---
title: Logging settings
description: You do not need to configure any additional settings to use the logging features in Kibana. Logging is enabled by default and will log at info level using...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/kibana/configuration-reference/logging-settings
products:
- Kibana
applies_to:
- Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---
# Logging settings
You do not need to configure any additional settings to use the logging features in Kibana. Logging is enabled by default and will log at `info` level using the `pattern` layout, which outputs logs to `stdout`.
However, if you are planning to ingest your logs using Elasticsearch or another tool, we recommend using the `json` layout, which produces logs in ECS format. In general, `pattern` layout is recommended when raw logs will be read by a human, and `json` layout when logs will be read by a machine.
The logging configuration is validated against the predefined schema and if there are any issues with it, Kibana will fail to start with the detailed error message.
Kibana relies on three high-level entities to set the logging service: appenders, loggers, and root. These can be configured in the `logging` namespace in `kibana.yml`.
- Appenders define where log messages are displayed (stdout or console) and their layout (`pattern` or `json`). They also allow you to specify if you want the logs stored and, if so, where (file on the disk).
- Loggers define what logging settings, such as the level of verbosity and the appenders, to apply to a particular context. Each log entry context provides information about the service or plugin that emits it and any of its sub-parts, for example, `metrics.ops` or `elasticsearch.query`.
- Root is a logger that applies to all the log entries in Kibana.
The following table serves as a quick reference for different logging configuration keys. Note that these are not stand-alone settings and may require additional logging configuration. See the [Configure Logging in Kibana](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-logging) guide and complete [examples](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-log-settings-examples) for common configuration use cases.
| | |
|--------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `logging.appenders[].` | Unique appender identifier. |
| `logging.appenders[].console:` | Appender to use for logging records to **stdout**. By default, uses the `[%date][%level][%logger] %message %error` **pattern*** layout. To use a ***json**, set the [layout type to `json`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-log-settings-examples#log-in-json-ecs-example). Elastic Stack: Generally available since 9.1 `%error` is present since Stack version 9.1. |
| `logging.appenders[].file:` | Allows you to specify a fileName to write log records to disk. To write [all log records to file](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-log-settings-examples#log-to-file-example), add the file appender to `root.appenders`. If configured, you also need to specify [`logging.appenders.file.pathName`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-log-settings-examples#log-to-file-example). |
| `logging.appenders[].rolling-file:` | Similar to [Log4j’s](https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/) `RollingFileAppender`, this appender will log to a file and rotate if following a rolling strategy when the configured policy triggers. There are currently two policies supported: [`size-limit`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-logging#size-limit-triggering-policy) and [`time-interval`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-logging#time-interval-triggering-policy). |
| `logging.appenders[]..type` | The appender type determines where the log messages are sent. Options are `console`, `file`, `rewrite`, `rolling-file`. Required. |
| `logging.appenders[]..fileName` | Determines the filepath where the log messages are written to for file and rolling-file appender types. Required for appenders that write to file. |
| `logging.appenders[]..policy.type` | Specify the triggering policy for when a rollover should occur for the `rolling-file` type appender. |
| `logging.appenders[]..policy.interval` | Specify the time interval for rotating a log file for a `time-interval` type `rolling-file` appender. **Default 24h** |
| `logging.appenders[]..policy.size` | Specify the size limit at which the policy should trigger a rollover for a `size-limit` type `rolling-file` appender. **Default 100mb**. |
| `logging.appenders[]..policy.interval` | Specify the time interval at which the policy should trigger a rollover for a time-interval type `rolling-file` appender. |
| `logging.appenders[]..policy.modulate` | Whether the interval should be adjusted to cause the next rollover to occur on the interval boundary. Boolean. Default `true`. |
| `logging.appenders[]..strategy.type` | Rolling file strategy type. Only `numeric` is currently supported. |
| `logging.appenders[]..strategy.pattern` | The suffix to append to the file path when rolling. Must include `%i`. |
| `logging.appenders[]..strategy.max` | The maximum number of files to keep. Optional. Default is `7` and the maximum is `100`. |
| `logging.appenders[]..layout.type` | Determines how the log messages are displayed. Options are `pattern`, which provides human-readable output, or `json`, which provides ECS-compliant output. Required. |
| `logging.appenders[]..layout.highlight` | Optional boolean to highlight log messages in color. Applies to `pattern` layout only. Default is `false`. |
| `logging.appenders[]..layout.pattern` | Optional [string pattern](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/deploy-manage/monitor/logging-configuration/kibana-logging#pattern-layout) for placeholders that will be replaced with data from the actual log message. Applicable to pattern type layout only. |
| `logging.root.appenders[]` | List of specific appenders to apply to `root`. Defaults to `console` with `pattern` layout. |
| `logging.root.level` | Specify default verbosity for all log messages to fall back to if not specifically configured at the individual logger level. Options are `all`, `fatal`, `error`, `warn`, `info`, `debug`, `trace`, `off`. The `all` and `off` levels can be used only in configuration and are just handy shortcuts that allow you to log every log record or disable logging entirely or for a specific logger. Default is `info`. |
| `logging.loggers[]..name:` | Specific logger instance. |
| `logging.loggers[]..level` | Specify verbosity of log messages for context. Optional and inherits the verbosity of any ancestor logger, up to the `root` logger `level`. |
| `logging.loggers[]..appenders` | Determines the appender to apply to a specific logger context as an array. Optional and falls back to the appender(s) of the `root` logger if not specified. |
| `deprecation.enable_http_debug_logs` | Optional boolean to log debug messages when a deprecated API is called. Default is `false`. |
For details on audit logging settings, refer to the [Kibana security settings](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/kibana/configuration-reference/security-settings#audit-logging-settings).