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Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Monitor screen§ 5.11

Logs

critical

Logs Display
Node files through a browser

Lists the log and accounting files available now, with download links.

A way to read the log without logging into the machine — and at the same time a way to read it for anyone who has reached the monitor port: logs and accounting hold recipient addresses and receiver replies.

To close the files while keeping the monitor, use the deny-logs qualifier on the monitor level in http-access.

For a program — the /logs?format=json list and a file by name with /getFile?file=….

The main trap is giving the monitor level “just to look at the queues”. Without the deny-logs qualifier it opens this page as well: along with the queues the address gets logs and accounting — recipients and bounce texts.
What the Hub does. It does not use the page: accounting events reach the Hub as a stream through the webhook, and it computes the “Accounting statistics” summaries on the node itself over SSH. The Hub gives its own addresses in http-access the monitor level without deny-logs, so this page is formally open to them.
Recommended values

What question the page answers:

Question This one or not
which logs and accounting files exist yes
download a file without logging into the machine yes
what happened to the messages yesterday yes — through the accounting file, until it is deleted
The page contents, downloading and the deny-logs qualifier come from the manual (§ 5.11, § 3.3.1.58.3). The conclusion about leaks is ours.
Example configuration
# close the files to an address that only needs the monitor
http-access 10.0.0.0/8 monitor,deny-logs
The qualifier is written after a comma right after the level; the other monitor pages stay available to this address.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
Compatibility
PowerMTA 6.0
described in the manual of this version · platform: any
The vendor does not state the first version for every directive — there is no note here. The name also appears in the 5.0 edition of the manual.
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Related entries

4 relations

Can be replaced by

The telemetry contractThe mechanism that is visible here. § 5.11

Applies to

The node's own logThe file this output refers to. § 5.11Where the node writes why it did not startThe file this output refers to. inference

Where you can see it

Return a node fileThe request that returns the same thing as a structure. § 5.11

Referenced from

List of logs and accounting filesThe screen that shows the same thing to a human. § 5.11

How to check on the node
Check whether the files are open to the requesting address:
grep -n 'http-access' /etc/pmta/config
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/logs?format=json'
Code 403 on the list while the monitor is open means the address has deny-logs.
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What else to read

3 articles

◇What the node tells about itself and through which channelsSeven observation surfaces: the web monitor, the console in four formats, the log, accounting, accounting search, metrics and export to external analytics.◇The log and accounting — two files and two different questionsThe engine keeps a separate log and a separate accounting file; the separation is made for the sake of format, performance and the ability to hand over the log without disclosing data.◇A file, a program or an endpoint — and a file under each of the threeThree ways to hand off accounting records; an endpoint still has a file underneath, which is deleted only after a successful send, and a non-2xx response triggers a retry.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
safe: a wrong value breaks nothing
Scenarios
Untangle a stuck queue · Collect telemetry
Priority
critical