Follow log files
Follow (tail -f) in the side panel of the Files screen streams the lines of a log file to Portway as they are written. It runs tail -F on the server, which keeps following the file after it is rotated. The same viewer opens from the Nginx screen for the access and error logs.
Open the viewer
Section titled “Open the viewer”Select one readable file and choose Follow (tail -f). The viewer opens with the most recent lines, and new lines appear at the bottom. A line in the header states whether the follow runs as the user or through sudo. When the user cannot read the file, the action is disabled with a note that sudo must be turned on first.
Controls
Section titled “Controls”| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pause and Resume | Freezes the view while lines keep arriving. The header states how many new lines wait |
| Filter lines | Shows only the lines that match some text, or a regular expression written as /pattern/ |
| All, Errors + warnings, Errors | Filters by the level that is detected in the line |
| Don’t wrap lines, Wrap long lines | Changes how long lines are shown |
| Copy the lines shown | Copies the lines that match the current filter |
| Clear the screen | Empties the view. The file on the server is not touched |
| Jump to latest | Scrolls to the newest line after scrolling up |
When a file is written faster than the viewer can show, Portway skips lines, and the header states how many were skipped.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”Each followed file holds one SSH channel until the viewer is closed or the session drops. A session allows a limited number of followed files at the same time, and Portway reports it when the limit is reached.