---
title: Server logging
description: When PingFederate is configured to log DEBUG messages for troubleshooting purposes, it records all runtime and administrative events that can be used for troubleshooting in the <pf_install>/pingfederate/log/server.log file, including status and error messages.
component: pingfederate
version: 12.2
page_id: pingfederate:administrators_reference_guide:pf_server_loggin
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.1/administrators_reference_guide/pf_server_loggin.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
revdate: July 5, 2022
superseded_by: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.1/administrators_reference_guide/pf_server_loggin.html
section_ids:
  related-links: Related links
---

# Server logging

When PingFederate is configured to log `DEBUG` messages for troubleshooting purposes, it records all runtime and administrative events that can be used for troubleshooting in the `<pf_install>/pingfederate/log/server.log` file, including status and error messages.

Server log information can be output to a database server.

|   |                                                                                                                                                                               |
| - | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | `DEBUG` messages are turned off by default. For troubleshooting purpose, you can re-enable it by editing the `<pf_install>/pingfederate/server/default/conf/log4j2.xml` file. |

The following table describes the recorded elements. Optionally, you can configure elements by editing the `log4j2.xml` file as well.

| Item           | Description                                                                                                               |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| %d             | Event date and time.                                                                                                      |
| %X{trackingid} | The tracking ID values uniquely identify user sessions, useful for correlating log messages in the audit and server logs. |
| %p             | Logging level.                                                                                                            |
| %c             | The Java class issuing the status or error message, when applicable.                                                      |
| %m             | Status or error message.                                                                                                  |

To facilitate troubleshooting, administrators can use a filter utility to aggregate related events using the log filter tool.

## Related links

* [Writing logs to databases](pf_writing_logs_databases.html)

* [Enabling console logging](pf_enabling_debug_message_and_console_logging.html)