nginx : access.log and error.log file empty - nginx

Question

I have just installed nginx on Ubuntu 14.04 using the command
sudo apt-get install nginx
Now, when I open my browser and type in the address localhost then I am correctly shown the "Welcome to nginx" page. Also, I checked the config file located in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf and found the following log settings:
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;
However, when I check these two files, both are empty. I have opened the localhost page multiple times but still the log files are empty. What might be wrong with my setup ?

Answer 1

I had the same issue after reinstalling nginx to newer version. Seems like log files ownership changed and new nginx couldn't save anything there.
Removing log files and reloading nginx worked for me:
$ sudo rm -f /var/log/nginx/*
$ sudo nginx -s reload

Answer 2

It looks like by default they are set to go to stdout and stderr.
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Apr 27 2016 access.log -> /dev/stdout
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Apr 27 2016 error.log -> /dev/stderr
So you can remove the symlinks and should be fine.
rm -f /var/log/nginx/*

Answer 3

For all of those whose, like me, came here to figure out why the logs file are empty, and did not realise that you might actually be inside a docker container like one of the comments on another answer suggests, just open a new shell and tail the logs with
docker logs {your-container-id-here} -f

Answer 4

By default Nginx image output the logs access/error to stdout/stderr.
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Apr 27 2016 access.log -> /dev/stdout
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Apr 27 2016 error.log -> /dev/stderr
We can also check the same by visit this Nginx Dockerfile, look for the comment # forward request and error logs to docker log collector
Now Use the below configuration in order to view the files.
I have changed file name
*error.log = error.logs
access.log = access.logs*
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.logs notice;
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.logs;

Answer 5

Your answer is here
Step1: Open the rsyslog config file
#vi /etc/rsyslog.conf
Step2: Add the following line before the line $IncludeConfig /etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf
$ModLoad imfile
Step3: Create a new file for nginx rsyslog configuration
#vi /etc/rsyslog.d/nginx.conf
Step4: Update the following lines.
# error log
$InputFileName /var/log/nginx/error.log
$InputFileTag nginx:
$InputFileStateFile stat-nginx-error
$InputFileSeverity error
$InputFileFacility local6
$InputFilePollInterval 1
$InputRunFileMonitor
# access log
$InputFileName /var/log/nginx/access.log
$InputFileTag nginx:
$InputFileStateFile stat-nginx-access
$InputFileSeverity notice
$InputFileFacility local6
$InputFilePollInterval 1
$InputRunFileMonitor
Step5: Restart rsyslog service
#service rsyslog restart