Built in access logs in node.js (express framework)

Question

I was wondering if node.js (or express framework) has any kind of built in access logging like grails has for example?

I have grails application that runs on tomcat and it automatically generates /apache-tomcat-7.0.42/logs/localhost_access_log.2013.10.30.txt file in which are logs about request response like this one:

[30/Oct/2013:00:00:01 +0000] [my-ip-address] [http-bio-8080-exec-18] "GET /my-service/check HTTP/1.0" [200] [took: 1 milis]

This logs are written automatically by system and I don't have to worry about that.

So what about node.js?

Thanks for any help!

Ivan

possible duplicate of Logging in express js to a output file? — thgaskell
– thgaskell, Commented Oct 30, 2013 at 11:44
It does. You have to enable it. See the answers to the question posted by thgaskell. — user568109
– user568109, Commented Oct 30, 2013 at 11:53

whirlwin · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-17 21:25:45Z

27

In newer versions of Express (4.0.0 at the time of writing), the logger is no longer part of Express, so you have to include it as a dependency manually. It is now called morgan.

So, in package.json, add morgan as a dependency:

"dependencies": {
  ...
  "morgan": "*"
  ...
}

And in your Express configuration, add:

app.use(require('morgan')('dev'));

Now logging should work more or less like before. :-)

answered Apr 17, 2014 at 21:25

whirlwin

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2 Comments

Dalinaum Over a year ago

We have to use new versions of Express.

whirlwin Over a year ago

@Dalinaum Then this is for you. :-)

user508434 · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-16 23:09:57Z

14

As of now, most middleware (like logger) is no longer bundled with express and must be installed separately.

Short answer: First, install morgan:

npm install morgan

Then use it for logging:

app = express();
var morgan  = require('morgan')
...
app.use(morgan('combined'))

Documentation is here.

answered Aug 16, 2014 at 23:09

user508434

Comments

Ludwig Magnusson · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-27 09:03:11Z

10

edit As of express 4.0.0 this solution is apparently no longer enough. Check out the answer from whirlwin for an updated solution.

You can use app.use(express.logger());

Documented here: http://www.senchalabs.org/connect/logger.html

edited Apr 27, 2014 at 9:03

answered Oct 30, 2013 at 11:49

Ludwig Magnusson

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3 Comments

Ivan Longin Over a year ago

Thanks. Do you know how to add execution time to it like in my grails logger?

robertklep Over a year ago

@ivan_zd :response-time

Ludwig Magnusson Over a year ago

Well, according to the documentation on the link, the first paramater to logger() is the format. And they cover formatting options further down on the page. I don't use the logger though so I don't know from the top of my head...

Manuel Darveau · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-14 01:07:49Z

It's not built in but really easy to configure. You can use express-winston and add to the express middleware stack. morgan does not let you log the request body but expressWinston does:

expressWinston.requestWhitelist.push('body');
expressWinston.responseWhitelist.push('body');

Example in coffeescript:

expressWinston.requestWhitelist.push('body')
expressWinston.responseWhitelist.push('body')
app.use(expressWinston.logger({
      transports: [
        new winston.transports.Console({
          json: true,
          colorize: true
        })
      ],
      meta: true, // optional: control whether you want to log the meta data about the request (default to true)
      msg: "HTTP {{req.method}} {{req.url}}", // optional: customize the default logging message. E.g. "{{res.statusCode}} {{req.method}} {{res.responseTime}}ms {{req.url}}"
      expressFormat: true, // Use the default Express/morgan request formatting, with the same colors. Enabling this will override any msg and colorStatus if true. Will only output colors on transports with colorize set to true
      colorStatus: true, // Color the status code, using the Express/morgan color palette (default green, 3XX cyan, 4XX yellow, 5XX red). Will not be recognized if expressFormat is true
      ignoreRoute: function (req, res) { return false; } // optional: allows to skip some log messages based on request and/or response
    }));

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