/php-fpm/USER/logs/slow.log
This file contains scripts that run unusually slow for a user.
/var/cpanel/php-fpm/USER/logs/error.log
This file contains the user’s error logs.
/home/USER/logs/.php.error.log
This file contains internal cPanel PHP-FPM execution errors. For example, PHP-FPM errors in Roundcube will appear in this file.
- This file does not include errors for customer sites.
Services Directories
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpbackup
This directory contains the cPanel backup log files.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpbackup_transporter
This directory contains the cPanel Backup Transporter’s log files.
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/usr/local/cpanel/logs/packman/
This directory contains the EasyApache build log files.
build.1439814755.env build.1439820240.env
/usr/local/cpanel/logs/update_analysis
This directory contains the update process’s .tar
files.
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/var/cpanel/bandwidth/USER
This directory contains each account’s bandwidth usage logs.
fredfred-smtp-rate.rrd barney-all-rate.rrd
/var/cpanel/logs
This directory contains account transfer log files and other, miscellaneous log files.
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/var/cpanel/updatelogs
This directory contains the system’s update log files.
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/var/cpanel/logs/mysql_upgrade.log
This directory contains the account’s MySQL upgrade logs.
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/home/USER/logs/roundcube
This directory contains the log files for Roundcube Webmail with a SQLite backend.
roundcube_.log
/var/cpanel/roundcube/log
This directory contains the log files for Roundcube Webmail with a MySQL backend.
roundcube_.log
/var/cpanel/transfer_sessions
This directory contains subdirectories for transfer and restore sessions.
Each transfer and restore session’s subdirectory contains the session’s log files in a line-delimited JSON format. Each log file contains the following information:
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Key | Type | Description | Possible values | Example |
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pid |
integer | The process ID under which the command in the log entry ran. | An integer value. | 14538 |
indent |
integer | The level of indentation to display. | A valid positive integer. | 1 |
type |
string | The type of log file entry. |
|
control |
partial |
Boolean | We do not currently use this key. | 0 is the only possible value. |
0 |
contents |
hash | A hash of transfer or restore session information. | This hash contains the action , child_number , dangerous_items , item , item_name , item_type , local_item , logfile , message , msg , queue , skipped_items , and warnings keys. |
|
action |
string | The action for the system to execute. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A valid string. | start-item |
child_number |
integer | The number of child processes in the transfer or restore process. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A positive integer. | 1 |
dangerous_items |
integer | The number of items in the transferred or restored account that the system flagged as potentially dangerous. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A positive integer. | 1 |
item |
string | The name of the account to restore or transfer. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | cptech |
item_name |
string | The name of the item to transfer or restore. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | Account |
item_type |
string | The specific item to transfer or restore. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | cptech |
local_item |
string | The item to restore locally. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | AccountLocal |
logfile |
string | The absolute filepath for the log file. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A valid absolute filepath. | item-RESTORE_AccountLocal_cptech |
message |
string | A message about the transfer or restore process. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | null |
msg |
string | Additional information about the transfer or restore process. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A string value. | null |
queue |
string | The process that the system performed on the account. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
|
RESTORE |
skipped_items |
integer | The items in the account that the transfer or restore process skipped. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A positive integer. | 1 |
warnings |
integer | The number of warnings that the system returned during the transfer or restore process. The log file contains this key in the content hash. |
A positive integer. | 2 |
FTP
FTP Files
/etc/apache2/logs/domlogs/ftpxferlog
This file contains the FTP transfer logs for users on webservers that run EasyApache 4.
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FTP Directories
/etc/apache2/logs/domlogs
This directory contains the FTP transaction logs for domains which exist on webservers that run EasyApache 4.
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Mail Files
/home/USER/.z-push/log/z-push.log
This file contains the account’s Z-Push - ActiveSync Support logs. The Z-Push - ActiveSync Support plugin allows users to sync cPanel calendars, contacts, and email on Android™ devices.
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/home/USER/.z-push/log/z-push-error.log
This file contains the account’s Z-Push - ActiveSync Support error logs.
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/var/log/exim_mainlog
This file contains Exim’s mail receipt and delivery logs for the cPanel account’s domains.
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/var/log/exim_paniclog
This file contains Exim’s severe error logs.
This file should not contain any entries. If this file contains entries, thoroughly investigate the entries and contact your hosting provider.
