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Contrast logs

For the Contrast application, Log4j version 2 is used as the logging framework.

You can configure logging thresholds,control log file destinations, and see an overview of each log available in Contrast.

Find these logs under the $CONTRAST_HOME/logs directory:

  • server.log

  • catalina.out

Other logs, like these, can be found in $CONTRAST_HOME/data/logs:

  • contrast.log

  • ldap_ad.log

  • migration.log

  • audit.log

  • mysql_error.log

This table shows all of the primary log files in Contrast.

Log file

Description

audit.log

Logs audit events such as:

  • Logging in and out of the application

  • Impersonating another user

  • Switching organizations

  • Accessing the administrator portal

  • Changes to the configuration and settings of Contrast by a SuperAdmin account

  • User account service issues (locked accounts, password changed, etc.)

  • Deleting traces

  • Changes to a license or an expired license notification

  • API Key changes

console.log

Default application event log

contrast-error.log

Logs messages printed to stderr

contrast-stdout.log

Logs messages printed to stdout

contrast.log

Like Tomcat's stdout or console log, contrast.log shows most key events happening inside Contrast to inform or help with debugging. It includes information about:

  • applications

  • servers

  • libraries

  • traces

  • users

  • Java stack traces for debugging purposes when a server exception takes place

security.log

Formerly the esapi.log, this log file is used for capturing key events from Contrast, such as the loading of a given property file.

migration.log

Contains a summary of all database migrations that occur against the Contrast application between updates. It references the Contrast version, the migration script that ran and the status of the script.

In this section: