Table of Contents:

Error Log Files

• DSpace log: [dspace]/log/dspace.log (usually)
  • [dspace] is the location where DSpace is installed.
• Tomcat log directory: [tomcat]/logs (usually)
  • [tomcat] is the location where Tomcat is installed.
• (XMLUI Only) Cocoon log:
  • DSpace 1.5.1 or previous: [tomcat]/webapps/<name-of-webapp>/WEB-INF/logs/
  • DSpace 1.5.2 or later: [dspace]/log/cocoon.log

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Searching for Fixes to Common Errors

• Usually the easiest way to search our lists is using Nabble. It actually We have a DSpace Community Resource Search engine which allows you to easily search all of the DSpace Wiki, Issue Tracker and mailing lists all at the same time (along with issues from our issue tracker): http://dspace.2283337.n4.nabble.com/
  • NOTE: Key words in the error often are useful search terms.
• You also may find the DSpace Nabble Search useful, as it provides an easy way to view/browse/search all of the DSpace mailing lists.
• Finally, check the You may also choose to search the the dspace-tech mailing list and DSpace technical FAQ for information on the errorany possible information. Some commonly reported problems have answers there.

Turning on Debugging (optional)

• If you'd like to try and do some debugging yourself, you can change the DSpace logger settings to DEBUG which will sometimes provide you with more information about the error. To turn on debugging, visit the [dspace]/config/log4j.properties file and do the following:
  • To enable DEBUG logging in the dspace.log file, change the log4j.rootCategory and log4j.logger.org.dspace settings to DEBUG rather than INFO.
  • (XMLUI Only) To enable DEBUG logging in the cocoon.log file, change the log4j.logger.org.apache.cocoon setting to DEBUG rather than INFO.
  • NOTE: You'll need to restart Tomcat after enabling DEBUG mode in the log4j.properties file.
  • WARNING: Make sure to turn off debugging once you are finished. Leaving debugging turned on will cause the log files to grow very large very quickly!

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Send the error message and describe how you encountered it

• If all else fails, email a description of the error along with the error stack listing to dspace-tech@lists.sourceforge.net. (If you are not a member of this list, you can signup at https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dspace-tech)
• Make sure Try to include the following in your email:
  1. Your environment: Operating system, version of DSpace, version of Tomcat, Java, etc.
     1. NOTE: on DSpace 4.x or above, simply running "./dspace version" from the commandline will provide much of this information for you.
  2. The exact steps you took to encounter the error. (We often need to understand how to replicate the error before we can determine what the underlying cause is)
  3. The error stack that you found in your log file