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Run docker logs <CONTAINER> to read a container’s recorded standard output and standard error on a Linux server. Add --follow to watch new entries as they arrive, --tail 100 to limit the result to the newest 100 lines, or --since and --until to select a time window. If the command is empty or incomplete, check the container’s logging driver and whether the application writes to standard streams at all.
What docker logs shows
Docker does not automatically display every file inside a container. The command reads the endpoint process’s STDOUT and STDERR through the container’s configured logging driver. Docker describes the live form this way: “The docker logs --follow command will continue streaming the new output from the container’s STDOUT and STDERR.”
That distinction explains many apparently missing logs. If an application writes only to /var/log/app.log inside the container and does not forward that data to standard output or standard error, docker logs will not return the file’s contents. You must either change the application’s logging destination or use the application’s own file-reading and collection method.
Quick command reference
| Goal | Command | Result |
|---|---|---|
| List running containers | docker ps |
Shows names and IDs for running containers. |
| Include stopped containers | docker ps -a |
Shows running and stopped containers. |
| Read logs | docker logs <CONTAINER> |
Prints available standard-output and standard-error entries. |
| Use the long command form | docker container logs <CONTAINER> |
Equivalent logs operation using the object-oriented command syntax. |
| Follow new entries | docker logs --follow <CONTAINER> |
Prints existing entries, then waits for new output. |
| Follow with the short flag | docker logs -f <CONTAINER> |
Same live stream as --follow. |
| Show the newest 100 lines | docker logs --tail 100 <CONTAINER> |
Returns a bounded snapshot from the end of the log. |
| Add timestamps | docker logs --timestamps <CONTAINER> |
Prefixes entries with RFC3339Nano timestamps. |
| Read entries after the last hour | docker logs --since 1h <CONTAINER> |
Uses a Go-duration time window. |
| Read a bounded time range | docker logs --since <START> --until <END> <CONTAINER> |
Returns entries after the start and before the upper bound. |
| Include driver attributes | docker logs --details <CONTAINER> |
Adds extra attributes supplied by logging options when configured. |
Step 1: identify the container
List running containers
- Open a shell on the Linux server and run
docker ps - Use the
NAMESvalue or the container ID in subsequent commands. Names are usually easier to read in scripts and incident notes; IDs are unambiguous when several containers have similar names.
Find a stopped container
A container that exited will not appear in the default listing. Include all containers:
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docker ps -aUse the resulting name or ID with docker logs. A stopped container can still have retained log entries, so checking its output is often the fastest way to understand why it exited.
Step 2: retrieve a one-time snapshot
Replace <CONTAINER> with the name or ID:
docker logs <CONTAINER>The long equivalent is:
docker container logs <CONTAINER>This prints the entries currently available to Docker and then exits. It is the appropriate form for a quick error check, a stopped process, or a command whose output you want to redirect into another tool.
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For example, a bounded snapshot can be saved without leaving an interactive stream running:
docker logs --tail 100 web-apiUse the exact container name shown by docker ps or docker ps -a; a shell typo produces a container-not-found error rather than an empty log.
Step 3: follow logs live
To monitor a service while it starts or handles a request, use:
docker logs --follow <CONTAINER>The short form is:
docker logs -f <CONTAINER>Docker first prints retained entries and then keeps the command open, streaming new standard-output and standard-error data. Stop the stream with Ctrl+C; this stops your log-viewing command, not the container itself.
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Combining follow mode with a tail limit is useful when a busy service has a large history:
docker logs --follow --tail 100 web-apiThat command starts with only the newest 100 lines and then continues with arriving entries. Without --tail, the documented default is all, so Docker may print the entire retained history before the live stream begins.
Limit output by line count
Read the newest N lines
Use --tail N or its short alias -n N:
docker logs --tail 100 <CONTAINER>
docker logs -n 100 <CONTAINER>The number applies to the end of the available log, not to a particular time interval. A line-count limit is predictable when you need the latest startup messages or a compact diagnostic capture, but it does not guarantee a particular time span: a busy process may produce 100 lines in seconds, while a quiet process may take days to produce them.
