Question
My country's legislation require storing all server logs for an extended period of time. How to store/keep website logs for years in Plesk for Windows?
Answer
Plesk recommends that you do not disable log rotation and do not store log files for a long time because it may cause excessive disk space usage and decrease server performance.
Keep in mind that removing a website in Plesk also removes all its logs. To avoid this, store required log files in a remote/external storage or in a database. You can use third-party log management software or follow the instructions below.
Exposing the IP addresses in logs and storing any personal/business data contradicts the GDPR requirements. By using these instructions, you accept the possibility of violating one or more GDPR clauses.
Note: the instructions only cover server logs rotated by Plesk, namely:
- Client website HTTP/ModSecurity/PHP logs
- FTP logs
- Mail logs
- Plesk-related logs
Server logs that are not rotated by Plesk are not covered. A separate solution should be implemented on your side to store these logs.
To store logs for an extended period of time, do the following:
1. To preserve sensitive data, disable IP addresses anonymization in Plesk. Go to Tools&Settings > Server Settings (under "General Settings"). Clear the "Disable IP logging in IIS, FTP, and mail logs" checkbox, and then click OK:
2. Open Registry Editor in Windows by typing regedit in the search box on the taskbar, then select Registry Editor (Desktop app) from the results.
3. Configure the following keys:
- Client website HTTP/ModSecurity/PHP logs storage configuration example:
REG ADD "HKLMSOFTWAREPLESKPSA ConfigConfig" /v SaveHTTPLogsDirectory
/t REG_SZ /d "path to directory" /reg:32 /f - FTP logs storage configuration example:
REG ADD "HKLMSOFTWAREPLESKPSA ConfigConfig" /v SaveFTPLogsDirectory /t
REG_SZ /d "path to directory" /reg:32 /f - Mail logs storage configuration example:
REG ADD "HKLMSOFTWAREPLESKPSA ConfigConfig" /v SaveMailLogsDirectory
/t REG_SZ /d "path to directory" /reg:32 /f - Plesk logs storage configuration example (available starting from Plesk for Windows 18.0.46 version):
REG ADD "HKLMSOFTWAREPLESKPSA ConfigConfig" /v SavePleskLogsDirectory
/t REG_SZ /d "path to directory" /reg:32 /f
where "path to directory" is the remote/mounted storage path.
After that, logs will be copied to the specified log storage at the time of log rotation. To configure log rotation in Plesk, follow these instructions.