The Apache access log (access.log) contains a list of requests for your application that have bypassed Varnish®. These requests include pages, theme files, and static media files.

For a list of the log files handled by Cloud Platform, including accessing these log files, log file retention, and their locations, see About Cloud Platform logging. You can also review information about how to streaming Apache log entries in real time from your browser.

Parsing the log file

The following line is a representative example of the data written into your website’s Apache access log:

200.0.0.1 - - [04/Jan/2017:23:20:38 +0000] "GET /contact_us HTTP/1.1" 404 10117 "-" "Pingdom.com bot version 1.4 (http://www.pingdom.com/)" vhost=alphabeta.prod.acquia-sites.com host=www.example.com hosting_site=alphabeta pid=26731 request_time=10186417 forwarded_for="200.0.0.1, 162.0.0.1" request_id="v-00000zzz-d2d4-11e6-9bed-0aeea9eaf9af" location="http://apache.example.com/"

Each of the items in the Apache access log is noted in the following table, along with its description:

The REQUEST line from the client, containing three parts:

• The method of the request (GET)
• The path requested (/contact_us)
• The HTTP protocol (1.1)

Apache access logs

200.0.0.1 - - [04/Jan/2017:23:20:38 +0000] "GET /contact_us HTTP/1.1" 404 10117 "-" "Pingdom.com bot version 1.4 (http://www.pingdom.com/)" vhost=alphabeta.prod.acquia-sites.com host=www.example.com hosting_site=alphabeta pid=26731 request_time=10186417 forwarded_for="200.0.0.1, 162.0.0.1" request_id="v-00000zzz-d2d4-11e6-9bed-0aeea9eaf9af" location="http://apache.example.com/"

The REQUEST line from the client, containing three parts:

• The method of the request (GET)
• The path requested (/contact_us)
• The HTTP protocol (1.1)