What is Log forwarding?

Log forwarding enables your Magic Container's application to send raw logs in real-time to the configured Syslog destination. There might be up to a 10-30 second delay between an actual request and the log hitting your Syslog endpoint.

What Log format and protocol does it support?

Log format
The logs are sent in the standard Syslog RFC 5424 & Syslog RFC 3164 protocol.

An example RFC 5424 log would look like this:

<134>1 2025-07-10T02:03:30.998108+00:00 - - - - - {"log":"Pod deployment finished","time":"2025-07-10T02:03:25.840126Z"}

Log server protocol
The logs can be sent in either UDP or TCP transport layer protocol.

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UDP reliability

The UDP protocol is unaware of lost packets and does not contain an auto-retry mechanism. This means that in a case of packet loss or connectivity issue between your application and your logging service, some packets might get lost on the way.

While this is likely a rare occurrence, it is important to keep in mind in case your logging relies on receiving 100% of the requests.

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UDP security

The UDP protocol does not provide a layer of security. This means all the logs are sent to your endpoint in a raw, unencrypted form. While unlikely, please note that those might be vulnerable to a potential man-in-the-middle attack if you send critical information as part of your logs.

How to configure Log forwarding?

To enable realtime Log forwarding on your Magic Container application, you can follow the following steps:

1. Visit your Logging page for your Magic Containers application in the left-side menu.
2. Open the Settings panel inside of the Logging option.
3. Make sure that the Enable Log forwarding feature is enabled.
4. Enter the Hostname of your Syslog endpoint.
   This can be either an IP or a host address where your listening server is enabled.
5. Enter the Port of your Syslog endpoint.
   Make sure the port is open to the internet, as otherwise our servers will not be able to reach you.
6. (Optional) Configure the Token.
   For secure log forwarding
7. Select the Log server protocol you would like to use.
8. Select the Log format of choice.
9. Click on the Save Forwarding Configuration button.
10. Run your Magic Containers application and monitor your endpoint for new logs.