LogWatch Installation Guide

Version: 0.1.0 | Last Updated: May 2026

This guide covers every way to install and run LogWatch, from a quick local setup to a production Kubernetes deployment.

System Requirements
Quick Start (5 Minutes)
Development Setup (Full)
Production: Docker Compose
Production: Kubernetes with Helm
Connecting Your Services
Post-Installation Checklist
Upgrading
Uninstalling

System Requirements

Minimum (Development / Evaluation)

Component	Requirement
CPU	4 cores
RAM	8 GB
Disk	20 GB free (SSD recommended)
OS	macOS 13+, Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, or Windows 11 (WSL2)
Docker	24.0+ with Docker Compose v2
Node.js	20 LTS or newer
pnpm	9.0+
Python	3.11+
Git	2.x

Recommended (Production)

Component	Requirement
CPU	8+ cores (16+ for >50K logs/sec)
RAM	32 GB minimum (64 GB for >50K logs/sec)
Disk	SSD, 500 GB+ (depends on retention and volume)
ClickHouse	16 GB RAM dedicated, SSD storage
PostgreSQL	4 GB RAM dedicated
Redis	1 GB RAM dedicated
GPU	NVIDIA with CUDA (optional, accelerates anomaly detection 10x)

Storage Estimation

Daily storage = (logs_per_second) * (avg_log_size_bytes) * 86,400 / compression_ratio

Example:
  10,000 logs/sec * 500 bytes * 86,400 sec / 10 (compression)
  = ~43 GB/day raw → ~4.3 GB/day compressed

  At 30-day retention: ~129 GB compressed storage needed

Quick Start (5 Minutes)

The fastest way to get LogWatch running locally with sample data.

Step 1: Clone and Install

git clone https://github.com/logwatch/logwatch.git
cd logwatch
pnpm install

Step 2: Start Infrastructure

docker compose up -d

This starts ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, and Redis. Wait for all services to be healthy:

docker compose ps

All three services should show (healthy) status.

Step 3: Set Up the Database

# Create PostgreSQL tables, RLS policies, and seed data
pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate

# Create ClickHouse tables (otel_logs, otel_traces, metrics)
pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run clickhouse:setup

Step 4: Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set at minimum:

NEXTAUTH_SECRET=<run: openssl rand -base64 32>
NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

Optional but recommended:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<your-key>   # Enables NL queries and RCA reports

Step 5: Start LogWatch

Open three terminal windows:

# Terminal 1: API server
pnpm --filter @logwatch/api run dev
# → Running at http://localhost:4000

# Terminal 2: Anomaly engine
cd apps/anomaly-engine
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate      # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn src.main:app --reload --port 8001
# → Running at http://localhost:8001

# Terminal 3: Web UI
pnpm --filter @logwatch/web run dev
# → Running at http://localhost:3000

Step 6: Verify

# Check API health
curl http://localhost:4000/health
# Expected: {"status":"ok","clickhouse":"ok","postgres":"ok","redis":"ok"}

# Send a test log
curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/api/v1/ingest/json \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "logs": [{
      "timestamp": "'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'",
      "severity": "INFO",
      "body": "LogWatch installation verified successfully",
      "service": "install-test"
    }]
  }'

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. You should see the LogWatch dashboard.

Development Setup (Full)

For contributors and developers who want the complete development environment.

Prerequisites

Ensure all tools are installed:

# Check versions
node --version    # v20.x or newer
pnpm --version    # 9.x or newer
python3 --version # 3.11 or newer
docker --version  # 24.x or newer
git --version     # 2.x

Clone and Install Dependencies

git clone https://github.com/logwatch/logwatch.git
cd logwatch
pnpm install

Start Infrastructure Services

docker compose up -d

Infrastructure services and their ports:

Service	Port	Credentials
ClickHouse HTTP	8123	user: `default`, password: `clickhouse`
ClickHouse Native	9000	Same as above
PostgreSQL	5432	user: `logwatch`, password: `logwatch`, db: `logwatch`
Redis	6379	No password

Run Database Migrations

# PostgreSQL: tables, indexes, RLS policies, seed tenants
pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate

# ClickHouse: DDL for otel_logs, otel_traces, metrics tables
pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run clickhouse:setup

Set Up the Anomaly Engine

cd apps/anomaly-engine
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt  # Includes pytest, mypy, ruff

Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env

Complete .env for development:

# PostgreSQL
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://logwatch:logwatch@localhost:5432/logwatch

# ClickHouse
CLICKHOUSE_URL=http://localhost:8123
CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE=observability
CLICKHOUSE_USER=default
CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD=clickhouse

# Redis
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

# Auth
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=dev-secret-change-in-production-abc123
NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

# OAuth (optional for local dev — use email/password instead)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=

# Claude API (optional — NL queries and RCA will be disabled without it)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=

