VSL(7)

NAME
VSL - Varnish Shared Memory Logging

OVERVIEW

This document describes the format and content of all the Varnish shared memory logging tags. These tags are used by the varnishlog(1), varnishtop(1), etc. logging tools supplied with Varnish.

  VSL tags

Backend - Backend selected
    Logged when a connection is selected for handling a backend request.

    The format is:

    %d %s %s
    |  |  |
    |  |  +- Backend display name
    |  +---- VCL name
    +------- Connection file descriptor

BackendClose - Backend connection closed
    Logged when a backend connection is closed.

    The format is:

    %d %s [ %s ]
    |  |    |
    |  |    +- Optional reason
    |  +------ Backend display name
    +--------- Connection file descriptor

BackendOpen - Backend connection opened
    Logged when a new backend connection is opened.

    The format is:

    %d %s %s %s %s %s
    |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  +- Local port
    |  |  |  |  +---- Local address
    |  |  |  +------- Remote port
    |  |  +---------- Remote address
    |  +------------- Backend display name
    +---------------- Connection file descriptor

BackendReuse - Backend connection put up for reuse
    Logged when a backend connection is put up for reuse by a later connection.

    The format is:

    %d %s
    |  |
    |  +- Backend display name
    +---- Connection file descriptor

BackendStart - Backend request start
    Start of backend processing. Logs the backend IP address and port number.

    The format is:

    %s %s
    |  |
    |  +- Backend Port number
    +---- Backend IP4/6 address

Backend_health - Backend health check
    The result of a backend health probe.

    The format is:

    %s %s %s %u %u %u %f %f %s
    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  +- Probe HTTP response
    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  +---- Average response time
    |  |  |  |  |  |  +------- Response time
    |  |  |  |  |  +---------- Probe window size
    |  |  |  |  +------------- Probe threshold level
    |  |  |  +---------------- Number of good probes in window
    |  |  +------------------- Probe window bits
    |  +---------------------- Status message
    +------------------------- Backend name

Begin - Marks the start of a VXID
    The first record of a VXID transaction.

    The format is:

    %s %d %s
    |  |  |
    |  |  +- Reason
    |  +---- Parent vxid
    +------- Type ("sess", "req" or "bereq")

BereqAcct - Backend request accounting
    Contains byte counters from backend request processing.

    The format is:

    %d %d %d %d %d %d
    |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  +- Total bytes received
    |  |  |  |  +---- Body bytes received
    |  |  |  +------- Header bytes received
    |  |  +---------- Total bytes transmitted
    |  +------------- Body bytes transmitted
    +---------------- Header bytes transmitted

BereqHeader - Backend request header
    HTTP header contents.

    The format is:

    %s: %s
    |   |
    |   +- Header value
    +----- Header name

BereqMethod - Backend request method
    The HTTP request method used.

BereqProtocol - Backend request protocol
    The HTTP protocol version information.

BereqURL - Backend request URL
    The HTTP request URL.

BerespHeader - Backend response header
    HTTP header contents.

    The format is:

    %s: %s
    |   |
    |   +- Header value
    +----- Header name

BerespProtocol - Backend response protocol
    The HTTP protocol version information.

BerespReason - Backend response response
    The HTTP response string received.

BerespStatus - Backend response status
    The HTTP status code received.

BogoHeader - Bogus HTTP received
    Contains the first 20 characters of received HTTP headers we could not make sense of. Applies to both req.http and beresp.http.

CLI - CLI communication
    CLI communication between varnishd master and child process.

Debug - Debug messages
    Debug messages can normally be ignored, but are sometimes helpful during trouble-shooting. Most debug messages must be explicitly enabled with parameters.

ESI_xmlerror - ESI parser error or warning message
    An error or warning was generated during parsing of an ESI object. The log record describes the problem encountered.

End - Marks the end of a VXID
    The last record of a VXID transaction.

Error - Error messages
    Error messages are stuff you probably want to know.

ExpBan - Object evicted due to ban
    Logs the VXID when an object is banned.

