Where Are PM2 Logs Stored? PM2 Log File Location Explained

PM2 stores per-application logs in ~/.pm2/logs/, with <app-name>-out.log for stdout and <app-name>-error.log for stderr. The PM2 daemon's own log is ~/.pm2/pm2.log. The ~ is the home directory of the user that started the PM2 daemon — so apps managed under sudo/root live in /root/.pm2/logs/, not your user's home. Run pm2 info <app> to print the exact paths for any process.

Quick Reference: PM2 Log File Paths

If an app runs as multiple instances in cluster mode, PM2 appends the instance id, e.g. api-out-0.log, api-out-1.log, unless merge_logs: true is set.

How to View and Tail PM2 Logs

pm2 logs                       # tail all apps, live
pm2 logs <app-name>            # one app
pm2 logs <app-name> --lines 200   # show 200 lines of backlog first
pm2 logs --err                 # only stderr across all apps
pm2 logs --out                 # only stdout
pm2 logs --raw                 # no PM2 prefix/timestamps
pm2 logs --timestamp           # add timestamps

pm2 info <app-name>            # prints exact "out log path" / "error log path"
pm2 describe <app-name>        # same info, verbose

You can also read the files directly once you know the path:

tail -f ~/.pm2/logs/api-out.log
tail -f ~/.pm2/logs/api-error.log
sudo tail -f /root/.pm2/logs/api-error.log   # root-managed app

The web dashboard pm2 monit shows a live tail alongside CPU/memory per process.

Configuring Log Paths in the Ecosystem File

The clean way to control logging is the ecosystem.config.js file:

module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: "api",
    script: "./server.js",
    out_file: "/var/log/myapp/api-out.log",
    error_file: "/var/log/myapp/api-error.log",
    log_file: "/var/log/myapp/api-combined.log", // merged out+err
    merge_logs: true,                 // single file across cluster instances
    log_date_format: "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss Z",
    time: true                        // prefix each line with a timestamp
  }]
};

Apply changes:

pm2 restart ecosystem.config.js --update-env

Useful per-app options:

• out_file / error_file — explicit paths (use /dev/null to discard).
• log_file — a combined file that receives both streams.
• merge_logs: true — one set of files for all cluster instances instead of per-instance numbered files.
• log_date_format — timestamp format PM2 prepends to each line.

Log Rotation

PM2 does not rotate logs by itself — files grow unbounded until you flush or rotate them.

Clear logs manually:

pm2 flush                # empty all log files
pm2 flush <app-name>     # empty one app's logs

For automatic rotation, install the official module:

pm2 install pm2-logrotate

Then tune it:

pm2 set pm2-logrotate:max_size 10M        # rotate at 10 MB
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:retain 7            # keep 7 rotated files
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:compress true       # gzip old files
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:rotateInterval '0 0 * * *'   # also rotate daily at midnight

Rotated files appear next to the originals with a timestamp suffix, e.g. api-out__2026-06-01_00-00-00.log. Alternatively you can manage PM2's files with system logrotate and the copytruncate directive, but the module is the supported path.

Common Errors You'll Find in PM2 Logs

• Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::3000 — another process (often a stale PM2 instance) holds the port; find it with lsof -i :3000 and stop the duplicate.
• Error: Cannot find module 'express' — dependencies weren't installed in the app's directory; run npm install and pm2 restart <app>.
• App [api:0] exited with code [1] via signal [SIGINT] — the process crashed or was killed; the real stack trace is in the -error.log just above this PM2 line.
• script exited too quickly, PM2 will restart it / reached max restart limit — the app keeps crashing on startup; check the error log and consider max_restarts / min_uptime.
• UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning or an unhandled exception stack — application-level bug written to the error log; PM2 records it but doesn't interpret it.
• PM2 error: Cannot read property ... of undefined in pm2.log — a daemon-side issue; try pm2 update to reload the in-memory daemon after a PM2 version change.

Troubleshooting: Logs Missing or Empty

• Can't find the logs at all — They're under the home of whoever started the daemon. If you used sudo pm2 start, look in /root/.pm2/logs/. Confirm with pm2 info <app>.
• pm2 logs shows nothing — The app may be logging to a custom out_file/error_file, or it writes via a logging library to its own file instead of stdout/stderr. Check pm2 describe <app> for the configured paths.
• Logs stopped updating — PM2 may be holding an old file handle after an external rotation (e.g. system logrotate without copytruncate). Run pm2 reloadLogs to reopen the files.
• Empty error log but the app is crashing — Errors may be going to stdout instead of stderr, so check -out.log too, or set merge_logs: true to see everything in one place.
• Logs reset after reboot but app didn't restart — You didn't persist the process list. Run pm2 save and set up the startup hook with pm2 startup so apps (and logging) resume on boot.
• Disk filling from huge log files — PM2 has no built-in cap; install pm2-logrotate and set max_size/retain, or schedule pm2 flush.