Created attachment 181680 [details] google search showing many other people unaware of KDE log location *** KDE and associated components should output logs to /var/log/kde.log Today something crashed in my Plasma with no error. I find myself out Google searching "where does KDE store logs". I find many other people wondering the same thing. Users should be able to quickly find KDE log info in /var/log/KDE.log. So far spent ~15 mins just trying to find out where KDE stores logs, if any even exist. If I install KSystemLog and search Kernel or Xorg log for "kde" or "plasma" nothing shows up, so this is not useful. Also, not everyone is on a system where this command is available : journalctl -f | grep SearchTerm *** SUMMARY STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Have something go wrong with your KDE. 2. Look in /var/log then realize no log exist 3. Ask Google where KDE stores logs at OBSERVED RESULT No clear answer where KDE stores logs, if they even exist. EXPECTED RESULT Logs should exist in /var/log/KDE.log OR if they can not exist there, and do exist somewhere else, that info should be surfaced on Google because many people are having this mystery SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Windows: macOS: (available in the Info Center app, or by running `kinfo` in a terminal window) Linux/KDE Plasma: KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.4 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.12.0 Qt Version: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Hi - changing everything related to logging across all KDE projects - the Plasma desktop environment, Gear applications, etc. - would be a massively scoped change request that goes beyond what bug reports are designed to handle. Discussing that overall topic would be better handled the KDE Discuss forum (https://discuss.kde.org/) or another online discussion group of your choice. (https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/Issue_Reporting#Step_1:_Make_sure_it's_a_valid_bug_or_feature_request) If there's a specific situation where some KDE software, like Plasma, didn't log the information required to debug something in the appropriate system logging mechanism (e.g. the system journal), that would be more actionable as a bug report - if you've run into that, please feel free to submit so that folks can triage and investigate. (For what it's worth, at least on my device Plasma log output is in the Journald Log section of KSystemLog, rather than the Kernel one :-) ) Thanks!
> (For what it's worth, at least on my device Plasma log output is in the > Journald Log section of KSystemLog, rather than the Kernel one :-) ) Hi and thanks for your detailed reply. Journald is the part systemd and many people do not use this (Slackware, FreeBSD, MX Linux). KDE does not need systemd to run and should not need systemd tools to locate the KDE logs. Also, people who DO use systemd are scratching their heads on Google wondering where the KDE logs are. The main issue is the confusion about where KDE logs errors to. It does not seem to be /var/log/ which is the logical place. My issue was the desktop wallpaper failed to load and I could not right click the desktop. Some process crashed, but there was no error message popup. In KSystemLog I have Kernel Log and X.org Log. Both have zero matches for 'kde' or 'plasma'. This is not just about my problem, google is filled with people all wondering the same thing : where are the logs for KDE? In the rare case KDE crashes you need an error message, and that error does not seem to exist inside of /var/log which is a big problem and not something which should be brushed aside or relegated to some forum post. Users need sane error outputs. In the future people having the same mystery are going to find this bug report on Google and see that it is marked as 'not a bug' that KDE does not output logs to /var/log/
If you're on a device that's not using systemd journald, were the logs you were looking for not located in /var/log/syslog, or wherever your distribution is configured to send system log messages?
🐛🧹 ⚠️ This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information, then set the bug status to REPORTED. If there is no change for at least 30 days, it will be automatically closed as RESOLVED WORKSFORME. For more information about our bug triaging procedures, please read https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging. Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
🐛🧹 This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 30 days. Closing as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.