Docker is a powerful tool for containerization, and logging is an essential part of monitoring and debugging containerized applications. In this guide, we'll cover the basics of Docker logging and how to effectively manage logs.

Basic Concepts

  • Docker Logs: Docker logs are the output of the processes running inside a container. They can be used to trace errors, monitor application behavior, and more.
  • Log Drivers: Docker supports various log drivers that determine how logs are collected and stored. Some common log drivers include json-file, journald, syslog, and gelf.

Managing Logs

To view logs for a container, you can use the following command:

docker logs <container_name>

If you want to follow the real-time logs, you can use the -f flag:

docker logs -f <container_name>

Log Drivers Configuration

To configure the log driver for a container, you can use the --log-driver flag when running the container:

docker run --log-driver=<driver_name> <image_name>

Monitoring Logs

To monitor Docker logs in real-time, you can use tools like docker logs -f or integrate with a log management system like ELK Stack or Splunk.

For more information on Docker logging, check out our Docker Logging Best Practices.

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