/var/log/exim_rejectlog
This file contains a log of messages that the system rejected due to ACLs.
For more information, read our Exim Configuration Manager Basic Editor documentation.
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/var/log/maillog
(Red Hat-based servers) or /var/log/mail.log
(Ubuntu servers)
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Mail Directories
/var/spool/exim/input
This directory contains a log of queued incoming email messages. The system separates these logs in to subdirectories that correspond to the number or letter with which the sender’s name begins.
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/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/logs
This directory contains the account’s Mailman logs.
./ ../ bounce error locks mischief post qrunner smtp smtp-failure subscribe vette
Memory usage
/var/log/dcpumon/YYYY/MMM/DD
This file contains information about the processes that consume the most CPU and memory.
YYYY
represents a subdirectory that contains a process’s logs by month.MMM
represents a subdirectory within theYYYY
directory that contains a process’s logs for each day of a month.DD
represents a subdirectory that contains a process’s log for a specific day of the month.
To interpret the data, use the /usr/local/cpanel/bin/dcpumonview
file.
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/var/log/munin
This file contains the account’s Munin logs. Munin is a plugin that displays information about CPU, Exim, Apache, MySQL usage, and other information with the rrdtool
utility.
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MySQL
/var/log/mysqld.log
This file contains information about the cPanel account’s MySQL databases and errors in MySQL 5.7 and later and MariaDB 10.3 and later.
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/var/lib/mysql/HOSTNAME.err
This file contains information about the cPanel account’s MySQL databases and errors in MySQL 5.6 and earlier and MariaDB 10.2 and earlier.
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Webservers
Apache
If your system manages many domains, we recommend that you enable piped logging to reduce the number of log files that Apache manages. Piped logging allows you to pipe Apache access logs to a separate process so that Apache does not need to restart every time that it processes the logs.
You can enable piped logging in the Piped Log Configuration section of WHM’s Apache Configuration interface (WHM » Home » Service Configuration » Apache Configuration).
/etc/apache2/logs/domlogs/USER
This directory contains the log data for the user’s account, which exists on a webserver that runs EasyApache 4.
The system creates this directory when the cPanel Log Rotation Configuration (cpanellogd
) daemon compresses and archives the data that resides in the /etc/apache2/logs/domlogs/domain-ssl_log
and the /etc/apache2/logs/domlogs/domain
files. This process begins when the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp
script runs and the system analyzes the log data.
You can also perform this process for individual users with the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/runweblogs
command.
The system also performs the following actions:
- Adds a link to the
/etc/apache2/logs/domlogs/USER
directory in the/home/USER/access_logs
directory. - Adds a symlink to the log data backup file in the user’s
/home/USER/logs
directory during the archive process.- This symlink allows you to access this file while the system archives the file.
- The symlink’s name reflects the log file’s name, and may contain a
.bkup
file extension.
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/var/log/apache2/modsec_audit.log
This file contains the log information for ModSecurity®.
If the Apache MPM_ITK module or Mod_Ruid2 is enabled, you can access the logs in the /etc/apache2/logs/modsec_audit/USER
directory.
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/var/log/apache2/suexec_log
This file contains information about suEXEC audit logs. This is useful, for example, to diagnose internal server errors that do not produce relevant information in the error log.
You can also view Apache’s error logs in cPanel’s Errors interface (cPanel » Home » Metrics » Errors).
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/var/log/apache2/suphp_log
This file contains information about the suPHP Apache module audit logs. This is useful, for example, to diagnose internal server errors that do not produce relevant information in the error log.
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/var/log/apache2/mod_jk.log
This file contains the Tomcat connection logs.
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/var/log/apache2/error_log
This file contains the error logs for webservers and CGI Applications.
[Wed Nov 04 09:55:01 2015] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] ModSecurity: Warning. Operator GE matched 5 at TX:inbound_anomaly_score. [file "/usr/local/apache/conf/modsec_vendor_configs/OWASP/rules/RESPONSE-80-CORRELATION.conf"] [line "35"] [id "981204"] [msg "Inbound Anomaly Score Exceeded (Total Inbound Score: 5): Request Missing a User Agent Header"] [tag "Host: "] [hostname "example.com"] [uri "/whm-server-status"] [unique_id "VjoqVQoBZCMAA7qYOM4AAAAF"]