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 during the build, workspace syncing, repository syncing and artifact registration.
The first tier nodes of the log are the stage that were run 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 [Download As Plain Text].
I can't see my build log!
Logs can be deleted as part of a Cleanup Policy. Each cleanup policy can be set to specifically delete build logs which means that any affected builds will lose their logs. Once a log has been removed it cannot be recovered.
Alternatively, a log will not have been generated if the build was cancelled before it was sent to an agent.