Combine a tail limit with timestamps
docker logs --tail 100 --timestamps <CONTAINER>This is useful when copying a short incident window into a ticket. Timestamps are emitted in RFC3339Nano format, so retain them exactly if another system will parse the output.
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Show event times
Use either spelling:
docker logs --timestamps <CONTAINER>
docker logs -t <CONTAINER>Docker adds RFC3339Nano timestamps to each returned entry. The timestamps are Docker’s recorded event times; they are not a replacement for an application’s own structured event fields.
Request extra attributes
docker logs --details <CONTAINER>--details asks the logging driver to include additional attributes when those attributes were supplied through logging options. If the configured driver has no such attributes, the output may look unchanged.
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Filter logs by time
Use a relative duration
--since accepts a Go duration such as 42m:
docker logs --since 1h <CONTAINER>
docker logs --since 42m <CONTAINER>These commands return entries after the relative start point. The same option can be combined with --follow to begin at a recent boundary and then watch new events:
docker logs --since 15m --follow <CONTAINER>Use an absolute start time
Docker also accepts an RFC3339 date or a Unix timestamp for --since:
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docker logs --since <RFC3339_DATE> <CONTAINER>
docker logs --since <UNIX_TIMESTAMP> <CONTAINER>Use the timestamp format required by your incident record and keep the server’s timezone in mind when converting a human time into an absolute value.
Set an upper bound with --until
docker logs --since 2026-10-15T09:00:00Z --until 2026-10-15T09:30:00Z <CONTAINER>--until selects entries before the specified timestamp or relative duration. Docker documents --until support for API version 1.35 and later. If a client or server reports an API compatibility error, check the Docker CLI and daemon versions before relying on an upper-bound filter.
Choose line filtering or time filtering
| Need | Prefer | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Last few messages regardless of age | --tail N |
Predictable number of lines. |
| Everything since a deploy or incident start | --since |
Matches an operational time boundary. |
| Only one bounded interval | --since plus --until |
Prevents earlier or later entries from entering the capture. |
| Recent history followed by live events | --since plus --follow |
Starts at a known recent point and remains attached. |
Why docker logs can appear empty
The application writes to a file instead of standard streams
Docker returns the endpoint command’s STDOUT and STDERR, not arbitrary files in the container filesystem. If the process writes only to /var/log/app.log, an empty Docker result is expected. Configure the application to emit to standard output or standard error, or use its file-specific logging and collection procedure.
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Run docker ps for running containers and docker ps -a when the process may have stopped. Verify the name and ID before diagnosing the application.
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The container has not produced output
A healthy process can be silent. Test with follow mode while causing a known startup or request event:
docker logs --follow --timestamps <CONTAINER>If no event is generated and the application does not log routine activity, there may simply be no stream data to display.
The logging driver does not expose readable entries
The active logging driver controls what Docker can retrieve. A driver that sends data to an external file, host, database, or other backend may provide little or no useful output through docker logs when dual logging is disabled. In that case, inspect the configured destination using the logging system’s own tools.
Check the container’s logging driver
Run this inspection command, replacing the placeholder:
docker inspect -f '{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}' <CONTAINER>The result is the logging driver configured for that container. Docker documents json-file as the default compatibility driver and also supports drivers such as local and journald. The driver setting belongs to the container configuration, so checking the daemon’s current default alone is not enough when investigating an existing container.
Use the result to choose the next diagnostic path:
- Readable local driver: retry
docker logswith the needed filters. - External or host-backed destination: consult that destination directly when the driver does not provide Docker-readable entries.
- Unexpected driver: review how the container was created and whether its logging options match the server’s retention and collection design.
Understand the json-file driver and disk usage
With the json-file driver, Docker records each entry’s message, stream, and timestamp. Docker warns that these files can consume significant disk space when they are not rotated. The files under Docker’s data directory are intended to be accessed by the Docker daemon; do not treat them as ordinary application files to parse, truncate, or edit during normal operations.
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Configure rotation in daemon.json
On a Linux host, add rotation settings to /etc/docker/daemon.json. This example keeps up to three files, each capped at 10 MB:
{
"log-driver": "json-file",
"log-opts": {
"max-size": "10m",
"max-file": "3"
}
}Docker requires log-opts values in daemon.json to be strings, which is why both values are quoted. Preserve any unrelated settings already present in the file and keep the JSON valid.
