Live deploy logs now available on Webslice Serverless

We want deploys to be as quick and easy as possible. No one likes waiting. That’s one of the big reasons we added Live Git deploys to Webslice Serverless. 

When you’re sitting and waiting for a deploy to finish, it helps to know how the deploy is progressing. It’s better to see any hiccups or errors in real-time, rather than being kept in the dark until the deploy finishes or fails.

That’s why every deploy on Webslice Serverless now comes with live deploy logs inside the Webslice console. You can watch status updates roll in, and see the deploy's command output as it's produced.

Waiting for the delivery

Deploying a website can feel like getting a parcel delivered. If your parcel hasn’t got a tracking number, then all you really know is that the parcel is “on its way”. You won't know exactly where the parcel is, when it will arrive, or whether it’s quietly on fire in a warehouse. Ultimately, the wait will be the same whether you’re tracking the parcel or not, but your experience will be completely different.

Previously, Webslice Serverless deploy logs worked a bit like that; only delivered to you after the deploy had finished, without any real-time tracking. Our activity logs would tell you roughly which stage you were in, but didn’t provide any granular line-by-line updates. Again: no one likes waiting, and that waiting is made worse when you’re not given any progress updates.

Now, when you kick off a deploy you’ll jump straight to the Deploy Logs area in the Webslice console. Log entries directly stream in as they happen, and are presented on the same page so you don’t even have to change tabs. You'll be updated with moment-to-moment information, and can watch status updates roll in and see your deploy's command output as it’s produced.

See errors as they happen

Most of the actions during deploys on Webslice Serverless happen within your build.sh and release.sh scripts. The code inside these scripts runs at different stages of deployment. These scripts are where deploys most often go sideways, especially the first time you’re writing one (check out our docs to learn how to use them). Before we introduced live deploy logs, you’d have to wait for the whole deploy to fail before you could investigate what’s gone wrong. Now, you can see errors the moment they happen.

Making it easier

When we first integrated live logging we did it by giving you links to a Grafana dashboard each time you deployed.

Grafana is great, but it wasn’t built specifically for Webslice and wasn’t the most glamorous solution. It gives you a very thorough technical stream of information—but far more than you’d probably need for most deploys. 

So we’ve brought the live deploy logs into the Webslice Serverless console. It’s more cohesive, presenting you with the most important information for your Git deploys and filtering out the rest.

There are a couple of ways you can access deploy logs.

• In the Activity tab: Wherever you see the colourful DEPLOY LOG label, select it and you’ll be brought to that deploy’s log.

• In the Deploy tab: Open the options button to the right of your chosen deploy (just beside the STATUS column) and select View Deploy Log.

It’s also much easier to look up historic deploys. Previously you’d have to know either the exact time range or deploy ID to find older deploys within the Grafana dashboard, and then scroll through to find them. Now you can jump straight from the Deploys tab or Activity tab to access the log entries and see your prior deploys listed chronologically.

Grafana is still there if you want it

Grafana still exists as a central dashboard for zooming in on metrics and logs but you don't have to leave the Webslice console to see logs anymore.

If you want deeper logging (eg. Apache logs, PHP logs etc.) the Grafana dashboard is still the place to go. 

Additionally, if you need to view and search for info across all of your deploys at once, Grafana is great for that.

To find the Grafana dashboard, visit the Deploys tab in the Webslice console. Find the options button to the right of your chosen deploy (just beside the STATUS column) and select View Grafana Logs.

Making deploys transparent

Webslice Serverless is for developers who make lots of websites. That’s why we’re taking steps to make deploys quicker and easier, like simplifying Git integrations to only take two clicks. Live logs are another step, helping you understand why deploys might not be doing what you expect them to.

If you want to give Webslice Serverless a go you can spin up your first project today and we'll add $5 to your account.