Overview of service logs - Simple Log Service - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

The service log feature of Simple Log Service helps you record log data about the operations that are performed on the resources of a project. This feature also provides dashboards that allow you to analyze data in multiple dimensions. You can use this feature to view the service status of Simple Log Service in real time and improve O&M efficiency.

Default configurations

Default configuration item	Description
Logstore	When the service log feature is enabled for a project, the generated log data is classified and stored in one of the dedicated Logstores. By default, Simple Log Service automatically creates the following two dedicated Logstores: internal-diagnostic_log: stores the consumption delay logs of consumer groups, Logtail heartbeat logs, and the operational logs of jobs. The logs are classified by topic. Log data in the Logstore is retained for 30 days and the retention period cannot be modified. The Logstore is free of charge. internal-operation_log: stores operation logs. A log corresponds to an API request. Log data in the Logstore is retained for 30 days by default and can be modified. The billing method for the Logstore is the same as regular Logstores. For more information about log types and fields, see Log types. Note The dedicated Logstores are used to store only the logs that are generated by Simple Log Service. You cannot write other data to these Logstores. However, you can query, analyze, and consume the data of the dedicated Logstores and configure alert rules. You are charged for log data generated by the service log feature based on the billing methods of Simple Log Service. For more information, see Billable items of pay-by-feature.
Region	If you select Automatic creation (recommended), Simple Log Service automatically creates a project in the same region to store service logs. You can also select another option from the Log Storage Location drop-down list. If you specify a project to store service logs, the specified project must reside in the same region as the project for which the service log feature is enabled.
Shard	By default, two shards are created for each Logstore and the automatic sharding feature is enabled. For more information, see Enable automatic sharding.
Log retention period	By default, log data is retained for 30 days. You can modify the retention period (except for internal-diagnostic_log). For more information, see Manage a Logstore.
Index	By default, the indexing feature is enabled for all collected log data. If you no longer need to query and analyze data or configure alert rules, you can click Index Attributes in the upper-right corner of the Search & Analysis page to disable the indexing feature.
Dashboard	The following dashboards are automatically created: Detailed logs Access Traffic Monitoring Access Exception Monitoring Important logs Consumer Group Monitoring Logtail Overall Status Logtail File Collection Monitoring Logtail Exception Monitoring For more information, see Service log dashboards.

Scenarios

Check whether data is evenly written and consumed among shards
You can use predefined dashboards to view the data write and consumption trends of shards and check whether data is evenly written or consumed among shards.
Multiple Logstores in a project may share the same shards. To view the data writes to multiple shards of a Logstore, you can specify the Logstore as a filter condition.
Monitor API request status
You can call API operations to write log data, consume log data, and create projects or Logstores. A log is generated in the internal-operation_log Logstore each time an API operation is called. If an API request fails, the value of the Status field in the generated log is an integer that is greater than 200, for example, 404. You can monitor API requests by viewing the number of logs in which the value of the Status field is greater than 200.
View Logtail status
After you enable the collection of important logs, Simple Log Service automatically creates the following Logtail-related dashboards: Logtail Overall Status, Logtail File Collection Monitoring, and Logtail Exception Monitoring. You can use these dashboards to monitor the status of Logtail.