# Anomaly engine
ANOMALY_ENGINE_URL=http://localhost:8001

# API server
PORT=4000
NODE_ENV=development

Start All Services

Use separate terminals or a process manager like concurrently:

# Option A: Separate terminals
pnpm --filter @logwatch/api run dev          # Terminal 1 → :4000
cd apps/anomaly-engine && uvicorn src.main:app --reload --port 8001  # Terminal 2 → :8001
pnpm --filter @logwatch/web run dev          # Terminal 3 → :3000

Running Tests

# All TypeScript tests (unit + integration)
pnpm test

# TypeScript tests in watch mode
pnpm test -- --watch

# Python anomaly engine tests
cd apps/anomaly-engine && pytest

# Python tests with coverage
cd apps/anomaly-engine && pytest --cov=src

# E2E tests (all services must be running)
pnpm --filter @logwatch/web run test:e2e

# Lint and type check
pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck

Common Development Tasks

Task	Command
Create a new migration	`pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate:create <name>`
Reset database	`pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate:reset`
Build all packages	`pnpm build`
Lint all packages	`pnpm lint`
Type check all packages	`pnpm typecheck`

Production: Docker Compose

For single-server production deployments handling up to ~10K logs/sec.

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/logwatch/logwatch.git
cd logwatch

Step 2: Configure Environment

Create a .env file with production values:

# Generate secure secrets
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32)
JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32)

# PostgreSQL (change these passwords!)
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<strong-random-password>
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://logwatch:<password>@postgres:5432/logwatch

# ClickHouse
CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD=<strong-random-password>

# Redis
REDIS_PASSWORD=<strong-random-password>

# Claude API (optional)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<your-key>

# Web UI URL (your domain)
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://logwatch.yourdomain.com

# OAuth provider (configure at least one)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=<your-client-id>
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=<your-client-secret>

Step 3: Build and Start

docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml build
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

This starts all services:

Service	Internal Port	External Port	Description
`api`	4000	4000	Fastify API server
`anomaly-engine`	8000	8000	Python ML service
`web`	3000	3000	Next.js dashboard
`postgres`	5432	5432	PostgreSQL
`clickhouse`	8123, 9000	8123, 9000	ClickHouse
`redis`	6379	6379	Redis

Step 4: Run Migrations

# Wait for database services to be ready
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec api pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec api pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run clickhouse:setup

Step 5: Configure Reverse Proxy

Place a reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy, or Traefik) in front of LogWatch for TLS termination and routing:

Nginx example (/etc/nginx/sites-available/logwatch):

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name logwatch.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/logwatch.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/logwatch.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    # Web UI
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    # API
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

        # WebSocket support (for live tail)
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }

    # Ingestion endpoints (higher body size limit)
    location /api/v1/ingest/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        client_max_body_size 10m;
    }
}

Step 6: Verify

curl https://logwatch.yourdomain.com/api/v1/health

Backup Strategy

Data	How to Backup	Frequency
PostgreSQL	`pg_dump logwatch > backup.sql`	Daily
ClickHouse	`clickhouse-client -q "BACKUP TABLE otel_logs TO Disk('backups', 'otel_logs')"`	Daily
Redis	Not required (ephemeral buffer)	-
`.env` file	Copy to secure storage	On change

Log Rotation

Docker Compose logs grow unbounded by default. Add to docker-compose.prod.yml:

services:
  api:
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: "50m"
        max-file: "5"

Production: Kubernetes with Helm

For production deployments handling 10K+ logs/sec with high availability.

Prerequisites

Kubernetes 1.28+ cluster
Helm 3.12+
kubectl configured for your cluster
Container registry access (to push LogWatch images)
Persistent volume provisioner (for ClickHouse and PostgreSQL data)

Step 1: Build and Push Docker Images

# From the logwatch/ directory
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-api:0.1.0 -f apps/api/Dockerfile .
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-anomaly-engine:0.1.0 -f apps/anomaly-engine/Dockerfile .
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-web:0.1.0 -f apps/web/Dockerfile .

docker push your-registry/logwatch-api:0.1.0
docker push your-registry/logwatch-anomaly-engine:0.1.0
docker push your-registry/logwatch-web:0.1.0

Step 2: Create Namespace and Secrets

kubectl create namespace logwatch

# Create secrets
kubectl -n logwatch create secret generic logwatch-secrets \
  --from-literal=database-url="postgresql://logwatch:<password>@logwatch-postgres:5432/logwatch" \
  --from-literal=redis-url="redis://logwatch-redis:6379" \
  --from-literal=jwt-secret="$(openssl rand -base64 32)" \
  --from-literal=nextauth-secret="$(openssl rand -base64 32)" \
  --from-literal=anthropic-api-key="<your-key>" \
  --from-literal=clickhouse-password="<password>"

