# \[Patch\] Option to not use the default error log file during startup **URL:** \ **Category:** NGINX\ **Created:** [November 13, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/patch-option-to-not-use-the-default-error-log-file-during-startup/199060 "2010-11-13T15:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![okkezSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/85f322/32.png) [@okkezSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/okkezSS)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/patch-option-to-not-use-the-default-error-log-file-during-startup/199060/1 "2010-11-13T15:20:10Z")
Nginx always tries to open its default log file ($prefix/log/error.log) even if I specified a different error\_log in the config file. This is done inside ngx\_log\_init(). This has two implications: 1. All errors that occur before the error log - as specified in the config file - is opened, will be printed to the default error log and to stderr. 2. If the default error log cannot be opened, e.g. because of permissions, Nginx will print a warning. (1) is fine for most cases where the user did not specify a different error log. Nginx will, in those cases, write pre-config-load errors to the error log file that the user expects as well as to stderr. However I have a setup in which many different users use the same Nginx executable, but each one with a different config file and error log file. Users do not have write permission to the default error log file, so because of (2), Nginx always prints the warning, which can be confusing to them. Ideally I would like Nginx to always write to the error log file as specified in the config, and never to the default error log file, but it seems that the codebase does not allow this and assumes logging facilities to be available even before the config file is loaded. Attached to this email is a patch which modifies ngx\_log\_init() to ignore the default error log file if the environment variable NGX\_EARLY\_LOG\_TO\_STDERR is set. ---
**Author:** ![foobarwidget](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@foobarwidget](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/foobarwidget)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/patch-option-to-not-use-the-default-error-log-file-during-startup/199060/2 "2010-11-13T15:52:51Z")
Hello! On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 03:20:10PM +0100, Hongli L. wrote: > (1) is fine for most cases where the user did not specify a different > seems that the codebase does not allow this and assumes logging > facilities to be available even before the config file is loaded. Writing early errors to error\_log as specified in config is not possible as we haven’t (yet) parsed the config. On the other hand, just passing errors only to stderr (as it was before 0.7.53) isn’t believed (at least by Igor) to be sufficient as stderr is just lost in many cases (e.g. system startup). This was rationale for the change in 0.7.53: ``` *) Change: now a log set by --error-log-path is created from the ``` very start-up. If you want nginx to log early errors only to stderr - you may recompile nginx with --error-log-path=stderr. > Attached to this email is a patch which modifies ngx\_log\_init() to > ignore the default error log file if the environment variable > NGX\_EARLY\_LOG\_TO\_STDERR is set. While I would like to see some way to redefine --error-log-path without recompilation - I don’t like this particular aproach. It would be good to have something like ‘-e’ switch instead, similar to ‘-p’ for prefix (actually, I even have it in my TODO since 0.7.53, but ENOTIME). Maxim D. ---
**Author:** ![foobarwidget](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@foobarwidget](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/foobarwidget)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/patch-option-to-not-use-the-default-error-log-file-during-startup/199060/3 "2010-11-18T02:40:10Z")
Maxim D. wrote in post #961194: > It would be good to have something like ‘-e’ switch instead, > similar to ‘-p’ for prefix (actually, I even have it in my TODO > since 0.7.53, but ENOTIME). Ah I didn’t know about -p. I’m using that now and it solves my problem. Thanks.