ExpKill - Object expiry event
    Logs events related to object expiry. The events are:

EXP_Rearm
    Logged when the expiry time of an object changes.

EXP_Inbox
    Logged when the expiry thread picks an object from the inbox for processing.

EXP_Kill
    Logged when the expiry thread kills an object from the inbox.

EXP_When
    Logged when the expiry thread moves an object on the binheap.

EXP_Expired
    Logged when the expiry thread expires an object.

LRU_Cand
    Logged when an object is evaluated for LRU force expiry.

LRU Logged when an object is force expired due to LRU.

LRU_Fail
    Logged when no suitable candidate object is found for LRU force expiry.

    The format is:

    EXP_Rearm p=%p E=%f e=%f f=0x%x
    EXP_Inbox p=%p e=%f f=0x%x
    EXP_Kill p=%p e=%f f=0x%x
    EXP_When p=%p e=%f f=0x%x
    EXP_Expired x=%u t=%f
    LRU_Cand p=%p f=0x%x r=%d
    LRU x=%u
    LRU_Fail
    Legend:
    p=%p         Objcore pointer
    t=%f         Remaining TTL (s)
    e=%f         Expiry time (unix epoch)
    E=%f         Old expiry time (unix epoch)
    f=0x%x       Objcore flags
    r=%d         Objcore refcount
    x=%u         Object VXID

FetchError - Error while fetching object
    Logs the error message of a failed fetch operation.

Fetch_Body - Body fetched from backend
    Ready to fetch body from backend.

    The format is:

    %d (%s) %s
    |   |    |
    |   |    +---- 'stream' or '-'
    |   +--------- Text description of body fetch mode
    +------------- Body fetch mode

Gzip - G(un)zip performed on object
    A Gzip record is emitted for each instance of gzip or gunzip work performed. Worst case, an ESI transaction stored in gzip'ed objects but delivered gunziped, will run into many of these.

    The format is:

    %c %c %c %d %d %d %d %d
    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  +- Bit length of compressed data
    |  |  |  |  |  |  +---- Bit location of 'last' bit
    |  |  |  |  |  +------- Bit location of first deflate block
    |  |  |  |  +---------- Bytes output
    |  |  |  +------------- Bytes input
    |  |  +---------------- 'E': ESI, '-': Plain object
    |  +------------------- 'F': Fetch, 'D': Deliver
    +---------------------- 'G': Gzip, 'U': Gunzip, 'u': Gunzip-test

    Examples:

    U F E 182 159 80 80 1392
    G F E 159 173 80 1304 1314

H2RxBody - Received HTTP2 frame body
    Binary data

H2RxHdr - Received HTTP2 frame header
    Binary data

H2TxBody - Transmitted HTTP2 frame body
    Binary data

H2TxHdr - Transmitted HTTP2 frame header
    Binary data

Hash - Value added to hash
    This value was added to the object lookup hash.

    NB: This log record is masked by default.

Hit - Hit object in cache
    Object looked up in cache.

    The format is:

    %u %f %f %f
    |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  +- Keep period
    |  |  +---- Grace period
    |  +------- Remaining TTL
    +---------- VXID of the object

HitMiss - Hit for miss object in cache.
    Hit-for-miss object looked up in cache.

    The format is:

    %u %f
    |  |
    |  +- Remaining TTL
    +---- VXID of the object

HitPass - Hit for pass object in cache.
    Hit-for-pass object looked up in cache.

    The format is:

    %u %f
    |  |
    |  +- Remaining TTL
    +---- VXID of the object

HttpGarbage - Unparseable HTTP request
    Logs the content of unparseable HTTP requests.

Length - Size of object body
    Logs the size of a fetch object body.

Link - Links to a child VXID
    Links this VXID to any child VXID it initiates.

    The format is:

    %s %d %s
    |  |  |
    |  |  +- Reason
    |  +---- Child vxid
    +------- Child type ("req" or "bereq")

LostHeader - Failed attempt to set HTTP header
    Logs the header name of a failed HTTP header operation due to resource exhaustion or configured limits.

