Logs and Troubleshooting

Managing logs and troubleshooting issues in GitLab.

GitLab Logs & Troubleshooting Guide

Introduction

This guide provides an overview of the various logs generated by GitLab and common troubleshooting steps to help diagnose and resolve issues.

GitLab Log Files

GitLab maintains several log files that provide insight into the system’s operations. Below are the key logs you should be aware of:

1. GitLab Application Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/
  • File: production.log
  • Description: This log contains detailed information about application-level events, including requests, errors, and background job processing.

2. GitLab NGINX Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/nginx/
  • Files:
    • gitlab_access.log: Contains access logs for NGINX.
    • gitlab_error.log: Contains error logs for NGINX.
  • Description: These logs provide information about HTTP requests and errors encountered by the NGINX web server.

3. GitLab Sidekiq Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/sidekiq/
  • File: sidekiq.log
  • Description: This log contains information about background jobs processed by Sidekiq, including job failures.

4. GitLab Workhorse Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-workhorse/
  • File: gitlab-workhorse.log
  • Description: This log contains information about the GitLab Workhorse, which handles proxying requests to other components of GitLab.

5. GitLab Shell Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-shell/
  • File: gitlab-shell.log
  • Description: This log contains information about interactions with the GitLab Shell, which handles Git commands.

6. GitLab PostgreSQL Logs

  • Location: /var/log/gitlab/postgresql/
  • File: postgresql.log
  • Description: This log contains information about database operations and any errors encountered.

Common Troubleshooting Steps

Step 1: Check GitLab Status

Run the following command to check the overall status of your GitLab instance:

sudo gitlab-ctl status

Step 2: Review Logs for Errors

Identify any errors in the relevant log files by using the following command:

# Example for checking the production log
sudo tail -n 100 /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/production.log

Step 3: Run GitLab Diagnostics

You can run GitLab’s built-in diagnostics to gather more information about the instance:

sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:check SANITIZE=true

Step 4: Check Redis Status

If you are experiencing performance issues, check the status of Redis:

sudo gitlab-ctl status redis

Step 5: Restart GitLab Services

If you encounter issues, consider restarting the GitLab services:

sudo gitlab-ctl restart

Step 6: Reconfigure GitLab

If configuration changes have been made, reconfigure GitLab:

sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure

Step 7: Update GitLab

Ensure you are running the latest version of GitLab. Update GitLab with the following commands:

# Update package index
sudo apt-get update

# Upgrade GitLab
sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce

Conclusion

Understanding GitLab logs and following these troubleshooting steps can help you quickly identify and resolve issues within your GitLab instance. Regularly monitor logs and keep your GitLab instance up-to-date for optimal performance.

Additional Resources