What is the Build Log?
As the build runs and each stage executes, build information is logged to a file in the build's workspace.
What Information is Logged?
Actions
Every action that is executed during a build will write its output to the build log. The build log is normally the first port of call to check why a build action has failed. Some actions allow you to set the debugging level so if an action is failing and it is hard to determine why, then check if you can increase the action's log level.
Repository Syncing
Repository syncing will list every file that is pulled from your repository and sent to the agent workspace every time a stage is executed. This information can be extremely useful when determining if certain files are being copied over to the workspace correctly.
Repository syncing is enabled or disabled on a stage by stage basis. By default repository syncing is turned off for every stage. Logging every file that is pulled from the repository and sent to the workspace is extremely taxing and it will slow down the performance on the agents. It is recommended that repository sync logging should only be enabled while debugging.
Repository syncing can be enabled and disabled for a stage by editing a stage in the Stages section of the Configuration Wizard.
Workspace Syncing
Workspace syncing will list every file that is copied from the Server's Workspace to the Agent's Workspace and vice versa. Like repository syncing, this information can be used to check that your Workspace Rules are configured correctly and that all of your files are being copied between the server and agent.
Workspace syncing is enabled or disabled on a stage by stage basis. By default workspace syncing is turned off for every stage. Logging every file that is sent between the server and agent is a large performance hit so it is recommended that workspace sync logging should only be enabled while debugging.
Workspace syncing can be enabled and disabled for a stage by editing a stage in the Stages section of the Configuration Wizard.
Artifact Registration
Artifact registration lists every file that is registered as an artifact at the end of a stage. This can be useful if a registered artifact is not there at the end of a build.
Artifact registration is enabled or disabled on a stage by stage basis. By default artifact registration is turned off for every stage. Logging every file that is registered can be a large performance hit so it is recommended that artifact registration should only be enabled while debugging.
Workspace syncing can be enabled and disabled for a stage by editing a stage in the Stages section of the Configuration Wizard.
The Build Log Page
The Build Log page can be found in Continua by navigating to a particular build and clicking the Log tab. The build log that is displayed shows every action that was executed and
I can't see my build log!
As the build runs and each stage executes its actions, the output of those actions are logged to a file in the build's workspace directory. Navigating to the Build's Log tab will display the log in an easy to read tree style format. The image below shows you an example of this.
The first tier nodes are the stage names and the second tier nodes are the actions that were executed. Clicking on the action will give you either the actions it executed or the actual output of the action. You will get the entire output of the action and the full path to the working directory, executable and all the parameters passed to it. Alternatively you can download the entire log as a text file by clicking the Plain Text link in the top right corner of the Log tab.
I can't see my build log!
Part of a build's cleanup policy is to cleanup the build workspace and optionally delete the build log. Alternatively, you may delete the workspace directory or specifically the build log from your file system. In either case, navigating to the Log tab for a build will show this error message.
