Where are Log Files in cPanel?

[Cameron]

I would like to look at my website's raw log files so I can see which pages Googlebot is crawling. My goal is to download the log file from my hosting account and then open it in some sort of a text file. I'd like to search the file for "Googlebot" and then go line by line, so I can see exactly what's happening. I am also interested in perhaps utilizing one of the better SEO services out there, such as Moz, DeepCrawl, OnCrawl, Botify, SEMRush, Ahrefs, or another one. Boy, there sure are a lot of these types of data collections companies. Check them out:

https://www.g2.com/products/deepcrawl/competitors/alternatives

I assume I would need the raw data from my hosting account to upload to one of these companies.

Anyway, I'm wondering how to locate the log files on my server. I am running cPanel. Is there a way to access the file from there?

 

[15Katey]

Yes, you may access your log files from cPanel. To do so, follow these instructions:

1. Log into your cPanel account at your host.

2. Once inside, scroll down the first page until you see the Metrics area. Then click the Raw Access link contained within.



3. Inside the Raw Access page, you'll see some headings. Under the first one that's called Configure Logs, you have the options of how to archive your log files and how they're removed. The second heading that's called Download Current Raw Access Files is the one you're interested in. Under this heading, you'll see your domain name in a few different areas (plain, SSL, FTP). They should be links. Click the link that's got the greatest disk usage to the right of it (most likely the plain version). Doing this will download the file to wherever on your computer files get downloaded. For me, that's the desktop. I set downloads to go to this location.

4. Below the current raw logs are the archived logs. They're under the Archived Raw Logs heading. You may click the links for these if you would like the current month's worth of data as opposed to the current day's. Again, the link that's without the SSL or the FTP is most likely the one you want to click.

5. In your download folder, you should see the file. It'll be titled something like accesslog_yourdomain.com_5_21_2021.gz. That's "accesslog," "your domain," and "the current date."

6. You'll notice that the file is zipped as a GZ file, so you'll need an application to open it to view the contents. I personally use 7 Zip to do this. All I do is right-click on the file and choose the 7 Zip > Open Archive option. When the container opens, you should see your log file as a txt file. Simply double click that. Sometimes the file is stored as a different format. You'll need a different application to open that one.

As far as using the log files for the SEO services you mentioned, all you need to do is follow their directions. They may need some special formats, but most likely, all you'll need to do is upload the log file(s) you just downloaded.