> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/checking-server-logs.md).

# Checking the server logs

This page explains how to check and understand the server logs in SonarQube Server 10.8.

{% hint style="info" %}
**For AI agents:** You're in the SonarQube Server 10.8 documentation. For a list of all 10.8 pages, see the [SonarQube Server 10.8 page index](https://312504542-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FiJj3TXBdWssTGGg8qK5I%2Fuploads%2FmeJ1nVNGPezOurNrTy4A%2Fsonarqube-server-10.8-llms.txt?alt=media). For the whole site, see the [page index](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms.txt) or the [full text](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms-full.txt). For another version, replace 10.8 in the URL with that version. The [latest version](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/) has no version number in its URL.
{% endhint %}

If you’re having trouble starting your server for the first time (or any subsequent time!) the first thing to do is check your server logs.

The following log files are created (log files rotate on a regular basis):

* One per SonarQube Server process (main process, compute engine, search engine, and web server).
* The access log.
* The [API deprecation](/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/monitoring/api-deprecation.md) which stores the Web API requests that use deprecated Web API endpoints or parameters.

If you have a support contract, you can download your instance’s current log files from the UI. To do so:

* Go to **Administration > System** and click **Download logs** in the top right corner.

Otherwise, you’ll find them in `<sonarqubeHome>/logs`:

* `sonar.log`: Log for the main process. Holds general information about startup and shutdown. You’ll get overall status here but not details. Look to the other logs for that.
* `web.log`: Information about initial connection to the database, database migration and reindexing, and the processing of HTTP requests. This includes database and search engine logs related to those requests.
* `ce.log`: Information about background task processing and the database and search engine logs related to those tasks.
* `es.log`: Ops information from the search engine, such as Elasticsearch startup, health status changes, cluster-, node- and index-level operations, etc.
* `access.log`: access log.

## Understanding the logs <a href="#understanding-the-logs" id="understanding-the-logs"></a>

When there’s an error, you’ll very often find a stacktrace in the logs. If you’re not familiar stacktraces, they can be intimidatingly tall walls of incomprehensible text. As a sample, here’s a fairly short one:

```css-79elbk
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Unable to blame file **/**/foo.java
    at org.sonarsource.scm.git.JGitBlameCommand.blame(JGitBlameCommand.java:128)
    at org.sonarsource.scm.git.JGitBlameCommand.access$000(JGitBlameCommand.java:44)
    at org.sonarsource.scm.git.JGitBlameCommand$1.call(JGitBlameCommand.java:112)
    at org.sonarsource.scm.git.JGitBlameCommand$1.call(JGitBlameCommand.java:109)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.filter.PathFilter.create(PathFilter.java:77)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.blame.BlameGenerator.<init>(BlameGenerator.java:161)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.api.BlameCommand.call(BlameCommand.java:203)
    at org.sonarsource.scm.git.JGitBlameCommand.blame(JGitBlameCommand.java:126)
    ... 7 more
```

Unless you wrote the code that produced this error, you really only care about:

* the first line, which ought to have a human-readable message after the colon. In this case, it’s Unable to blame file `**/**/foo.java`
* and any line that starts with `Caused by`. There are often several `Caused by` lines, and indentation makes them easy to find as you scroll through the error. Be sure to read each of these lines. Very often one of them - the last one or next-to-last one - contains the real problem.

## Related pages <a href="#related-pages" id="related-pages"></a>

* [Server logs and system info](/sonarqube-server/10.8/instance-administration/system-functions/server-logs-and-system-info.md)
* [Performance issues](/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/performance-issues.md)
* [Database-related issues](/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/database-related-issues.md)
* [Elasticsearch-related issues](/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/elasticsearch.md)
* [Other issues](/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/other-issues.md)


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:

```
GET https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/10.8/server-upgrade-and-maintenance/troubleshooting/checking-server-logs.md?ask=<question>&goal=<user_goal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.