How to Forward Logs in App Platform

Validated on 16 Nov 2021 • Posted on 16 Jun 2022

App Platform is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering that allows developers to publish code directly to DigitalOcean servers without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

In addition to viewing basic logs in App Platform, you can forward application runtime logs to external log management providers. This allows you to use the provider to search, index and retain the logs. Forwarding logs does not count towards application’s bandwidth usage.

Currently, App Platform supports log forwarding to Papertrail, Datadog, and Logtail.

To configure log forwarding, go to the Apps section of the control panel, click on your app, and click on the Settings tab. In the Log Forwarding section, click Edit and then click the Add Destination button. In the Add Log Destination dialog box, specify the following information:

Name: Name of the provider being configured. This name must be between 2 and 42 characters long and may only use the following characters:
- Alphanumeric characters, both uppercase or lowercase
- Parentheses (( and ))
- Square brackets ([ and ])
- Single (') and double quotes ("), only at the start or end of the name
- Underscores (_), periods (.), spaces ( ), and forward slash (/), anywhere except the start or end of the name
Log Destination Type: List of log service providers. Select the provider from the dropdown list.
Enter the following values for your specific provider:

Provider	Settings
Papertrail	Endpoint: Provider endpoint where App Platform forwards the logs. Use TLS-encrypted syslog endpoint.
Datadog	Endpoint: Provider endpoint where App Platform forwards the logs. Use the HTTP endpoint `http-intake.logs.datadoghq.com`. API Key : Token generated by Datadog.
Logtail	Token: Create a RSyslog source in Logtail and use the generated token.

Select the resources of the app that should forward logs to the provider.

Click the Add Log Destination button to enable remote logging for the provider.