David Hunt-Mateo
PROBLEM
EasyPanel 2.17.0+ switched from
syslog
to
json-file
logging drivers without configuration options. This breaking change forces us to stay on 2.16.0 indefinitely.
Critical Issue
: Even if you manually change the Docker log driver, EasyPanel resets it back to
json-file
on every service restart or deploy, making workarounds impossible.
Customer Impact
: Request Network (2x Hobby Plans, $29.80/month) - Production blocker preventing platform upgrades.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Technical Issue
Our monitoring relies on service names in log entries for 17 critical GCP alert policies:
syslog format (what we need)
- includes service name:
Aug 20 10:30:45 prod request-api[container]: Error message
json-file format (current)
- only ephemeral container ID:
{"log":"Error message","stream":"stderr","time":"2025-08-20T10:30:45.123Z"}
Container IDs change on restart, breaking persistent monitoring queries.
EasyPanel's Rationale
We understand the motivation (2.17.0 changelog) about limiting log file size - we've had disk space issues too. However, this wasn't highlighted as a breaking change affecting monitoring infrastructure.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Add
"Log Driver"
dropdown in service configuration:
•
syslog
(external log aggregation)
•
json-file
(current default)
•
gcplogs
(direct GCP integration)
•
fluentd
(flexible log routing and processing)
•
none
(disable logging)
COMPETITIVE CONTEXT
Coolify
already provides this via "drain logs": https://coolify.io/docs/knowledge-base/drain-logs
USE CASES
  1. External monitoring
    (our case) - service names for alert filtering
  2. Cloud-native
    - direct GCP/AWS integration
  3. Development
    - minimal overhead with
    none
  4. Compliance
    - integration with audit systems
BUSINESS IMPACT
•
Risk
: Evaluating migration to platforms supporting our logging needs
•
Opportunity
: Essential for businesses with existing monitoring infrastructure
IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTION
MVP
: Basic dropdown with
syslog
,
json-file
,
none
Enhanced
: Additional drivers (
gcplogs
,
awslogs
) + driver options
---
Contact
: Discord @MantisClone | Email: david.huntmateo@request.network
This represents a critical need for logging flexibility that would benefit many EasyPanel customers beyond our specific use case.