upstart logging output enabled

Question

Except doing explicit logging instructions like suggested in http://upstart.ubuntu.com/wiki/Debugging, is there a way to enable output of what is happening with upstart?

• What event is raised
• What service changed its status (started/stopped/dead)
• What signal were emmited
• what output a service produced while starting

Sula

Perhaps this question might be more appropriate on serverfault.com – Mongoloid

It's relative to both server and desktop... Should I close this one and re-open in serverfault? – Sula

Answer 1

Ok, I've found one way to get it :

$ sudo initctl log-priority        # gives the actual (default) logging level
$ sudo initctl log-priority --help # gives available logging levels
$ sudo initctl log-priority info # is enough to get :
$ tail -f /var/log/syslog        # - log of upstart events
$ tail -f /var/log/boot.log      # - log of services output

Sula

hey! Ubuntu 11.10 here and there is no /var/log/boot.log for me, just /var/log/boot. That doesn't produce any process output though, i tried echo 'hi' and it's not showing up in /var/log/boot. Any tips? – Ninette

@rdrey: /var/log/kern.log maybe? – Ochs

@AtilaRomero maybe ;) I actually don't remember this question/comment at all, sorry. – Ninette

I am using Ubuntu 12.10 now, why I still cannot get the log following your steps? – Intercrop

You may need to add $KLogPermitNonKernelFacility on to rsyslogd's config, as detailed here: askubuntu.com/a/490900/297973 – Womanlike

Answer 2

In newer versions, you can find the upstart logs at:

/var/log/upstart

It has a log for each process it tries to start.

Irregular

FTR: That is true for 12.04 and 14.04 but not for 10.04. – Breastplate

Answer 3

initctl log-priority info logs events, but ignores the program output.

If the program output is important to you, I think the complementary solution is to use logger in your init script:

script
    myawesomeprog 2>&1 | logger -t myawesomeprog
end script

Because it's better to use syslog than manually manage /var/log, like http://upstart.ubuntu.com/wiki/Debugging suggests (in 08/2012).

Ochs

Doesn't give any output for me using: su -c "$DAEMON $DAEMON_OPTS" $ES_USER 2>&1 | logger -t elasticsearch – Absolute