# View server log files

Use the Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software REST API to retrieve and view the log files of a Wowza Streaming Engine instance.

> **Notes:**
- Wowza Streaming Engine 4.3.0 or later is required.
- PHP examples for the tasks in this article are available in the **tests** folder of the [PHP REST Library for Wowza Streaming Engine on GitHub](https://github.com/WowzaMediaSystems/wse-rest-library-php).



## Get a list of server log files

View a list of log files on a server.
You can optionally specify the *order* parameter as *newestFirst* (the default) or *oldestFirst*:


```bash
curl -X GET \
-H 'Accept:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
-H 'Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
"http://localhost:8087/v2/servers/{serverName}/logfiles?order=newestFirst"
```

## View a log file

View details of a specific log file:


```bash
curl -X GET \
-H 'Accept:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
-H 'Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
"http://localhost:8087/v2/servers/{serverName}/logfiles/{logName}"
```

You can restrict the amount returned by using the *lineCount* parameter to specify the total number of log lines to return.
The following call returns the *wowzastreamingengine_access.log* with the results limited to 100 lines:


```bash
curl -X GET \
-H 'Accept:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
-H 'Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
"http://localhost:8087/v2/servers/{serverName}/logfiles/wowzastreamingengine_access.log?lineCount=100"
```

## Search a log file

Search a log file for specific text by specifying the text with the *search* parameter:


```bash
curl -X GET \
-H 'Accept:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
-H 'Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8' \
"http://localhost:8087/v2/servers/{serverName}/logfiles/{logName}?search={string-to-search}"
```

## More resources

Several other parameters allow you to customize the information you retrieve from a log file.
In Swagger, go to the **servers** resource and view the `GET/v2/servers/{serverName}/logfiles/{logName}` endpoint for more information.