Overview
This article explains how to view your website's access and error logs by logging into the server via FTP. This is sometimes necessary to help troubleshoot any issues your website may be encountering.
It is not possible to view your logs using the file manager in the panel. You must use a fully functional FTP client such as Filezilla or Cyberduck to view your logs.
Log retention policy
Please note the following:
- Logs are rotated every night so that access.log and error.log only contain today’s logs, while access.log.0 and error.log.0 contain logs from the day before.
- Log files are deleted shortly after this, so it’s recommended to check them as soon as possible.
- Per GDPR, DreamHost stores HTTP logs by default for 7 days.
Viewing the logs via SFTP
To view the logs:
- Log in to your server via FTP.
- Once logged in, you’ll see several files. This example displays the user's home directory noted by the Remote site: field which shows /home/exampleuser.
- Click into the /logs directory. A list of sites displays.
- Click into a website directory.
- Click into the directory where the logs are located.
- Change into the http directory (If your website is not using an SSL certifcate).
- Change into the https directory if it's using an SSL certificate).
A list of error.log and access.log files displays.Your http or https directory may have a random string of numbers after it, or you may see several directories. Just look at the date to the right to choose the most recent directory.
DreamPress Plans Only
You do not need to include http/s in the file path to view the log files for DreamPress sites. You can find DreamPress-related log files using the ~/logs/example.com file path instead.
- Right-click on a log file and open it with your text editing program.
