Change logging locations

Logging locations are set during installation. Generally, the default logs location is /var/log. For example, /var/log/cassandra.

To change logging locations, after installation, do the following:

  1. Update the log directory location in the hcd-env.sh file or the logback.xml file.

    To generate all logs in the same location, update the hcd-env.sh file. To generate logs in separate locations, update the logback.xml file.

    • hcd-env.sh

    • logback.xml

    Add CASSANDRA_LOG_DIR to the hcd-env.sh file:

    export CASSANDRA_LOG_DIR="LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH"

    Replace LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH with the absolute path to your preferred log directory.

    Where is the hcd-env.sh file located?

    The location of the hcd-env.sh file depends on your installation type:

    • Package installations and installer-services installations: /etc/hcd/hcd-env.sh

    • Tarball installations and installer-no services installations: INSTALLATION_LOCATION/bin/hcd-env.sh

    Replace ${cassandra.logdir} with the absolute path to your preferred log directory in both the <file> and <fileNamePattern> elements for each appender.

    The ${cassandra.logdir} variable appears in the following locations:

    • SYSTEMLOG appender: Controls system.log and its archived files

    • DEBUGLOG appender: Controls debug.log and its archived files

    • AUDIT appender: Controls audit.log and its archived files (if uncommented)

    Change the system.log location 
    <!-- Before -->
<file>${cassandra.logdir}/system.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>${cassandra.logdir}/system.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>

<!-- After -->
<file>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/system.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/system.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>

    Replace LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH with the absolute path to your preferred log directory.

    Change the debug.log location 
    <!-- Before -->
<file>${cassandra.logdir}/debug.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>${cassandra.logdir}/debug.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>
<!-- After -->
<file>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/debug.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/debug.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>

    Replace LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH with the absolute path to your preferred log directory.

    Change the audit.log location 
    <!-- Before -->
<file>${cassandra.logdir}/audit.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>${cassandra.logdir}/audit.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>
<!-- After -->
<file>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/audit.log</file>
<fileNamePattern>LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH/audit.log.%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.zip</fileNamePattern>

    Replace LOG_DIRECTORY_PATH with the absolute path to your preferred log directory.

    Where is the logback.xml file located?

    The location of the logback.xml file depends on the type of installation:

    • Package installations and installer-services installations: /etc/hcd/cassandra/logback.xml

    • Tarball installations and installer-no services installations: INSTALLATION_LOCATION/resources/cassandra/conf/logback.xml

    To use different directories for different log types (system, debug, audit), specify different paths for each appender.

  2. Restart HCD.

  3. Go to your log directory and verify that HCD is writing logs to the new location.

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