Step 3: Configure Helm Values

Create a values-production.yaml:

api:
  replicaCount: 3
  image:
    repository: your-registry/logwatch-api
    tag: "0.1.0"
  port: 4000
  resources:
    requests:
      cpu: 500m
      memory: 1Gi
    limits:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: 2Gi

anomalyEngine:
  replicaCount: 2
  image:
    repository: your-registry/logwatch-anomaly-engine
    tag: "0.1.0"
  port: 8000
  resources:
    requests:
      cpu: "1"
      memory: 2Gi
    limits:
      cpu: "4"
      memory: 8Gi
  # Uncomment for GPU-accelerated inference:
  # gpu:
  #   enabled: true
  #   count: 1

web:
  replicaCount: 2
  image:
    repository: your-registry/logwatch-web
    tag: "0.1.0"
  port: 3000

postgres:
  enabled: true
  auth:
    database: logwatch
    username: logwatch
    existingSecret: logwatch-secrets
  primary:
    persistence:
      size: 50Gi
      storageClass: fast-ssd

clickhouse:
  enabled: true
  persistence:
    size: 500Gi
    storageClass: fast-ssd
  resources:
    requests:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: 16Gi
    limits:
      cpu: "8"
      memory: 32Gi

redis:
  enabled: true
  architecture: standalone
  master:
    persistence:
      size: 2Gi
    resources:
      requests:
        memory: 1Gi

ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: nginx
  annotations:
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-body-size: "10m"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/websocket-services: "logwatch-api"
  tls:
    - secretName: logwatch-tls
      hosts:
        - logwatch.yourdomain.com
  hosts:
    - host: logwatch.yourdomain.com
      paths:
        - path: /api
          service: api
        - path: /
          service: web

Step 4: Install with Helm

helm install logwatch ./helm/logwatch \
  --namespace logwatch \
  --values values-production.yaml

Step 5: Run Database Migrations

# Wait for pods to be ready
kubectl -n logwatch wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app.kubernetes.io/name=logwatch-api --timeout=120s

# Run migrations
kubectl -n logwatch exec deploy/logwatch-api -- pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate
kubectl -n logwatch exec deploy/logwatch-api -- pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run clickhouse:setup

Step 6: Verify

# Check pod status
kubectl -n logwatch get pods

# Check API health
kubectl -n logwatch port-forward svc/logwatch-api 4000:4000 &
curl http://localhost:4000/health

# Check ingress
curl https://logwatch.yourdomain.com/api/v1/health

Scaling

# Scale API server horizontally
kubectl -n logwatch scale deployment logwatch-api --replicas=5

# Scale anomaly engine (each replica processes independently)
kubectl -n logwatch scale deployment logwatch-anomaly-engine --replicas=3

# Use HPA for automatic scaling
kubectl -n logwatch autoscale deployment logwatch-api \
  --min=2 --max=10 --cpu-percent=70

Helm Upgrade

helm upgrade logwatch ./helm/logwatch \
  --namespace logwatch \
  --values values-production.yaml

Connecting Your Services

Once LogWatch is running, connect your applications to send logs and traces.

Option 1: OpenTelemetry Collector (Recommended)

The standard approach for cloud-native environments. Configure your existing OTel Collector to export to LogWatch:

# otel-collector-config.yaml
receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317
      http:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318

exporters:
  otlphttp:
    endpoint: https://logwatch.yourdomain.com/api/v1/ingest/otlp
    headers:
      X-API-Key: "lw_your_api_key_here"

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [otlp]
      exporters: [otlphttp]
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

Option 2: Fluent Bit

For environments already using Fluent Bit for log collection:

# fluent-bit.conf
[OUTPUT]
    Name        http
    Match       *
    Host        logwatch.yourdomain.com
    Port        443
    URI         /api/v1/ingest/json
    Format      json
    Header      X-API-Key lw_your_api_key_here
    Header      Content-Type application/json
    tls         On

Option 3: Direct HTTP

For simple integrations or custom log shipping:

curl -X POST https://logwatch.yourdomain.com/api/v1/ingest/json \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: lw_your_api_key_here" \
  -d '{
    "logs": [
      {
        "timestamp": "2026-05-11T14:30:00.000Z",
        "severity": "ERROR",
        "body": "Connection refused: database-primary:5432",
        "service": "my-api",
        "attributes": {
          "environment": "production",
          "version": "v1.2.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

Option 4: Syslog (Legacy Systems)

For servers emitting syslog (RFC 5424 or RFC 3164):

