---
title: Logging
---
## Log Levels
The following log levels are used in Rancher:
| Name | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `info` | Logs informational messages. This is the default log level. |
| `debug` | Logs more detailed messages that can be used to debug. |
| `trace` | Logs very detailed messages on internal functions. This is very verbose and can contain sensitive information. |
### How to Configure a Log Level
#### Kubernetes Install
* Configure debug log level
```
$ KUBECONFIG=./kube_config_cluster.yml
$ kubectl -n cattle-system get pods -l app=rancher --no-headers -o custom-columns=name:.metadata.name | while read rancherpod; do kubectl -n cattle-system exec $rancherpod -c rancher -- loglevel --set debug; done
OK
OK
OK
$ kubectl -n cattle-system logs -l app=rancher -c rancher
```
* Configure info log level
```
$ KUBECONFIG=./kube_config_cluster.yml
$ kubectl -n cattle-system get pods -l app=rancher --no-headers -o custom-columns=name:.metadata.name | while read rancherpod; do kubectl -n cattle-system exec $rancherpod -c rancher -- loglevel --set info; done
OK
OK
OK
```
#### Docker Install
* Configure debug log level
```
$ docker exec -ti loglevel --set debug
OK
$ docker logs -f
```
* Configure info log level
```
$ docker exec -ti loglevel --set info
OK
```
## Rancher Machine Debug Logs
If you need to troubleshoot the creation of objects in your infrastructure provider of choice, `rancher-machine`
debug logs might be helpful to you.
It's possible to enable debug logs for `rancher-machine` by setting environment variables when launching Rancher.
The `CATTLE_WHITELIST_ENVVARS` environment variable allows users to whitelist specific environment variables to be
passed down to `rancher-machine` during provisioning.
The `MACHINE_DEBUG` variable enables debug logs in `rancher-machine`.
Thus, by setting `MACHINE_DEBUG=true` and adding `MACHINE_DEBUG` to the default list of variables in
`CATTLE_WHITELIST_ENVVARS` (e.g. `CATTLE_WHITELIST_ENVVARS=HTTP_PROXY,HTTPS_PROXY,NO_PROXY,MACHINE_DEBUG`) it is
possible to enable debug logs in `rancher-machine` when provisioning RKE1, RKE2 and k3s clusters.
:::caution
Just like the `trace` log level above, `rancher-machine` debug logs can contain sensitive information.
:::
## Cattle-cluster-agent Debug Logs
The `cattle-cluster-agent` log levels can be set when you initialize downstream clusters.
When you create a cluster under **Cluster Configuration > Agent Environment Vars** you can set variables to define the log level.
- Trace-level logging: Set `CATTLE_TRACE` or `RANCHER_TRACE` to `true`
- Debug-level logging: Set `CATTLE_DEBUG` or `RANCHER_DEBUG` to `true`
:::caution
The `cattle-cluster-agent` debug logs may contain sensitive information.
:::