mkunit logs

View logs from a unit.

mkunit logs <name> [flags]

Description

The logs command displays logs from a unit via journalctl. It provides a convenient interface for common log viewing operations without needing to remember journalctl flags.

Arguments

Argument Description
<name> Name of the unit (with or without extension)

Flags

Flag Description journalctl equivalent
--follow, -f Follow log output in real-time -f
--lines <n>, -n Number of lines to show -n
--since <time> Show logs since this time --since
--until <time> Show logs until this time --until
--boot, -b Show logs from current boot only -b
--priority <level>, -p Filter by priority (emerg, alert, crit, err, warning, notice, info, debug) -p
--grep <pattern>, -g Filter logs by pattern --grep
--output <format>, -o Output format (short, json, cat, verbose) -o
--no-pager Don't use a pager --no-pager
--system View logs for a system unit --system

Time Formats

The --since and --until flags accept various time formats:

Examples

View recent logs

mkunit logs myapp

Follow logs in real-time

mkunit logs myapp -f

Show last 100 lines

mkunit logs myapp -n 100

Logs from the last hour

mkunit logs myapp --since "1 hour ago"

Logs from today only

mkunit logs myapp --since today

Filter by priority (errors and above)

mkunit logs myapp -p err

Search for a pattern

mkunit logs myapp --grep "error\|failed"

JSON output for parsing

mkunit logs myapp -o json --no-pager | jq '.MESSAGE'

Logs between specific times

mkunit logs myapp --since "2024-01-15 10:00" --until "2024-01-15 12:00"

System service logs

mkunit logs nginx --system -f

See Also

  • mkunit status - Check unit status
  • mkunit show - Show unit configuration
  • man journalctl - Full journalctl documentation