How to view ZIM creation logs?

[benoit74]

I tried to create a ZIM of a famous subreddit and for some reason it failed:

How can I view the logs?

I left the page while it was running, should I have stayed on the page?

Is there a container where the thing ran?

Is it automatically delete on completion/failure?

[epheterson]

Thanks for trying it, and for the clear report.

The failure came from Arctic Shift, the public archive Zimi uses for subreddits. When it is busy it answers some requests with HTTP 422, and the same request works a moment later. ArcticZim stopped at the first one, so the whole capture failed. I reproduced it with r/Kiwix. The next release asks Arctic Shift again, with growing waits, and r/Kiwix now builds (1,040 posts, 4,923 comments).

To your questions:

• Logs: while a job runs, the Create page shows its log live. Until now that log was gone once you left, which is a gap. In the next release a failed job keeps its last 200 lines, with a Log button on its row under Recent, and the server log (docker logs) gets the tail too.
• Leaving the page: that's fine. The job runs on the server, and leaving or closing the page doesn't stop it.
• Container: there isn't a separate one. ArcticZim runs as a child process from its own Python environment under Zimi's data folder (tools/arcticzim), inside Zimi's container if you run Zimi in Docker.
• Cleanup: yes, on success or failure. The downloaded posts, comments and the build database live in a temporary folder that is removed, and a ZIM only appears under its name once it is complete.

[epheterson]

I'm working on a release now, the change will be in the next drop. Appreciate the report! Logging should definitely stick around for debugging.

[epheterson]

@benoit74 This is live in 1.13.0! Please give it another shot and share anything you see. Create flow is the least polished experience in Zimi and needs the most feedback and TLC.