On helm-chart 7.0.0 with value mendRnvLogHistoryDir unset logs are going to /tmp/renovate/logs

[pippitt]

After updating from chart version 6.10.0 to 7.0.0 we noticed the renovate attached PVC was filling with logs.
Previous image with no logs: ghcr.io/mend/renovate-ce:6.11.0
Current image with logs: ghcr.io/mend/renovate-ce:7.0.0
The previous deployment logged nothing to /tmp/renovate/logs as expected with mendRnvLogHistoryDir unset.
As a work around we set these values:

  mendRnvLogHistoryCleanupCron: "\"0 0 * * *\""
  mendRnvLogHistoryTTLDays: "1"

There is the output of env|grep LOG on the 7.0.0 version container:

MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_TTL_DAYS=1
LOG_FORMAT=json
LOG_LEVEL=debug
MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_CLEANUP_CRON=0 0 * * *

and the same on the 6.11.0 container:

LOG_FORMAT=json
LOG_LEVEL=debug

From the logs on the new version I do see config.log being set, example with redactions:

  "name": "mend-renovate",
  "hostname": "renovate-5cf9c7947b-cr7vg",
  "pid": 9,
  "level": 20,
  "logContext": "DqbRGZIt-avPOyWj11lRf",
  "job": {
    "jobId": 481636,
    "repository": "REDACTED",
    "organizationName": "REDACTED",
    "installationId": REDACTED,
    "reason": "hourly",
    "priority": 10,
    "addedAt": "2024-04-16 17:00:01",
    "startedAt": "2024-04-16 17:47:07",
    "lastAlive": "2024-04-16 17:47:07",
    "attempts": 1
  },
  "config": {
    "endpoint": "https://api.github.com/",
    "gitAuthor": "REDACTED",
    "logContext": "723482411a",
    "platform": "github",
    "repositories": [
      "REDACTED"
    ],
    "username": "REDACTED",
    "token": "***********",
    "dependencyDashboardFooter": "\n- [ ] <!-- manual job -->Check this box to trigger a request for Renovate to run again on this repository\n",
    "logFile": "/tmp/renovate/logs/REDACTED/REDACTED/20240416_174707_723482411a.log"
  },
  "msg": "Running Renovate job",
  "time": "2024-04-16T17:47:07.589Z",
  "v": 0

vs logs from the 6.11.0 for a "msg": "Running Renovate job":

  "name": "renovate",
  "hostname": "renovate-64f6c4c9bc-4cj69",
  "pid": 8,
  "level": 20,
  "logContext": "sxC1fMe05dXst_42Tihzj",
  "job": {
    "jobId": 451485,
    "repository": "REDACTED",
    "organizationName": "REDACTED",
    "installationId": REDACTED,
    "reason": "hourly",
    "priority": 10,
    "addedAt": "2024-04-16 16:00:04",
    "startedAt": "2024-04-16 17:45:11",
    "lastAlive": "2024-04-16 17:45:11",
    "attempts": 1
  },
  "config": {
    "dependencyDashboardFooter": "\n- [ ] <!-- manual job -->Check this box to trigger a request for Renovate to run again on this repository\n",
    "endpoint": "https://api.github.com/",
    "gitAuthor": "REDACTED",
    "logContext": "60bd86b0bc",
    "platform": "github",
    "repositories": [
      "REDACTED"
    ],
    "token": "***********",
    "username": "REDACTED"
  },
  "msg": "Running Renovate job",
  "time": "2024-04-16T17:45:11.380Z",
  "v": 0

Let me know if I can provide further information.

[nabeelsaabna]

Yes, logHistoryDir is set by default to /tmp/renovate/logs/ in v7
I'll add that to the release notes

[pippitt]

Yes, logHistoryDir is set by default to /tmp/renovate/logs/ in v7 I'll add that to the release notes

If you didn't want logging locally (as we stream all the STDOUT to a logging platform), what should it be set to? I know we tried /dev/null but that just tried to write logs to /dev/null/ORGNAME/REPONAME which would error.

[Gabriel-Ladzaretti]

If you didn't want logging locally (as we stream all the STDOUT to a logging platform), what should it be set to? I know we tried /dev/null but that just tried to write logs to /dev/null/ORGNAME/REPONAME which would error.

You can set RENOVATE_LOG_FILE=/dev/null instead.

EDIT: The above will override the value that is being sent to the Renovate CLI, effectively disabling it (refer to the Combined config log message).

[pippitt]

If you didn't want logging locally (as we stream all the STDOUT to a logging platform), what should it be set to? I know we tried /dev/null but that just tried to write logs to /dev/null/ORGNAME/REPONAME which would error.

You can set RENOVATE_LOG_FILE=/dev/null instead.

EDIT: The above will override the value that is being sent to the Renovate CLI, effectively disabling it (refer to the Combined config log message).

That is what we tried, here are the slightly redacted errors from that:

"level":60,
"err":{"errno":-20,"code":"ENOTDIR","syscall":"mkdir","path":"/dev/null/ORG/REPONAME",
"message":"ENOTDIR: not a directory, mkdir '/dev/null/ORG/REPONAME'",
"stack":"Error: ENOTDIR: not a directory, mkdir '/dev/null/ORG/REPONAME'"},
"msg":"Fatal error: ENOTDIR: not a directory, mkdir '/dev/null/ORG/REPONAME'"

[Gabriel-Ladzaretti]

You tried setting MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR=/dev/null which will cause the error you mention. i suggest setting RENOVATE_LOG_FILE=/dev/null instead.

This will prevent Renovate from writing local logs to the PVC (and the error you mention), but it won't prevent the creation of the **/ORG/REPONAME directories. If this is a problem, Try setting MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR somewhere outside the mount path for your PVC; MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR=/tmp/logs might work.

[Gabriel-Ladzaretti]

Btw, setting MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR outside the PVC alone will prevent it from writing logs to the PVC. but it will not prevent writing local logs.
This also might work for you if this suits your needs.

[nabeelsaabna]

Hi @pippitt we'll address this issue and allow not storing logs at all

[nabeelsaabna]

we update the configurations docs to indicate where the files will be saved by default and how to clean them up
docs: edit MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR description

[justo-mend]

I recommend a feature request to provide a hard-coded value for MEND_RNV_LOG_HISTORY_DIR that will disable writing job logs to file.

The new value could be something like: OFF, NONE, DISABLED

I recommend: NONE