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If you need to monitor your cluster, tune performance, or issues, you can check the CockroachDB logs, which include details about notable cluster, node, and range-level events.

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Details

When a node starts, shuts down, or processes a , it produces a stream of messages about the command’s activities. Each message is composed of:
  • A payload that contains events either structured in JSON or conveyed in an arbitrary string. For details on structured event types and their fields, see .
  • An envelope that contains event metadata (e.g., severity, date, timestamp, channel). Depending on the log format you specify when , the envelope can be formatted either in JSON or as a flat prefix to the message.
Messages are organized into appropriate logging channels and then routed through log sinks. Each sink further processes and filters the messages before emitting them to destinations outside CockroachDB. The mapping of channels to sinks, as well as the processing and filtering done by each sink, is configurable and is intended to support multiple . For more information on configuring sinks and severity levels, see .
All support logging. However, note that most messages related to cluster operation are generated by or . Other commands generate messages related to their own execution, which are mainly useful when troubleshooting the behaviors of those commands.

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Logging channels

Log channels cannot be completely disabled. You can configure and , but you cannot turn off a log channel entirely. For example, a channel that is not explicitly configured for a is enabled in the default file group.
Log messages in CockroachDB are directed to logging channels, which can in turn be assigned to output to one or more . This allows you to group channels that log related information (e.g., operational, security, or SQL events) into their own sinks. Each sink can output to a predetermined destination where the logs can be collected and parsed. For usage examples, see . Logging channels are analogous to logging facilities in Syslog or logging services in Datadog. For more details on the contents of each logging channel, see the .

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log.channel_compatibility_mode.enabled

New in v25.4: The log.channel_compatibility_mode.enabled controls logging channel behavior. When set to:
  • true (default): Logs are sent to the standard logging channels. This maintains the behavior in v25.3 and earlier supported versions. Specifically, the system sends:
  • false: Logs are sent to updated logging channels. Specifically, the system sends:
In a future release, log.channel_compatibility_mode.enabled is expected to default to false. To prepare for that change and assess potential downstream impacts on your logging setup and pipelines, set the log.channel_compatibility_mode.enabled cluster setting to false in a non-production environment.

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Logging destinations

When using the , the events collected on each logging channel are split into log files as follows: Logging destinations and many other parameters are configurable via YAML. For details, see .

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See also