Tail PHP error logs in Docker

FIRST – Docker PHP Setup!

Before you can actually see the docker php error logs, you have to enable php error logging in the php.ini file. I use an Ubuntu php image, and my php.ini location was here:

/usr/local/etc/php/

note: if you don’t know where your php.ini location is, you can create a TEMPORARY php file with this command in it:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
REMEMBER that you should not leave this file existing in your site, because its insecure and will give public access to your server info!

I noticed that my php.ini file didn’t exist there, so I had to create it. Then I added this:

log_errors = On
error_log = /dev/stderr

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Tailing the Logs

To tail the docker logs, use this command:

docker logs -f DOCKER_CONTAINER_NAME

To tail just the error logs:

docker logs -f your_php_apache_container >/dev/null

To tail just the access logs:

docker logs -f your_php_apache_container 2>/dev/null

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Exta Note!

In PHP, you can also use the error logs as a debug console. Send info to it with:

<?php
  error_log('debug message goes here');
?>

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sources:
– https://github.com/docker-library/php/issues/212
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