# Forward syslog to LogWatch
# In rsyslog.conf or syslog-ng.conf:
*.* @@logwatch.yourdomain.com:1514

CI/CD Deployment Tracking

# In your deployment pipeline (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc.)
curl -X POST https://logwatch.yourdomain.com/api/v1/deployments \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: lw_your_api_key_here" \
  -d '{
    "service": "payment-service",
    "version": "v2.3.1",
    "commit_sha": "'$GITHUB_SHA'",
    "deployer": "github-actions",
    "changelog": "Updated Redis connection pool configuration"
  }'

Post-Installation Checklist

After LogWatch is running, complete these steps to ensure full functionality:

Required

Verify API health: curl <logwatch-url>/api/v1/health returns all components ok
Create first tenant: Set up your organisation as a tenant via the web UI or API
Create API key: Generate an ingestion API key for your services (Settings > API Keys)
Connect first service: Configure at least one service to send logs (see above)
Verify log ingestion: Send a test log and confirm it appears in the Logs page

Configure OAuth provider: Set up Google or GitHub OAuth for team login (Settings > Auth)
Set up Slack notifications: Add a Slack webhook as a notification channel (Alerts > Channels)
Configure PagerDuty: Add PagerDuty integration for critical alerts
Create first alert rule: Set up an anomaly-based alert rule
Configure redaction rules: Enable built-in patterns for credit cards, emails, tokens (Settings > Redaction)
Set retention policy: Adjust log/trace retention to match your needs (Settings > Retention)

Optional

Add Anthropic API key: Enable natural-language queries and root-cause analysis
Register CI/CD webhook: Send deployment events for root-cause correlation
Set up monitoring: Point Prometheus at LogWatch's /metrics endpoint
Configure backups: Set up daily PostgreSQL and ClickHouse backups
Enable TLS: Configure reverse proxy with TLS certificates

Upgrading

Docker Compose

cd logwatch
git pull origin main

# Rebuild images
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml build

# Apply database migrations
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml run --rm api pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate

# Restart with new images
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

Kubernetes / Helm

cd logwatch
git pull origin main

# Build and push new images
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-api:0.2.0 -f apps/api/Dockerfile .
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-anomaly-engine:0.2.0 -f apps/anomaly-engine/Dockerfile .
docker build -t your-registry/logwatch-web:0.2.0 -f apps/web/Dockerfile .
docker push your-registry/logwatch-api:0.2.0
docker push your-registry/logwatch-anomaly-engine:0.2.0
docker push your-registry/logwatch-web:0.2.0

# Update values-production.yaml with new tag: "0.2.0"

# Run Helm upgrade
helm upgrade logwatch ./helm/logwatch \
  --namespace logwatch \
  --values values-production.yaml

# Run any new migrations
kubectl -n logwatch exec deploy/logwatch-api -- pnpm --filter @logwatch/db run migrate

Breaking Changes

Always check the project's CHANGELOG.md before upgrading. Breaking changes will be clearly marked with migration instructions.

Uninstalling

Docker Compose

# Stop all services
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down

# Remove all data (DESTRUCTIVE)
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down -v

Kubernetes / Helm

# Remove LogWatch
helm uninstall logwatch --namespace logwatch

# Remove persistent volumes (DESTRUCTIVE)
kubectl -n logwatch delete pvc --all

# Remove namespace
kubectl delete namespace logwatch

LogWatch Installation Guide

Table of Contents

System Requirements

Minimum (Development / Evaluation)

Recommended (Production)

Storage Estimation

Quick Start (5 Minutes)

Step 1: Clone and Install

Step 2: Start Infrastructure

Step 3: Set Up the Database

Step 4: Configure Environment

Step 5: Start LogWatch

Step 6: Verify

Development Setup (Full)

Prerequisites

Clone and Install Dependencies

Start Infrastructure Services

Run Database Migrations

Set Up the Anomaly Engine

Configure Environment

Start All Services

Running Tests

Common Development Tasks

Production: Docker Compose

Step 1: Clone the Repository

Step 2: Configure Environment

Step 3: Build and Start

Step 4: Run Migrations

Step 5: Configure Reverse Proxy

Step 6: Verify

Backup Strategy

Log Rotation

Production: Kubernetes with Helm

Prerequisites

Step 1: Build and Push Docker Images

Step 2: Create Namespace and Secrets

Step 3: Configure Helm Values

Step 4: Install with Helm

Step 5: Run Database Migrations

Step 6: Verify

Scaling

Helm Upgrade

Connecting Your Services

Option 1: OpenTelemetry Collector (Recommended)

Option 2: Fluent Bit

Option 3: Direct HTTP

Option 4: Syslog (Legacy Systems)

CI/CD Deployment Tracking

Post-Installation Checklist

Required

Recommended

Optional

Upgrading

Docker Compose

Kubernetes / Helm

Breaking Changes

Uninstalling

Docker Compose

Kubernetes / Helm