Apply the daemon configuration
- Validate the edited JSON before restarting the service.
- Restart Docker on a systemd-based Linux host:
sudo systemctl restart dockerThe new defaults apply to newly created containers. Existing containers retain the logging configuration they were created with, so recreate those containers when you need them to adopt the changed defaults. A daemon restart alone does not retroactively rewrite each existing container’s logging settings.
Container logs versus Docker daemon logs
docker logs explains what a container process emitted. It does not explain why the Docker daemon itself failed to start, lost its configuration, or cannot launch containers. For daemon-level problems on Linux, query the systemd journal:
sudo journalctl -xu docker.serviceTo follow new daemon messages:
sudo journalctl -fu docker.serviceDepending on the distribution, related daemon messages may also appear in /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages. Use these sources when the Docker service is failing before a container can produce logs.
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| Why is a remote logging destination missing entries? | The backend or host destination configured by the container’s logging driver. |
Practical investigation workflows
Investigate a failed startup
- List all containers:
docker ps -a. - Identify the exited container by name or ID.
- Read its complete retained output:
docker logs <CONTAINER>. - Repeat with
--timestampsif the order or timing is unclear. - Inspect the logging driver if the output is absent or unexpectedly short.
Watch a deployment
- Start with a bounded recent history:
docker logs --tail 100 --timestamps <CONTAINER>. - Attach to the live stream:
docker logs --follow --timestamps <CONTAINER>. - Stop viewing with
Ctrl+Cafter the deployment event has completed.
Capture a defined incident window
- Establish the incident start and end in a single time standard.
- Use
--sincewith the start and--untilwith the end. - Add
--timestampsso the exported lines retain Docker’s recorded times. - Record the container name or ID and the driver type alongside the capture.
docker logs --since <START> --until <END> --timestamps <CONTAINER>Inspect a noisy service without dumping its full history
docker logs --tail 200 --follow --timestamps <CONTAINER>This gives a manageable starting context and then remains useful for interactive diagnosis.
Quick Recap
Troubleshooting checklist
- “No such container”: rerun
docker ps -aand copy the exact name or ID. - Empty output from a running service: confirm the process writes to
STDOUTorSTDERR, then watch with--followwhile generating an event. - Only old entries appear: check whether log rotation has removed earlier data and whether the selected driver retains logs elsewhere.
- Time filtering gives unexpected results: verify the timestamp format, timezone, and whether your client supports the requested
--untiloperation. - Disk usage keeps growing: inspect the driver and configure rotation for
json-file; recreate existing containers after changing defaults. - Docker itself is unavailable: use
journalctl -xu docker.serviceorjournalctl -fu docker.servicerather than expecting container logs to diagnose a daemon failure. - Driver output is missing: inspect the container’s driver with
docker inspect -f '{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}' <CONTAINER>and consult the configured external destination when necessary.
Command patterns worth keeping
# Find the target, including stopped containers
docker ps -a
# Read all retained entries
docker logs <CONTAINER>
# Follow from the newest 100 lines
docker logs --tail 100 --follow <CONTAINER>
# Add RFC3339Nano timestamps
docker logs --timestamps <CONTAINER>
# Read the last hour
docker logs --since 1h <CONTAINER>
# Read a bounded interval
docker logs --since <START> --until <END> <CONTAINER>
# Include configured driver attributes
docker logs --details <CONTAINER>
# Identify the container's logging driver
docker inspect -f '{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}' <CONTAINER>
# Inspect Docker daemon messages
sudo journalctl -xu docker.service
sudo journalctl -fu docker.serviceOperational limits to remember
docker logsis a view of container standard streams, not a universal filesystem log browser.--taillimits lines, while--sinceand--untillimit time; choose the filter that matches the question.- The logging driver determines whether Docker can read and display the entries.
- Unrotated
json-filelogs can consume substantial disk space. - Changing daemon defaults affects newly created containers; recreate existing containers to apply the new logging configuration.
- Use systemd journal commands for Docker daemon failures, not container-level output commands.
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