Restore HTTP access logging on the minimal image's :443 vhost - #155
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An Apache CustomLog inside a vhost REPLACES the one inherited from the server config. default-ssl.conf declared only ssl_request_log, so conf-enabled/other-vhosts-access-log.conf never applied to :443 -- and since the ALB speaks only to :443, the :80 vhost's access.log stayed empty too. The result was no HTTP access logging anywhere for a dedicated-hosting customer. ssl_request_log was the only record of a request, and it is a poor one: its %h is the load balancer's private address rather than the caller, and its format carries no status code, referer, or user agent. Nothing shipped it off the container either -- it is a real file on the ephemeral /var/log volume, so it died with the task. Found while verifying demo's migration: a probe request could not be located in CloudWatch at all. The log-tailer sidecar appears to cover this (it tails /var/log/apache2/access.log) but cannot -- that path is a symlink to /dev/stdout in the php:apache base image, and /dev/stdout is a write end, so the tail reads nothing. The sidecar entry looked like coverage while providing none. Adds a combined-format CustomLog to access.log, which reaches the container's stdout and therefore the awslogs driver. Client identity comes from X-Forwarded-For, since %h is the load balancer. The whole header is logged deliberately: the ALB appends the true peer as the last element, so only the last one is trustworthy, and keeping the chain visible beats hiding a forged prefix behind a single value. ssl_request_log is kept for the TLS protocol/cipher detail the combined format does not carry. Verified on a built image: `apache2ctl -t` reports Syntax OK, and requests through the vhost emit, on stdout, 203.0.113.9 ... "GET /?abuse-probe HTTP/1.1" 200 4031 "-" "curl/8.7.1" 198.51.100.4 ... "GET /nonexistent-page HTTP/1.1" 404 298 "-" "curl/8.7.1" including the 404 the previous configuration could not record.
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The bug
An Apache
CustomLoginside a vhost replaces the one inherited from the server config.default-ssl.confdeclared onlyssl_request_log, soconf-enabled/other-vhosts-access-log.confnever applied to:443— and since the ALB speaks only to:443, the:80vhost'saccess.logstayed empty too.Net effect: no HTTP access logging anywhere for a dedicated-hosting customer.
ssl_request_logwas the only record of a request, and it's a poor one:10.120.0.74is the load balancer, not the caller. No status code, no referer, no user agent. And nothing ships it off the container — it's a real file on the ephemeral/var/logvolume, so it dies with the task.How it hid
Found while verifying
demo's migration: a probe request couldn't be located in CloudWatch at all.The
log-tailersidecar insimplerisk-customers-cdkappears to cover this — it tails/var/log/apache2/access.log. It can't. That path is a symlink to/dev/stdoutin thephp:apachebase image, and/dev/stdoutis a write end, so the tail reads nothing forever. The sidecar entry looked like coverage while providing none.The fix
A combined-format
CustomLogtoaccess.log, which reaches the container's stdout and therefore theawslogsdriver — the Docker-native path, needing no sidecar entry.Client identity comes from
X-Forwarded-Forsince%his the load balancer. The whole header is logged deliberately: the ALB appends the true peer as the last element, so only the last one is trustworthy, and keeping the chain visible beats hiding a forged prefix behind a single value. (mod_remoteipwould be the alternative, but it needs a trusted-proxy range that varies per region, and misconfiguring it makes spoofing win silently.)ssl_request_logis kept for the TLS protocol/cipher detail the combined format doesn't carry.Verification
Built the image and ran
apache2ctl -t→Syntax OK. Requests through the vhost emit on stdout:Including the 404 the previous configuration could not record at all.