ObjHeader - Object header
    HTTP header contents.

    The format is:

    %s: %s
    |   |
    |   +- Header value
    +----- Header name

ObjProtocol - Object protocol
    The HTTP protocol version information.

ObjReason - Object response
    The HTTP response string received.

ObjStatus - Object status
    The HTTP status code received.

PipeAcct - Pipe byte counts
    Contains byte counters for pipe sessions.

    The format is:

    %d %d %d %d
    |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  +------- Piped bytes to client
    |  |  +---------- Piped bytes from client
    |  +------------- Backend request headers
    +---------------- Client request headers

Proxy - PROXY protocol information
    PROXY protocol information.

    The format is:

    %d %s %d %s %d
    |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  +- server port
    |  |  |  +---- server ip
    |  |  +------- client port
    |  +---------- client ip
    +------------- PROXY protocol version

ProxyGarbage - Unparseable PROXY request
    A PROXY protocol header was unparseable.

ReqAcct - Request handling byte counts
    Contains byte counts for the request handling. ESI sub-request counts are also added to their parent request. The body bytes count does not include transmission (ie: chunked encoding) overhead. The format is:

    %d %d %d %d %d %d
    |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  +- Total bytes transmitted
    |  |  |  |  +---- Body bytes transmitted
    |  |  |  +------- Header bytes transmitted
    |  |  +---------- Total bytes received
    |  +------------- Body bytes received
    +---------------- Header bytes received

ReqHeader - Client request header
    HTTP header contents.

    The format is:

    %s: %s
    |   |
    |   +- Header value
    +----- Header name

ReqMethod - Client request method
    The HTTP request method used.

ReqProtocol - Client request protocol
    The HTTP protocol version information.

ReqStart - Client request start
    Start of request processing. Logs the client IP address and port number.

    The format is:

    %s %s
    |  |
    |  +- Client Port number
    +---- Client IP4/6 address

ReqURL - Client request URL
    The HTTP request URL.

RespHeader - Client response header
    HTTP header contents.

    The format is:

    %s: %s
    |   |
    |   +- Header value
    +----- Header name

RespProtocol - Client response protocol
    The HTTP protocol version information.

RespReason - Client response response
    The HTTP response string received.

RespStatus - Client response status
    The HTTP status code received.

SessClose - Client connection closed
    SessClose is the last record for any client connection.

    The format is:

    %s %f
    |  |
    |  +- How long the session was open
    +---- Why the connection closed

SessOpen - Client connection opened
    The first record for a client connection, with the socket-endpoints of the connection.

    The format is:

    %s %d %s %s %s %d
    |  |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |  +- File descriptor number
    |  |  |  |  +---- Local TCP port
    |  |  |  +------- Local IPv4/6 address
    |  |  +---------- Socket name (from -a argument)
    |  +------------- Remote TCP port
    +---------------- Remote IPv4/6 address

Storage - Where object is stored
    Type and name of the storage backend the object is stored in.

    The format is:

    %s %s
    |  |
    |  +- Name of storage backend
    +---- Type ("malloc", "file", "persistent" etc.)

TTL - TTL set on object
    A TTL record is emitted whenever the ttl, grace or keep values for an object is set.

    The format is:

    %s %d %d %d %d [ %d %d %u %u ]
    |  |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  |    |  |  |  +- Max-Age from Cache-Control header
    |  |  |  |  |    |  |  +---- Expires header
    |  |  |  |  |    |  +------- Date header
    |  |  |  |  |    +---------- Age (incl Age: header value)
    |  |  |  |  +--------------- Reference time for TTL
    |  |  |  +------------------ Keep
    |  |  +--------------------- Grace
    |  +------------------------ TTL
    +--------------------------- "RFC", "VCL" or "HFP"

    The last four fields are only present in "RFC" headers.

