# cupsd-logs(5)

## Name

cupsd-logs - cupsd log files (access_log, error_log, and page_log)

## Description

cupsd(8) 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) and cups-files.conf(5) 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) 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) 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.conf(5), cups-files.conf(5), CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help)

## Copyright

Copyright © 2021-2023 by OpenPrinting.