--- name: "cupsd-logs" section: "5" platform: "macos" package: "cups" version: "522.4" release: "macOS 26.5" platforms: ["linux", "macos"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/cupsd-logs" --- # cupsd-logs(5) cupsd log files (access\_log, error\_log, and page\_log) ## NAME cupsd-logs - cupsd log files (access\_log, error\_log, and page\_log) ## DESCRIPTION [**cupsd**(8)](/cupsd/8.md) normally maintains three log files: *access\_log* to track requests that are submitted to the scheduler, *error\_log* to track progress and errors, and *page\_log* to track pages that are printed. Configuration directives in [**cupsd.conf**(5)](/cupsd.conf/5.md) and [**cups-files.conf**(5)](/cups-files.conf/5.md) control what information is logged and where it is stored. ### ACCESS LOG FILE FORMAT The *access\_log* file lists each HTTP resource that is accessed by a web browser or client. Each line is in an extended version of the so-called "Common Log Format" used by many web servers and web reporting tools: ``` host group user date-time "method resource version" status bytes ipp-operation ipp-status ``` For example: ``` 10.0.1.2 - - [01/Dec/2005:21:50:28 +0000] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 317 CUPS-Get-Printers successful-ok-ignored-or-substituted-attributes localhost - - [01/Dec/2005:21:50:32 +0000] "GET /admin HTTP/1.1" 200 0 - - localhost - - [01/Dec/2005:21:50:32 +0000] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 157 CUPS-Get-Printers successful-ok-ignored-or-substituted-attributes localhost - - [01/Dec/2005:21:50:32 +0000] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 1411 CUPS-Get-Devices - localhost - - [01/Dec/2005:21:50:32 +0000] "GET /admin HTTP/1.1" 200 6667 - - ``` The *host* field will normally only be an IP address unless you have enabled the HostNameLookups directive in the *cupsd.conf* file or if the IP address corresponds to your local machine. The *group* field always contains "-". The *user* field is the authenticated username of the requesting user. If no username and password is supplied for the request then this field contains "-". The *date-time* field is the date and time of the request in local time and is in the format "\[DD/MON/YYYY:HH:MM:SS +ZZZZ\]". The *method* field is the HTTP method used: "GET", "HEAD", "OPTIONS", "POST", or "PUT". "GET" requests are used to get files from the server, both for the web interface and to get configuration and log files. "HEAD" requests are used to get information about a resource prior to a "GET". "OPTIONS" requests are used to upgrade connections to TLS encryption. "POST" requests are used for web interface forms and IPP requests. "PUT" requests are used to upload configuration files. The *resource* field is the filename of the requested resource. The *version* field is the HTTP specification version used by the client. For CUPS clients this will always be "HTTP/1.1". The *status* field contains the HTTP result status of the request, as follows: - 200 Successful operation. - 201 File created/modified successfully. - 304 The requested file has not changed. - 400 Bad HTTP request; typically this means that you have a malicious program trying to access your server. - 401 Unauthorized, authentication (username + password) is required. - 403 Access is forbidden; typically this means that a client tried to access a file or resource they do not have permission to access. - 404 The file or resource does not exist. - 405 URL access method is not allowed; typically this means you have a web browser using your server as a proxy. - 413 Request too large; typically this means that a client tried to print a file larger than the MaxRequestSize allows. - 426 Upgrading to TLS-encrypted connection. - 500 Server error; typically this happens when the server is unable to open/create a file - consult the error\_log file for details. - 501 The client requested encryption but encryption support is not enabled/compiled in. - 505 HTTP version number not supported; typically this means that you have a malicious program trying to access your server. The *bytes* field contains the number of bytes in the request. For POST requests the bytes field contains the number of bytes of non-IPP data that is received from the client. The *ipp-operation* field contains either "-" for non-IPP requests or the IPP operation name for POST requests containing an IPP request. The *ipp-status* field contains either "-" for non-IPP requests or the IPP status code name for POST requests containing an IPP response. ### ERROR LOG FILE FORMAT The *error\_log* file lists messages from the scheduler - errors, warnings, etc. The LogLevel directive in the [**cupsd.conf**(5)](/cupsd.conf/5.md) file controls which messages are logged: ``` level date-time message ``` For example: ``` I [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] Queued on 'DeskJet' by 'mike'. D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[0]="DeskJet" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[1]="1" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[2]="mike" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[3]="myjob" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[4]="1" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[5]="media= na_letter_8.5x11in sides=one-sided" D [20/May/1999:19:18:28 +0000] [Job 1] argv[6]="/var/spool/cups/ d000001-001" I [20/May/1999:19:21:02 +0000] [Job 2] Queued on 'DeskJet' by 'mike'. I [20/May/1999:19:22:24 +0000] [Job 2] Canceled by 'mike'. ``` The *level* field contains the type of message: - A Alert message (LogLevel alert) - C Critical error message (LogLevel crit) - D Debugging message (LogLevel debug) - d Detailed debugging message (LogLevel debug2) - E Normal error message (LogLevel error) - I Informational message (LogLevel info) - N Notice message (LogLevel notice) - W Warning message (LogLevel warn) - X Emergency error message (LogLevel emerg) The *date-time* field contains the date and time of when the page started printing. The format of this field is identical to the data-time field in the *access\_log* file. The *message* field contains a free-form textual message. Messages from job filters are prefixed with "\[Job NNN\]" where "NNN" is the job ID. ### PAGE LOG FILE FORMAT The *page\_log* file lists the total number of pages (sheets) that are printed. By default, each line contains the following information: ``` printer user job-id date-time total num-sheets job-billing job-originating-host-name job-name media sides ``` For example the entry for a two page job called "myjob" might look like: ``` DeskJet root 1 [20/May/1999:19:21:06 +0000] total 2 acme-123 localhost myjob na_letter_8.5x11in one-sided ``` The PageLogFormat directive in the [**cupsd.conf**(5)](/cupsd.conf/5.md) file can be used to change this information. The *printer* field contains the name of the printer that printed the page. If you send a job to a printer class, this field will contain the name of the printer that was assigned the job. The *user* field contains the name of the user (the IPP requesting-user-name attribute) that submitted this file for printing. The *job-id* field contains the job number of the page being printed. The *date-time* field contains the date and time of when the page started printing. The format of this field is identical to the data-time field in the *access\_log* file. The *num-sheets* field provides the total number of pages (sheets) that have been printed on for the job. The *job-billing* field contains a copy of the job-billing or job-account-id attributes provided with the IPP Create-Job or Print-Job requests or "-" if neither was provided. The *job-originating-host-name* field contains the hostname or IP address of the client that printed the job. The *job-name* field contains a copy of the job-name attribute provided with the IPP Create-Job or Print-Job requests or "-" if none was provided. The *media* field contains a copy of the media or media-col/media-size attribute provided with the IPP Create-Job or Print-Job requests or "-" if none was provided. The *sides* field contains a copy of the sides attribute provided with the IPP Create-Job or Print-Job requests or "-" if none was provided. ## SEE ALSO [**cupsd**(8)](/cupsd/8.md), [**cupsd.conf**(5)](/cupsd.conf/5.md), [**cups-files.conf**(5)](/cups-files.conf/5.md), CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help) ## COPYRIGHT Copyright © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.