    Examples:

    RFC 60 10 -1 1312966109 1312966109 1312966109 0 60
    VCL 120 10 0 1312966111
    HFP 2 0 0 1312966113

Timestamp - Timing information
    Contains timing information for the Varnish worker threads.

    Time stamps are issued by Varnish on certain events, and show the absolute time of the event, the time spent since the start of the work unit, and the time spent since the last timestamp was logged. See the TIMESTAMPS section below for information about the individual time stamps.

    The format is:

    %s: %f %f %f
    |   |  |  |
    |   |  |  +- Time since last timestamp
    |   |  +---- Time since start of work unit
    |   +------- Absolute time of event
    +----------- Event label

VCL_Error - VCL execution error message
    Logs error messages generated during VCL execution.

VCL_Log - Log statement from VCL
    User generated log messages insert from VCL through std.log()

VCL_acl - VCL ACL check results
    Logs VCL ACL evaluation results.

VCL_call - VCL method called
    Logs the VCL method name when a VCL method is called.

VCL_return - VCL method return value
    Logs the VCL method terminating statement.

VCL_trace - VCL trace data
    Logs VCL execution trace data.

    The format is:

    %s %u %u.%u.%u
    |  |  |  |  |
    |  |  |  |  +- VCL program line position
    |  |  |  +---- VCL program line number
    |  |  +------- VCL program source index
    |  +---------- VCL trace point index
    +------------- VCL configname

    NB: This log record is masked by default.

VSL - VSL API warnings and error message
    Warnings and error messages generated by the VSL API while reading the shared memory log.

VfpAcct - Fetch filter accounting
    Contains name of VFP and statistics.

    The format is:

    %s %d %d
    |  |  |
    |  |  +- Total bytes produced
    |  +---- Number of calls made
    +------- Name of filter

    NB: This log record is masked by default.

Witness - Lock order witness records
    Diagnostic recording of locking order.

WorkThread - Logs thread start/stop events
    Logs worker thread creation and termination events.

    The format is:

    %p %s
    |  |
    |  +- [start|end]
    +---- Worker struct pointer

    NB: This log record is masked by default.

TIMESTAMPS

Timestamps are inserted in the log on completing certain events during the worker thread's task handling. The timestamps has a label showing which event was completed. The reported fields show the absolute time of the event, the time spent since the start of the task and the time spent since the last timestamp was logged.

The timestamps logged automatically by Varnish are inserted after completing events that are expected to have delays (e.g. network IO or spending time on a waitinglist). Timestamps can also be inserted from VCL using the std.timestamp() method. If one is doing time consuming tasks in the VCL configuration, it's a good idea to log a timestamp after completing that task. This keeps the timing information in subsequent timestamps from including the time spent on the VCL event.

  Request handling timestamps

Start
    The start of request processing (first byte received or restart).

Req Complete client request received.

ReqBody
    Client request body processed (discarded, cached or passed to the backend).

Waitinglist
    Came off waitinglist.

Fetch
    Fetch processing finished (completely fetched or ready for streaming).

Process
    Processing finished, ready to deliver the client response.

Resp
    Delivery of response to the client finished.

Restart
    Client request is being restarted.

  Pipe handling timestamps

Pipe
    Opened a pipe to the backend and forwarded the request.

PipeSess
    The pipe session has finished.

  Backend fetch timestamps

Start
    Start of the backend fetch processing.

Bereq
    Backend request sent.

Beresp
    Backend response headers received.

BerespBody
    Backend response body received.

Retry
    Backend request is being retried.

Error
    Backend request failed to vcl_backend_error.

HISTORY

This document was initially written by Poul-Henning Kamp, and later updated by Martin Blix Grydeland.

SEE ALSO

•   varnishhist(1)

•   varnishlog(1)

•   varnishncsa(1)

•   varnishtop(1)

COPYRIGHT

This document is licensed under the same licence as Varnish itself. See LICENCE for details.

•   Copyright (c) 2006 Verdens Gang AS

•   Copyright (c) 2006-2015 Varnish Software AS