@cryptotaxi247 / netdata / commits / ef9a57f77

docs: add Log sources section to Logs tab documentation (#22312)

* docs: add Log sources section to Logs tab documentation Add a new section documenting all three supported log sources (systemd-journal, OpenTelemetry, Windows Event Logs) with a tip admonition explaining how custom application logs can be piped into systemd-journal via log2journal. Audit Context: Validation found the Logs tab docs only covered the systemd journal plugin. Users asking about displaying custom logs (e.g., web server access logs) in the Logs tab had no guidance. The answer that prompted this edit incorrectly stated only two log sources existed, missing Windows Event Logs. Decision verdict: surgical_edit * docs: add CTA links to log source documentation in Logs tab * docs: reorder Log sources section to list sources before transport mechanism * docs: restructure Logs tab page to list sources before plugin reference Move the Log sources section before the systemd journal plugin reference, so systemd-journal is presented as one of multiple supported sources rather than the sole focus. The opening paragraph now introduces the Logs tab as a unified multi-source view. --------- Co-authored-by: nedi-app[bot] <nedi-app[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

nedi-app[bot] committed Apr 29, 2026 at 12:55 UTC ef9a57f77bf7d8e5af3f8413d75bf79a7de7afcc
1 file changed +20 -4
docs/dashboards-and-charts/logs-tab.md
+20 -4
@@ -1,10 +1,26 @@
1 # Logs tab
2
3 -The Logs tab is using the [`systemd` journal plugin](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md), to present a structured view into your infrastructure's `systemd` logs.
3 +The Logs tab provides a structured, searchable view of logs collected from across your infrastructure, supporting multiple log sources depending on the Node's operating system.
4
5 -We have a thorough section explaining how you can [work with logs](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/logs), detailing how the plugin works, and what other utilities are used under the hood to provide you with the visualizations and the log entries.
5 +## Log sources
6
7 -The [`systemd` journal plugin](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md) documentation has information about:
7 +The Logs tab displays log entries from the following sources:
8 +
9 +- **systemd-journal** — reads logs from `systemd` journald on Linux Nodes. See the [Systemd Journal Plugin Reference](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md) for details on journal sources, fields, and query performance.
10 +- **otel-logs** — displays logs received via OpenTelemetry (OTLP) log ingestion. See the [OpenTelemetry Signal Viewer plugin](/src/crates/netdata-log-viewer/otel-signal-viewer-plugin/README.md) for setup and configuration.
11 +- **Windows Event Logs** — reads Windows event logs on Windows Nodes. See the [Windows Events Plugin Reference](/src/collectors/windows-events.plugin/README.md) for supported event channels and configuration.
12 +
13 +You can also display custom application logs, such as web server access logs, under the systemd-journal source by piping them into `systemd` journald using [log2journal](/src/collectors/log2journal/README.md) and [systemd-cat-native](/src/libnetdata/log/systemd-cat-native.md). For example, use the built-in `nginx-combined` log2journal configuration to pipe nginx access logs.
14 +
15 +:::tip
16 +
17 +For comprehensive documentation on log centralization and configuration, see [Working with Logs](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/logs). To keep custom log pipelines running persistently, create a systemd service unit and use `LogNamespace` to isolate piped logs from system journal entries. See the [log centralization points guide](/docs/observability-centralization-points/logs-centralization-points-with-systemd-journald/README.md) and [Monitor Nginx or Apache web server log files](/docs/developer-and-contributor-corner/collect-apache-nginx-web-logs.md) for setup details.
18 +
19 +:::
20 +
21 +## systemd journal plugin reference
22 +
23 +The systemd journal plugin is the primary log source for Linux systems. The [`systemd` journal plugin](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md) documentation covers:
24
25 - [Key features the plugin provides](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md#key-features)
26 - [Journal sources](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md#journal-sources)
@@ -13,4 +29,4 @@ The [`systemd` journal plugin](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md)
29 - [Query performance](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md#query-performance)
30 - [Performance at scale](/src/collectors/systemd-journal.plugin/README.md#performance-at-scale)
31
16 -We recommend you to read through that document, to better understand how the plugin and the visualizations work.
32 +We recommend reading through that document to better understand how the plugin and the visualizations work.