[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #56035: Error logging improvements

[WordPress Trac]

#56035: Error logging improvements
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 Reporter:  galbaras     |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Site Health  |     Version:
 Severity:  normal       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:               |     Focuses:
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Comment (by galbaras):

 Thank you, @SergeyBiryukov .

 According to the documentation:

 > WP_DEBUG_LOG is a companion to WP_DEBUG that causes all errors to
 **also** be saved to a debug.log log file

 This means it's not a way to override the logging destination, but to
 write additional copies of the messages in another file.

 Looking at `wp-includes/load.php`, this isn't the case. When
 `WP_DEBUG_LOG` is set, it becomes the value of the PHP setting
 `error_log`. However, it required `WP_DEBUG` to be true, which we normally
 don't want/need.

 On my sites, the `error_log` setting is set to "error_log", which means a
 file with that name in the directory where the code is being executed.
 This seems to be the source of having multiple files. Why not do this,
 then:

 {{{#!php
 if ( ini_get( 'error_log' ) === 'error_log' ) {
    ini_set( 'error_log', ABSPATH . 'error_log' );
 }
 }}}

 The best place for this code is at the bottom of wp-config.php, after
 `ABSPATH` is defined, or the top of wp-settings.php, ahead of anything
 that can fail :)

 Alternatively, provide a way to change the log file even then `WP_DEBUG`
 is `false`.

 > I could not find that string in core, it appears to come from the
 iThemes Security plugin.

 Embarrassingly, I knew that and opened a forum thread for this under
 iThemes Security, which is now closed. I've opened a new one with the
 updated message, which will hopefully be addresses by the respective team.

 Having said that, a stack trace of this could really help, but we don't
 have one :(

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/56035#comment:5>
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