Read the log

The log records line by line what happened during a backup, a check or a restore. This is how you open and read it.

There are two kinds. Every job has its own job log. The general log contains what belongs to no job: the connection tests of the targets, changes to the settings, the schedule.

Step 1: Open the log

Where	What opens
Red message after a job, yellow message after a backup, a check or a diagnosis: Log	the log of this job
Red message without a job and yellow message after a failed connection test: Show log	the general log
List of backups on the Overview, Backup and Restore pages: More …, then Log	the log of this backup
Status tile of the Overview after a backup with warnings or an error and with an overdue plan: Log	the log of the backup that the tile names
Restore page, Extended view, Recent restores tile: Log	the log of this restore
Settings page, Extended view, Log tile: Show log	the general log

The yellow message after a restore carries no link. You open the log of a restore in the Recent restores tile.

1. The message names the number and kind of the warnings.
2. Log opens the log of this backup. The names of the entries are there.
3. The cross closes the message. Yellow and red messages stay until you close them or begin a new action.

Step 2: Read the lines

The dialog window is always called Log. The lines are in the order in which they were written: the oldest at the top, the newest at the very bottom.

1. At the front is the time, in the time zone of the website.
2. Then follows the level, and after it the message.
3. The details of the message are in small print below it.
4. For this warning, the details name the entry that could not be backed up, and the reason.

Level	Meaning
INFO	An ordinary step of the process.
WARNING, yellow	A warning: something did not go smoothly.
ERROR, red	An error: something failed.
DEBUG, grey	Detailed lines, only with debugging switched on.

A long log

The dialog window shows at most the last 500 lines of a log. If the log has more lines, Only the last … lines are shown. appears above the list.

1. The notice says that the dialog window shows only the last 500 lines of the log.
2. A line of the level DEBUG is in grey. The plugin writes such lines only with debugging switched on.

After opening, the list is at its start: you see the oldest of the shown lines. You find the newest line at the very bottom: scroll in the list to the end. The dialog window does not jump there on its own. Lines older than the shown ones are in the download of all logs.

The messages in the log are in English. Passwords and keys never appear there in clear text; in their place is ********.

Step 3: Find the warnings

If a backup ends with warnings, the message names only the number and kind. The log names every entry by name, in a line of the level WARNING:

• Entry could not be backed up. The entry was not backed up.
• File changed while it was being read; the backup holds what was read. The file changed while being read. The backup contains what was read.

In the details, after entry is the path inside the website, never a path of the server, and after reason the reason:

Reason	Meaning
unreadable	not readable
vanished	vanished before the plugin could read the entry
unsupported	unsupported: neither file nor folder nor link
missing	not backed up for another reason; the message counts these entries among the vanished ones
changed	changed while being read

The log names at most 50 entries per reason. It counts further ones without naming them: More entries of this kind follow; they are counted, not listed.

The general log

1. At the front are date and time, in the time zone of the website. The date is there because this log spans days.
2. Then follows the level, and after it the message.
3. Below are the details of the message.
4. This line reports an error.

Keeping and downloading logs

Open the Settings page, switch to Extended and click the title line of the Log tile.

1. Keep logs for takes 7 to 365 days, the default is 30. The plugin deletes older job logs once a day.
2. Debugging for 24 hours switches on detailed lines.
3. Log writable shows whether the plugin can write its log. If not, the reason follows.
4. Save saves the number of days.
5. Download all logs saves all logs as one file.
6. Show log opens the general log.

The file is called cloneworx-backup-logs_<host>_<date>_<time>.tar and is not compressed. In the folder cloneworx-backup-logs are the general log with its predecessor file and one file per job. Every line of a file names timestamp, level, source, message and details, separated by vertical bars. The plugin never sends logs anywhere on its own.

Switching on debugging

The switch takes effect immediately. After 24 hours, debugging switches itself off.

1. Debugging for 24 hours is switched on.
2. The line below names the time: Debugging is on until ….

Switch on debugging before you repeat a failed operation. The detailed lines then appear in the log of the new operation, between the other lines. They do not get a file of their own.

If something does not work

Message	Meaning
There is no log for this backup any more. Logs are kept for … days.	The file was deleted because the retention time is over, or it is gone after the website moved.
There is no general log yet.	Nothing has been written yet that belongs to no job.
The log could not be loaded.	The reason follows. Reload the page and open the log again.

Good to know

• From 5 MB on, a job log accepts only warnings and errors; from 10 MB on, nothing more. The general log starts a new file at 5 MB; the previous one stays as the predecessor file.
• Logs lie on the web server, never at a target.

See also

• Progress, messages and log
• When a backup fails or ends with warnings
• Get help: support report, troubleshooting and diagnostics
• The “Settings” page
• State, logs and support with WP-CLI

On the command line

WP-CLI not set up yet? How to install WP-CLI.

WP-CLI lists the log files, writes all of them into a tar file and switches debugging. The file after --to must not exist yet. logs does not show the content of a log; for that, you open the files from the archive.

# Show the log files with size and date
wp cloneworx-backup logs

# Write all logs as one tar file
wp cloneworx-backup logs --to=/tmp/cloneworx-logs.tar

# Enable debugging for 24 hours
wp cloneworx-backup debug on

# Show whether debugging is on, and until when
wp cloneworx-backup debug status

# Disable debugging
wp cloneworx-backup debug off