How do I manage and rotate my log files with the Plesk control panel?

Answer by: Stuart Pierce, Aplus.Net Knowledge Base

The Log Manager page inside the Plesk Control Panel allows you to manage the log files: view, remove and save on a local machine. From that page you can also access the log rotation tool configuration.

Here is how you can access the Log Manager:

1. Login to your Plesk Control Panel. Use the information provided to you when the server was setup.
2. Click on Domains from the navigation bar on the left.

3. Click on the domain name you'd like to manage the log files for.
4. Now, click on the Log Manager icon located in the "Hosting" section.

• The Log Files list can be sorted by name in ascending or descending order. To sort the list, click on the Modification date, Name, or Size header of the list. An arrow will show the order of sorting.
• You can search through the list for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of log files in the list and you need to work with a particular one. To search through the list, type the pattern string into the respective text input field and click on Search. If there were any items found matching the entered pattern string, they will all be displayed in the form of a reduced list.
• For your convenience, you may also type in the number of lines to be displayed per page using the text field in the Preferences section.
• To view the log file, click on its name in the list. The log file content will be displayed in a separate Log Files Viewer window.
• You may also wish to save a log file on your local machine. To do that, click the respective diskette icon.
•  To delete one or more log files from the list, check the corresponding checkboxes and click on Remove Selected.

To configure Log Rotation preferences, follow these steps:

1. Click the Log Ratation icon when on Log Files Management page.

2. Click the Enable/Disable button to enable/disable log rotation. The log rotation status is indicated by an appropriate icon.
3. Select the Log rotation condition to be based on:

•  log file size - enter the size in Kilobytes in the appropriate field.
• time - select from the drop-down list. It can be set to Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.

4. Specify the maximum number of log files in the appropriate input field, if desired. The maximum number is the number of processed files to be kept for each log file.
5. Check the Compress Log files checkbox to enable compression.
6. In the Send processed log files to e-mail input field, enter the e-mail address for the log files to be sent to.
7. Click the OK button to submit the changes.