Skip To Content

Specify server log settings

When working with the server logs, you may need to change some of the log settings to help you more effectively capture events. For example, you may need to change the log level from the default of Warning to Info to capture events related to service creation and startup. You may also want to reduce the number of days that logs are kept on disk (to save disk space) or change the location where ArcGIS Server stores its logs.

You can specify these settings using ArcGIS Server Manager. Any changes you make are immediately reflected in the site.

Available log settings

The following settings can be changed as appropriate for your deployment.

Specify the log level

Events can vary in level of detail from Severe, which indicates a problem that requires immediate attention, to Verbose, which is a detailed, informative message generated through regular use of the portal. By default, the log level of the server is set to Warning, meaning moderate to severe problems that require attention will be logged.

Learn more about available log levels

Specify the duration of log retention

By default, logs are retained on disk for approximately 90 days. When a log exceeds this time frame, it is deleted. Specifying a shorter time frame, such as 30 days, can prevent the log directory from growing larger than expected.

Specify the log directory

The default directory where the server writes its logs is c:\arcgisserver\logs. The log path must be set to a local directory and exist on each machine participating in your ArcGIS Server site. When specifying the log directory, try to keep the location at the root level of your GIS server. Don't designate a shared network directory as the log location.

Specify server log settings in ArcGIS Server Manager

Complete the following steps to update the log settings for your ArcGIS Server site using Manager:

  1. Start Manager and sign in.
  2. Click Logs > View Logs > Settings.
  3. In the Log Settings module, for Log level, set the level.

    To learn what's included in each level, see Work with server logs.

  4. Specify how long the server will keep logs on disk. When a log exceeds the specified time frame, it is deleted.
  5. For Log path, type a path to set the log directory.
    Caution:

    The log path must be set to a local directory, and the directory must exist on each GIS server participating in your ArcGIS Server site. You cannot designate a network directory as the log location.

  6. Click Save to apply your settings to the server.

Any changes you make to the server log settings immediately take effect.