Php error_log not writing to file

The PHP error_log method does not write errors to the custom error log file. It will only write to /var/log/apache2/php_error.log

Here are the logging settings in my php.ini:

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_DEPRECATED & ~E_NOTICE
display_errors = Off
log_errors = On
log_errors_max_len = 0 ; also tried with 9999999
error_log = /var/log/apache2/php_errors.log

PHP writes its errors to the regular Apache error log [/var/log/apache2/error.log] rather than the one I specified above.

Things I already tried:

1. I stopped and restarted apache after changing the php.ini file
2. The file /var/log/apache2/php_errors.log is 777 permissions and the file exists.
3. There are no other overriding php.ini files. [There is /etc/php5/cli/php.ini but I'm not using cli].
4. There are no other error_log = xxx settings further down the php.ini file which could overrule the first one
5. phpinfo[] says error_log = /var/log/apache2/php_errors.log [i.e. the correct file], both under Local Value and Master Value
6. The test script I'm using to generate errors doesn't contain any ini_set calls

[FYI: I'm using Apache/2.2.17 and PHP/5.3.5-1ubuntu7.2 on Ubuntu 11.04]

What am I doing wrong?

asked Sep 21, 2011 at 13:26

9

I'd like to answer this as it's a high result on Google even though it's an old question.

I solved this by adding write permissions for all users on the log directory.

In my case, the user 'http' needed to be able to write to /var/log/httpd/ so I ran

# chmod a+w /var/log/httpd

If the file already exists, it may help to delete it first and allow Apache to create it.

My php.ini file included the entire path, also.

error_log = /var/log/httpd/php_errors.log

answered Jun 13, 2014 at 17:07

newmangtnewmangt

2,2091 gold badge13 silver badges9 bronze badges

1

You could try specifying the filename like this:

I'm using Apache 2.2.22 on Ubuntu.

Use this PHP command:

error_log["eric", 3, "/home/el/error.log"];

The first parameter is the message to be sent to the error log. The 2nd parameter 3 means "expect a filename destination. The third parameter is the destination.

Create the file /home/el/error.log and set its ownership to this:

el@apollo:~$ ll error.log
-rwxrwxr-x 1 www-data www-data 7 Dec 13 14:30 error.log

When the PHP interprets the error_log method, it appends the message to your file.

Source: //www.php.net/manual/en/function.error-log.php

answered Dec 13, 2013 at 19:40

Eric LeschinskiEric Leschinski

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Make sure that the Apache user has at least EXECUTION permission on any parent folders in the path to the logfile. Without it, Apache cannot list anything in the folder and thus not see the logfile.

ls
drwxr-x--- root adm folder

chmod o+x folder

ls
drwxr-x--x root adm folder

That one is a real gotcha! ;-]

After that, also check that the Apache user does have read and write permission to the actual logfile.

answered Nov 2, 2020 at 10:10

JetteJette

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3

I've got that problem and then I gave the right permission to the apache log folder and then restarted my apache with this commands:

sudo chmod a+w /var/log/apache2/
sudo service apache2 restart

answered Apr 28, 2021 at 19:15

Pejman KheyriPejman Kheyri

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You can set the error log file for a site in the VirtualHost site configuration file, e.g: /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/example.com.conf:

  ....

  ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/www.example.com-error.log
  LogLevel warn
  CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/www.example.com-access.log combined

In unix system ${APACHE_LOG_DIR} is usually /var/log/apache2 The errors and access will saved in ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/www.example.com-error.log and ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/www.example.com-access.log.

answered Apr 8, 2014 at 14:08

Amadu BahAmadu Bah

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remove php_errors.log and restart apache2, the server itself will create a new php_errors.log file with proper permission and owner.

rm -f /var/log/apache2/php_errors.log
service apache2 restart

ll /var/log/apache2/php_errors.log

answered Jun 6, 2013 at 2:21

蒋艾伦蒋艾伦

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I spent several hours today trying to figure out why this wasn't working and trying to debug code working around the fact that I could log anything to the php error log. Needless to say, I was going at a snails pace until I got the logging working.

I would guess that more than 90% of the time it is a permission issue. In my case daemon was the owner and group for the log file and I had to sudo su to root and then change the permissions of the log file. I changed to:

chmod 777 myphperror.log

Thank God for stackoverflow.com

answered Apr 6, 2016 at 19:35

2

Where does error_log write to?

How do I log errors to a text file in PHP?

How do I enable PHP logging?

Can I delete my PHP error log?