Server logs are valuable diagnostic tools that help you understand what's happening on your website. Learning to read and use logs effectively helps troubleshoot issues, monitor performance, and improve security.
Types of server logs
1. Access logs
Access logs record every request to your server, including:
- Visitor IP addresses
- Requested URLs
- HTTP status codes
- User agents (browsers)
- Referrers
2. Error logs
Error logs capture problems like:
- PHP errors
- 404 Not Found errors
- 500 Internal Server errors
- Database connection issues
- Permission problems
3. Security logs
Security logs track suspicious activity:
- Failed login attempts
- Malware detection
- DDoS attacks
- Unauthorized access attempts
How to read access logs
A typical access log entry looks like:
192.168.1.1 - - [25/Jan/2026:10:15:30 +0000] "GET /blog/post.php HTTP/1.1" 200 4523 "https://example.com" "Mozilla/5.0"
This shows: IP address, timestamp, HTTP method, URL, status code (200 = success), response size, referrer, user agent.
How to read error logs
Error log entries typically include:
- Timestamp
- Error level (Warning, Error, Critical)
- Error message
- File and line number
Using logs for troubleshooting
Finding 404 errors
Search access logs for status code 404 to find broken links and missing pages.
Identifying slow pages
Look for requests with long response times or high response sizes that might indicate performance issues.
Detecting security threats
Monitor for unusual patterns: repeated failed logins, suspicious user agents, or requests to admin directories.
Tools for log analysis
- cPanel Logs – Built-in log viewer in hosting control panel
- AWStats – Visual log analysis
- GoAccess – Real-time log analyzer
- Command line – grep, tail, awk for advanced analysis
iServerGo log access
iServerGo's cpanel hosting on hong kong hosting, us web hosting, and eu web hosting provides easy access to all server logs through the control panel. Our support team can help you interpret logs and troubleshoot issues.
Need help reading your server logs? Contact our support team for assistance with log analysis and troubleshooting.
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