How to log http request body from nginx docker image?

Question

I'm having a docker image with nginx.

I would like to log incoming requests.

My docker-compose file:

nginx:
  container_name: my-nginx
image: nginx
ports:
  - "80:80"
  - "443:443"
volumes:
  - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
  - ./access.log:/var/log/nginx/test.com.access.log

My nginx config:

server {
 listen 80;
 listen 443 default_server ssl;
 access_log /var/log/nginx/test.com.access.log;

 location / {
  proxy_pass http://myapp:8080;
  proxy_buffering off;
 }
}

When I try to replace access_log directive with following config:

log_format testlog '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
                   '"$request" $status $bytes_sent '
                   '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent" "$request_body"';
access_log /var/log/nginx/test.com.access.log testlog;

I'm getting:

nginx-reverse-proxy | 2018/04/06 11:50:00 [emerg] 1#1: "log_format" directive is not allowed here in /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:10
nginx-reverse-proxy | nginx: [emerg] "log_format" directive is not allowed here in /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:10

You shouldn't have listeners for HTTP and HTTPS in the same server block, but instead create a separate one for HTTPS including the needed SSL keys. — Niels de Bruin, Apr 06 '18 at 12:08

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 06 '18 at 22:09

Put the log_format outside the server{} block, because not every directive can go anywhere. Simply:

log_format testlog '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
               '"$request" $status $bytes_sent '
               '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent" "$request_body"';

server {
 listen 80;
 listen 443 default_server ssl;
 access_log /var/log/nginx/test.com.access.log;

 location / {
  proxy_pass http://myapp:8080;
  proxy_buffering off;
 }
}

It is docuemnted here: http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_log_module.html#log_format "Context: http"

http context is the top level block, the one that contains your server block (usually you don't see it because it is in another file that is including your .conf)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 06 '18 at 11:12

0

This seems to be a duplicate of this question.

The message means that you have an http directive somewhere it's not allowed, i.e.

http {
    ...
}

You probably want to use a server block instead, i.e.

server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    server_name test.com;
    root /var/www/test/;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/test.com.access.log;
}

answered Apr 06 '18 at 11:12

Niels de Bruin

705
5
15

But how do I log http body in config you provided? – pixel Apr 06 '18 at 11:16
If you need to log the request body you can check out [this question](https://stackoverflow.com/a/7473603/3990318). – Niels de Bruin Apr 06 '18 at 11:22
Could you maybe just post your whole nginx config file? Maybe in a [gist](https://gist.github.com/) – Niels de Bruin Apr 06 '18 at 12:09
Ok, my file https://gist.github.com/kkocel/5cd206d2bfee9e1ba3d51654c82daacb – pixel Apr 06 '18 at 13:32
Your provided debug log doesn't match with the gist, please update your question so it does... If I don't have correct debug information I cannot help you that well – Niels de Bruin Apr 06 '18 at 14:36
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/168416/discussion-between-pixel-and-niels-de-bruin). – pixel Apr 06 '18 at 14:38

How to log http request body from nginx docker image?

2 Answers2