I’ve been playing around with log.io this week. I really like this tool and I think that log.io demonstrates how exciting and useful node.js is. I’ve been looking at nowjs as well, but it’s a little too early for me to comment on that for the time being.

One thing I liked about log.io: it’s really easy to setup. Like really easy. You’ll need node.js installed first to get it running, or npm (node packet manager), but once that’s in place, it’s a matter of unzipping, a minuscule amount of configuration et voila, you have a very good looking logging tool.

Basically, you setup all of your nodes (the harvesters) with node.js as well, and logio on top. These will then be broadcasting messages to your server variant of log.io. The server then converts these messages into a very attractive front end.

The front end itself is cool as well, being able to handle regexp’s and up to four windows simultaneously within the web browser.

I’ve installed this for our company’s development team and I’m pretty sure that many others will find the tool equally as useful.

The only downside that I’ve noticed, is that log.io cannot monitor a log referenced by a symlink. That basically means that you will need to setup a separate script that continuously monitors for any new logfile filename change; also you will have to automate bouncing of log.io to ensure the script is back up and running. Overall, I’m happy though!