Skip to tutorial content
Rate module Not yet rated

System Logs

3 min read
On this page

In this lesson, you will learn:

  • What the system log is
  • How to find warnings and errors
  • Which other logs help when something goes wrong

1 The instance’s diary

Something went wrong, but nobody saw an error on screen. Where do you look? The system log. It’s the instance’s diary: scripts, jobs, and the platform write messages there all day. 📓

Key term: System log

A list of messages written by the platform and by scripts, with a level like info, warning, or error. Stored in syslog. Find it in System Logs > System Log > All.

The System Log list filtered to today. Columns: Created, Level, Message, and Source. Rows include: an Information message from SNWR close stale resolved incidents saying closed 12 incidents; a Warning from an import saying skipped a row with no email; and an Error from a business rule saying cannot read property of null. The Level column is used to filter to errors only.
Figure 1. Filter by Level and Source to find the problem fast.

2 Writing to the log

Your server scripts can add their own messages. It’s the easiest way to see what a script is doing.

gs.info('SNWR job: closed ' + count + ' incidents');   // Information
gs.warn('SNWR import: row skipped, no email');          // Warning
gs.error('SNWR rule: caller is empty on ' + current.number); // Error

3 Other useful logs

Log Where Shows
Warnings / Errors System Logs > System Log > Warnings or Errors Just the problems
Emails System Logs > Emails Emails sent and received (Lesson 24.3)
Events System Policy > Events > Event Log Events fired and processed (Lesson 41.1)
Transactions System Logs > Transactions Every page load and request, with how long it took
Node log files System Logs > Utilities > Node Log File Browser Low-level server log files

💡 Good to know: Start every message with a tag, like SNWR job:. Then filter the log with “Message starts with SNWR” to find yours in seconds.

⚠️ Heads up: Don’t leave chatty gs.info() lines in scripts that run thousands of times. They fill the log and make real problems harder to spot.

⭐ Remember: System log = syslog. Write with gs.info(), gs.warn(), gs.error(). Filter by Level and Source.

4 Let’s try it: find your message

  1. Open Scripts – Background and run: gs.warn('SNWR test: hello from the log');
  2. Open System Logs > System Log > Warnings. Filter Message starts with SNWR.
  3. Find your message. What’s its Source?
  4. Open System Logs > Transactions. Which pages took longest today?

5 Quick recap

  • The system log (syslog) records platform and script messages
  • Levels: information, warning, error
  • Write with gs.info(), gs.warn(), gs.error()
  • Other logs: emails, events, transactions, node log files
  • Tag your messages so they’re easy to find

6 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 Which table stores system log messages? Show answer

syslog.

2 Which method writes an error to the log? Show answer

gs.error().

3 Users say a page is slow. Which log shows how long requests took? Show answer

The Transactions log.

Nice work! You finished this lesson. 🎉

Was this lesson helpful?

Have a question or doubt?

Ask here and get help from instructors and fellow learners.

0 / 300

Only logged-in learners can post.