# Debugging Server Starts

If a server isn't starting, the first thing to run is the `server log` command. It will show you the console log for that server.  Note, this dumps the entire log file to the console, which may be very large.  We recommend using the `tail` or `--follow`  tricks below.

```
server log
server log serverName
```

## Tailing and Following logs

If the log is very large, use the `tail` command to just see the last few lines of it.

```
server log | tail
server log | tail lines=100
```

To get a live stream of the console log from a running server, use the `--follow` flag and the command will continue streaming new lines to the console until you press Ctrl-C to stop.

```
server log --follow
```

You can also look at your server's access log (if enabled) and rewrite log (if enabled).  

```
server log --follow -access
server log --follow --rewrite
```

## Start server in console mode

You can use the `--console` flag to the `server start` command to start a server in the foreground. The console log will be live-streamed to the CLI and the log will continue streaming as long as the server is running. Press Ctrl-C to stop the server and stop streaming the log file.

```
server start --console
```

## Debug Logging

You can get additional information about a server start with the `--debug` flag. When debug is set, the `start` command will not exit immediately, but wait for the server to come up and live stream the debugging information and server logs to the console while the server is coming up.

```
server start --debug
server start --debug --console
```

## Maximum logging! (trace)

You may still really be having issues getting your server to start up correctly due to a setting not getting picked up, rewrites not working, or maybe a jar not loading. You can "drink from the firehose" so to speak by turning on `trace` level logging. This works best when starting the server via the console so you can watch the logging as it streams past.

```
server start --trace --console
```