Do I need Docker running?
Do I need Docker running?
Yes, docker-agent-tail needs Docker daemon to be running and accessible. It connects to the Docker socket to list and stream container logs.
What if I don't have permission to access the Docker socket?
What if I don't have permission to access the Docker socket?
Add your user to the docker group:Then log out and back in for the change to take effect.
Can I use this with Docker Compose?
Can I use this with Docker Compose?
Yes! Use the
--compose flag to automatically discover and tail all services in a docker-compose.yml file.What log drivers are supported?
What log drivers are supported?
docker-agent-tail works with
json-file and journald log drivers. Other drivers won’t support real-time streaming.Can I filter out certain log lines?
Can I filter out certain log lines?
Yes, use
--exclude to skip lines entirely and --mute to save matching lines to a separate .muted.log file.Can I save logs to files?
Can I save logs to files?
Yes, use
--output to specify a directory. This creates combined.log and per-container logs.What's the difference between --exclude and --mute?
What's the difference between --exclude and --mute?
--exclude completely skips matching lines. --mute hides them from normal output but saves them to a separate file for later analysis.Can I get JSON output?
Can I get JSON output?
Yes, use the
--json flag to output newline-delimited JSON that’s easy to parse and automate.How do I filter logs by time?
How do I filter logs by time?
Use
--since with RFC3339 format to only show logs since a specific time:Does this work with TTY-attached containers?
Does this work with TTY-attached containers?
Containers with TTY attached may output raw streams. docker-agent-tail detects this and handles it appropriately.
Can I use glob patterns to filter containers?
Can I use glob patterns to filter containers?
Yes, pass a glob pattern as an argument to match container names. For example:
web-* matches all containers starting with “web-”.What if I have containers with the same name?
What if I have containers with the same name?
Docker doesn’t allow duplicate container names, so this shouldn’t happen. Each container must have a unique name.
Can I tail logs from a remote Docker daemon?
Can I tail logs from a remote Docker daemon?
Yes! Set the
DOCKER_HOST environment variable to connect to a remote Docker daemon.How much disk space do logs take?
How much disk space do logs take?
That depends on your containers’ verbosity and how long you run docker-agent-tail. Use
--exclude and --mute to reduce file size.Is there a performance impact on my containers?
Is there a performance impact on my containers?
No. docker-agent-tail reads from Docker’s log buffers and doesn’t interfere with container execution.
How do I stop tailing logs?
How do I stop tailing logs?
Press
Ctrl+C in the terminal. This cleanly closes all log streams and exits gracefully.Can I use this in CI/CD pipelines?
Can I use this in CI/CD pipelines?
Yes! Use
--output to save logs as artifacts. Use --no-color for cleaner log files when piping to other tools.