Managing Log Files

Overview

Log files can accumulate rapidly and must be actively managed. This page contains an overview of common log management topics such as log rotation, retention, and removal.

Log rotation

Appian log files are rotated to limit the total size of logs. Some files are rotated based on the date, while other files may be rotated based on file size. When a log reaches its size limit, the system creates a new file of the same name to continue logging, and renames the old file with a numerical suffix. For example: file_downloads.log will become file_downloads.log.1.

Limiting log file size

The maximum size for any log file is determined by the following property in the appian_log4j.properties files:

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log4j.appender.<APPENDER_NAME>.MaxFileSize=

By default, this value is set to 10MB. You can modify this property to increase or decrease the maximum size of the file.

Log retention

Logs continue to rotate until the maximum number of log files for that log is reached. Once the maximum is reached, the oldest will be deleted when a new log of the same name is created on the next rotation.

Log retention for Appian Cloud

The latest two log files for each log are retained. The only exceptions to this are:

• The application server log, which is periodically compressed as needed.
• The Cloud database audit logs, which are retained in the <APPIAN_HOME>/logs/audit/rdbms directory for one week.

Older log files in Appian Cloud are deleted every 10 minutes.

Limiting number of log files

The number of files that are created is limited by the following property in the appian_log4j.properties file:

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log4j.appender.<APPENDER_NAME>.MaxBackupIndex=

By default, most logs retain a maximum of 10 old versions, but some retain 100 or 1,000. You can find the default value for each log listed in appian_log4j.properties. Modify this property to define the maximum number of log files to keep.

Removing log files

To prevent log files from consuming excessive disk space, you must periodically run the cleanup.bat (.sh) script to move or delete older log files. You can find the script here:

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<APPIAN_HOME>/server/_scripts/

To remove aging log files, use the logs argument, passing the path to a backup folder and the number of log files to keep.

For example:

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./cleanup.sh logs -target /appian_backup_log_files/ -keep 3

This command moves all but the three most recent log files to the/appian_backup_log_files/ directory.

See also: Data Maintenance

Securing log files

Log files, particularly troubleshooting and audit files, can include usernames, content ids, and other information that may be considered sensitive. The <APPIAN_HOME>/logs/ directory, its subdirectories, and the files within it should be secured accordingly so that only trusted administrators can access them.

To learn how to secure system files and directories, see your operating system's documentation.

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