Nginx Log

This section covers configuration options for Nginx log processing and analysis features in Nginx UI.

Indexing

IndexingEnabled

• Type: boolean
• Default: false
• Environment Variable: NGINX_UI_NGINX_LOG_INDEXING_ENABLED
• Version: >= v2.2.0

This option enables indexing for Nginx logs, which provides high-performance log search and analysis capabilities.

Behavior When Disabled (Basic Mode)

When IndexingEnabled is set to false, Nginx UI still discovers log entries from your Nginx configuration and shows them in the Logs list. In this basic mode:

• You can view the list of detected log files (grouped by simple rotation patterns), but advanced features like indexing metrics, document counts, and search shards are not available.
• Real-time viewing (tail) continues to work based on resolved access/error log paths.

IndexPath

• Type: string

• Version: >= v2.2.0

• By default, Bleve index files are stored in the log-index directory located under your Nginx UI config directory (for example, /usr/local/nginx-ui/log-index).

• If the config directory cannot be determined, the fallback path is ./log-index relative to the application.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• CPU: 1 core minimum
• Memory: 2GB RAM minimum
• Storage: At least 20GB available disk space

Recommended Configuration

• CPU: 2+ cores recommended
• Memory: 4GB+ RAM recommended
• Storage: SSD storage for better I/O performance

Performance Metrics

Based on production validation and comprehensive testing (M2 Pro 12 cores, September 2025):

Metric	Value	Description
Production Pipeline	~10,000 records/sec	Complete indexing with search capabilities
Parser Performance	~932K records/sec	Stream processing only
CPU Utilization	90%+	Optimized multi-core processing
Memory Efficiency	Zero-allocation design	Advanced memory pooling system
Adaptive Scaling	12→36 workers	Dynamic resource optimization
Batch Optimization	1000→6000	Real-time throughput tuning

Features

When advanced indexing is enabled, you get access to the following features:

Core Capabilities

• Zero-allocation pipeline - Optimized memory usage for high-performance processing
• Dynamic shard management - Intelligent distribution of log data across shards
• Incremental index scanning - Only indexes new log entries for efficiency
• Automated log rotation detection - Seamlessly handles rotated log files

Search & Analysis

• Advanced search & filtering - Complex queries with multiple criteria
• Full-text search with regex support - Powerful pattern matching capabilities
• Cross-file timeline correlation - Analyze events across multiple log files
• Error pattern recognition - Automatic detection of error patterns

Data Processing

• Compressed log file support - Works with gzipped and other compressed formats
• Offline GeoIP analysis - Location-based analytics without external services
• Real-time analytics dashboard - Live monitoring and statistics
• Multi-dimensional data visualization - Advanced charts and graphs

Usage Considerations

Performance Impact Notice

Advanced indexing delivers enterprise-grade performance with ~10,000 records/second throughput for complete log processing. The system automatically optimizes CPU utilization (90%+) and adapts worker scaling (12→36) for optimal performance based on your hardware.

Open Source Limitation

• Advanced log indexing features are free and open source for all users
• We do not accept feature requests for this functionality
• For commercial or professional use, contact [email protected]

Initial Indexing

When you enable advanced indexing, the system will immediately start indexing existing log files. This initial indexing process may temporarily impact system performance.