- What is laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer used for?
- It is a laravel-admin extension that registers a route, menu entry, and controller so you can browse, filter, and inspect application log files inside your existing admin panel. It is a thin adapter around a log-viewer core library, not a standalone observability platform. It is most useful when laravel-admin is already your back-office and logs are stored locally on the app server.
- How do I install laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer?
- Install it with Composer using composer require laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer, then publish its configuration and add the menu entry to the admin_menu table. Access is controlled through laravel-admin's RBAC, so create or assign the appropriate role and permission after installation. Plan for roughly half a day if you already know laravel-admin, and validate Composer constraints before changing the root dependency tree.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does this log viewer support?
- The package is aimed at Laravel 5.5 through 8.x, PHP 7.x through 8.0, and laravel-admin 1.x, typically with Monolog 1 or 2. There is no evidence of Laravel 9, 10, or 11 support. Laravel 9+ moved to Monolog 3, whose default line format can break log parsers of this vintage. Pinned constraints against the log-viewer core can also block composer update and hold the app back on a Laravel upgrade.
- How do I add the log viewer to the laravel-admin menu?
- After installing and publishing the config, insert a row into the admin_menu table for the route provided by the extension. Then refresh the admin panel and confirm the menu item appears only for authorized roles. Keep the menu entry scoped to ops or support users rather than all admin accounts.
- How do I restrict access to log files in laravel-admin?
- Use laravel-admin's built-in roles and permissions to gate the log viewer route and menu entry. Log files often contain stack traces, tokens, query parameters, and PII, so a mis-scoped permission in a shared admin panel is a data-leak risk. Grant access only to named support or ops users and review permissions whenever admin accounts change.
- Can it read daily, stack, or stderr log channels?
- It reads log files on disk, so it fits local file-based channels such as single and daily logs. A stack channel is only visible through the underlying files it writes to, and stderr logging in containerized or twelve-factor deployments may not produce local files for the viewer. Confirm your LOG_CHANNEL and storage paths before relying on it.
- Is laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer safe to use in production?
- It can be safe only with strict RBAC and a clear data-exposure policy, because logs routinely contain credentials, tokens, and personal data. Treat it as a convenience tool for authorized ops staff, not as your primary observability layer. If you already use CloudWatch, Datadog, ELK, or Loki, this package is duplicative and adds avoidable exposure.
- Does this package work with Docker, Kubernetes, or multiple app servers?
- Not well, unless logs are on a shared volume that every app node can read. The viewer inspects files local to the application node, so containerized or multi-node deployments typically show only one pod's or server's logs. For centralized or multi-node logging, use a dedicated log aggregation platform instead.
- Is laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer still maintained?
- Maintenance risk is high: the last release was in October 2021, contributor activity is minimal, and there are no meaningful dependents driving bug fixes. It inherits aging upstreams in laravel-admin 1.x and older Monolog versions. Treat it as a terminal-state dependency, pin the exact version, and record a review or removal date if you adopt it.
- What are alternatives to laravel-admin-ext/log-viewer?
- For modern Laravel, opcodesio/log-viewer is the recommended primary alternative: it is actively maintained, uses a framework-agnostic Blade UI, and supports Laravel 8 through 11 without admin-framework coupling. rap2hpoutre/laravel-log-viewer is a minimal single-route option. If you need centralized observability, use a log aggregation service rather than an in-panel file viewer.