Where are log files located

[GarthOgzewalla]

Is this a docs issue?

• My issue is about the documentation content or website

Type of issue

I can't find what I'm looking for

Description

The page https://docs.docker.com/engine/logging/drivers/json-file/ describing how to configure logging doesn't identify where the file is written. It just say it creates one. Finding/configuring where the log file resides is a basic function that should be noted in this documentation.

Location

https://docs.docker.com/engine/logging/drivers/json-file/

Suggestion

Tell us where the log file writes to!

[joyalgeorgekj]

Linux: /var/lib/docker/containers/[container-id]/[container-id]-json.log.
Windows (Docker Desktop): C:\ProgramData\Docker\containers<container-id><container-id>-json.log.
macOS (Docker Desktop): These logs are stored inside the Docker Desktop VM. You can typically find them at /var/lib/docker/containers/ inside the VM, or use the Docker Desktop Dashboard to view them.

I cannot verify on OS other than Linux but you can check where the log files located at using terminal with some regex.

The result was from a quick google search so it can be outdated. The container ID for me was not the one displayed when using docker ps (not the shrink down ID).

[dvdksn]

Triage summary

The issue is valid. The JSON File logging driver page describes the log format and configuration options but never states where log files are stored on disk.

On Linux (Docker Engine), the json-file log for each container is written to:

/var/lib/docker/containers/<container-id>/<container-id>-json.log

This path is referenced elsewhere in the docs (e.g., the storage drivers page) but is absent from the json-file logging driver page itself. The local logging driver page has the same gap, though this issue is specifically about the json-file page.

Suggested fix: Add a short section or note to content/manuals/engine/logging/drivers/json-file.md documenting the default log file location. It should mention:

• The default path on Linux: /var/lib/docker/containers/<container-id>/<container-id>-json.log
• That the path depends on the Docker data root directory (configurable via data-root in daemon.json)
• That on Docker Desktop, logs are stored inside the Docker Desktop VM and are not directly accessible from the host filesystem
• A pointer to docker inspect --format='{{.LogPath}}' <container> as the reliable way to find the log file for a specific container

File to edit: content/manuals/engine/logging/drivers/json-file.md

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Generated by Claude Code

[dvdksn]

Closing as this is intentionally undocumented - #24724 (comment)