---
title: "Collection Agent log file"
description: ""
url: "https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/collection-agent/collection-agent-log-file/index.html"
---
## Overview

The Collection Agent uses a separate log file from the Netprobe. The log settings for Collection Agent use Logback and are stored in `logback.xml`.

The logback has the following limitations by default:

- Each log file is limited to 100MB.
- Logs are retained for 30 days.
- The total log storage will not exceed 10GB.
- Logs will rollover daily.

You can use the following configuration:

``` xml
  <appender name="FILE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
    <file>${COLLECTION_AGENT_DIR:-.}/collection-agent.log</file>
    <append>true</append>
    <immediateFlush>true</immediateFlush>
    <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.SizeAndTimeBasedRollingPolicy">
      <fileNamePattern>${COLLECTION_AGENT_DIR:-.}/collection-agent-%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.log</fileNamePattern>
      <maxFileSize>100MB</maxFileSize>
      <maxHistory>30</maxHistory>
      <totalSizeCap>10GB</totalSizeCap>
    </rollingPolicy>
```

For more information on the other available options for modifying the logger settings, see [Logback](https://logback.qos.ch/manual/appenders.html).

By default, the Collection Agent log file is stored in the `collection-agent.log` of the working directory. If you are running a managed Collection Agent and you configured the  **Log directory** parameter in GSE, then the `collection-agent.log` will be in that specified location.

## Enable log masking

You can enable log masking in Collection Agent by configuring Logback to use the Geneos log masking layout and a rules file.

The following example shows a Logback configured with log masking:

``` xml
  <appender name="FILE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
    <file>${COLLECTION_AGENT_DIR:-.}/collection-agent.log</file>
    <append>true</append>
    <immediateFlush>true</immediateFlush>
    <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.SizeAndTimeBasedRollingPolicy">
      <fileNamePattern>${COLLECTION_AGENT_DIR:-.}/collection-agent-%d{yyyy-MM-dd}.%i.log</fileNamePattern>
      <maxFileSize>100MB</maxFileSize>
      <maxHistory>30</maxHistory>
      <totalSizeCap>10GB</totalSizeCap>
    </rollingPolicy>
    <encoder class="ch.qos.logback.core.encoder.LayoutWrappingEncoder">
      <layout class="com.itrsgroup.platform.util.logging.logback.LogMaskingPatternLayout">
        <pattern>%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%thread] %-5level %logger - %msg%n</pattern>
        <rulesFile>${COLLECTION_AGENT_DIR:-.}/log-masking-rules.yaml</rulesFile>
      </layout>
    </encoder>
  </appender>
```

The `rulesFile` element specifies the path to the log masking rules file. This configuration is specific to Logback-based components such as Collection Agent.

Example `log-masking-rules.yaml`:

```yaml
  - name: FQDN_example_com_or_con
    regex: '(?i)\b(?:[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])?\.)+example\.(?:com|con)(?!\.[A-Za-z0-9-])\b'
    replacement: '[redacted-host]'
```

For more information, see [Log masking](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/administration/log-masking/index.html).