---
title: Troubleshoot APM Go Agent
description: Is something not working as expected? Don’t worry if you can’t figure out what the problem is; we’re here to help! First, ensure your app is compatible...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/troubleshoot/observability/apm-agent-go/apm-go-agent
products:
  - APM Agent
  - APM Go Agent
applies_to:
  - Serverless Observability projects: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
---

# Troubleshoot APM Go Agent
Is something not working as expected? Don’t worry if you can’t figure out what the problem is; we’re here to help! First, ensure your app is compatible with the agent’s [supported technologies](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/supported-technologies).
If you’re an existing Elastic customer with a support contract, create a ticket in the [Elastic Support portal](https://support.elastic.co/customers/s/login/). Other users can post in the [APM discuss forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/apm).
<important>
  **Upload your complete debug logs** to a service like [GitHub Gist](https://gist.github.com) so that we can analyze the problem. Logs should include everything from when the application starts up until the first request executes. Instructions for enabling logging are below.
</important>


## Logging

Agent logs are critical to the debugging process. By default, this logging is disabled. To enable it, set a log output file with [`ELASTIC_APM_LOG_FILE`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/configuration#config-log-file). Alternatively, if you’re using Docker or Kubernetes and are okay with mixing agent and application logs, you can set `ELASTIC_APM_LOG_FILE=stderr`.
<note>
  The agent does not rotate log files. Log rotation must be handled externally.
</note>

With logging enabled, use [`ELASTIC_APM_LOG_LEVEL`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/configuration#config-log-level) to increase the granularity of the agent’s logging. For example: `ELASTIC_APM_LOG_LEVEL=debug`.
Be sure to execute a few requests to your application before posting your log files. Each request should add lines similar to these in the logs:
```txt
{"level":"debug","time":"2020-07-23T11:46:32+08:00","message":"sent request with 100 transactions, 0 spans, 0 errors, 0 metricsets"}
```

If you don’t see lines like these, it’s likely that you haven’t instrumented your application correctly.

## Disable the Agent

In the unlikely event the agent causes disruptions to a production application, you can disable the agent while you troubleshoot.
If you have access to [dynamic configuration](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/configuration#dynamic-configuration), you can disable the recording of events by setting [`ELASTIC_APM_RECORDING`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/configuration#config-recording) to `false`. When changed at runtime from a supported source, there’s no need to restart your application.
If that doesn’t work, or you don’t have access to dynamic configuration, you can disable the agent by setting [`ELASTIC_APM_ACTIVE`](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/apm/agents/go/configuration#config-active) to `false`. Restart your application for the changes to apply.