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Manual Guide: Container Logs & Terminal

Welcome to the Container Logs & Terminal module within your custom integration middleware platform (mdlwr). This interface serves as your centralized web-based control panel to monitor application health and interact directly with any running container without needing direct SSH access to the host server.

1. Interface Overview

The module is split into two primary tabs for managing your containers:

  • Logs Tab: Streams real-time stdout and stderr logs from your selected container. Ideal for tracking application requests, debugging background tasks (such as Celery workers or API routes), and diagnosing runtime errors.

  • Terminal Tab: Opens a secure, interactive shell session (similar to an SSH connection) directly inside the container. This allows you to execute commands, inspect internal file structures, check environment variables, or run maintenance tasks on the fly.

2. Step-by-Step Usage Guide

Step 1: Select a Target Container

  1. Locate the Select dropdown menu at the top of the panel.

  2. Choose the specific container you want to inspect or manage from the list of active services running in your environment.

Step 2: Choose Your Mode (Logs or Terminal)

  • To monitor application output:

  • Click on the Logs tab.

  • Click the Connect button to establish a live WebSocket connection to the container's log stream.

  • Auto-scroll: Keep the "Auto-scroll" switch enabled to automatically follow new log lines as they appear.

  • Clear Screen: Use the "Clear Screen" button whenever you want to wipe the current view and declutter the console.

Note: The viewer automatically retains up to the last 1,000 lines to ensure your browser performance remains smooth.

  • To run interactive commands (Container Shell):

  • Click on the Terminal tab.

  • Click the Connect button to open the interactive terminal session via xterm.js.

  • Type your standard Linux or application commands directly into the terminal interface (e.g., inspecting logs via tail, checking directory contents with ls, or querying internal services).

Step 3: Switching Between Views

  • You can freely switch between the Logs and Terminal tabs at any time. The system automatically closes the previous background WebSocket stream and safely initializes the new session for the active container.

3. Disconnection & Cleanup

  • When you switch to a different container or close/refresh the browser tab, the system automatically terminates active socket connections to prevent background resource leaks.