Where are the PostgreSQL logs on macOS?
PostgresqlLoggingMacosPostgresql Problem Overview
I would like to take a look at the PostgreSQL log files to see what my app writes to them but I can't find them.
Any ideas?
Postgresql Solutions
Solution 1 - Postgresql
On OSX Homebrew installation the log can be found at:
Latest Homebrew:
/opt/homebrew/var/log/postgres.log
or older:
/usr/local/var/log/postgres.log
or for older version of postgres (< 9.6)
/usr/local/var/postgres/server.log
Bonus - check if PostgreSQL is running using Homebrew:
brew services info --all
Solution 2 - Postgresql
Just ask your database:
SELECT
*
FROM
pg_settings
WHERE
category IN( 'Reporting and Logging / Where to Log' , 'File Locations')
ORDER BY
category,
name;
In my case, it's in "/Library/PostgreSQL/8.4/data/pg_log"
Solution 3 - Postgresql
The plist used to launch your Postgres on boot may also set the logfile:
$ dir ~/Library/LaunchAgents
org.postgresql.postgres.plist
$ cat ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.postgresql.postgres.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
[...]
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/usr/local/var/postgres/server.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>
So in this case, /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log.
Solution 4 - Postgresql
On OS X, if you're using the EnterpriseDB installation of PostgreSQL, your log files will be in /Library/PostgreSQL/8.4/data/pg_log
Of course, you'll want to substitute 8.4 for whichever version number you're running.
Solution 5 - Postgresql
For Apple M1(Big Sur / Monterey) users who installed postgres using homebrew the location is -
/opt/homebrew/var/log/postgres.log
Solution 6 - Postgresql
If you are using Postgres.app, you can find the Data Directory location in the Preferences dialog box. In that directory, the log is at postgres-server.log.
For example, on my machine, the log is at /Users/nofinator/Library/Application Support/Postgres/var-9.4/postgres-server.log.
Solution 7 - Postgresql
I have different Postgresql versions installed on my mac (with macports), and all the logs can be found here
/opt/local/var/log/postgresql84/postgres.log
/opt/local/var/log/postgresql91/postgres.log
/opt/local/var/log/postgresql92/postgres.log
Solution 8 - Postgresql
Postgresapp 9.3.5.1 and later keep a server log. The log is inside the data directory, named postgres-server.log.
Solution 9 - Postgresql
And for users of macports, expect something like /opt/local/var/log/postgresql11 (assuming you are running postgresql 11) after upgrading to Big Sur.
Solution 10 - Postgresql
Postgres 13
All logs are arranged per in the order of dates in postgres version 13. The correct folder to find it is :
sudo ls /Library/PostgreSQL/13/data/log
Here you can see all the logs file that were created to select any one log file use
sudo vim /Library/PostgreSQL/13/data/log/postgresql-2021-08-20_051906.log