# Inconsistent behaviour for CELLS\_LOG and other environment variables

**URL:** https://forum.pydio.com/t/inconsistent-behaviour-for-cells-log-and-other-environment-variables/6526
**Category:** Pydio Cells
**Tags:** docker
**Created:** [February 4, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://forum.pydio.com/t/inconsistent-behaviour-for-cells-log-and-other-environment-variables/6526 "2025-02-04T18:50:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![instantdreams](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/forum.pydio.com/instantdreams/32/2315_2.png) [@instantdreams](https://forum.pydio.com/u/instantdreams)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://forum.pydio.com/t/inconsistent-behaviour-for-cells-log-and-other-environment-variables/6526/1 "2025-02-04T18:50:58Z")

</div>

### Describe your issue in detail

According to the developer guide for [cells](https://pydio.com/en/docs/developer-guide/cells) and for [cells start](https://pydio.com/en/docs/developer-guide/cells-start), certain environment variables should work, but they do not.

Here is my compose.yaml file:

```YAML
services:
  pydio:
    image: pydio/cells:latest
    container_name: pydio-cells
    ports:
      - "8808:8080" # web ui
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ${FILE_INSTALL}:/pydio/config/install-conf.yml:ro
      - ${DIRECTORY_CELLS}:/var/cells
      - ${DIRECTORY_DATA}:/var/cells/data
      - /media:/media
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    restart: unless-stopped
  pydio-db:
    image: mysql:latest
    container_name: pydio-db
    command: [mysqld, --character-set-server=utf8mb4, --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci, --log-error-verbosity=2]
    ports:
      - "3306:3306" # mysql
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ${DIRECTORY_MYSQL}:/var/lib/mysql
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

```

Here is my .env file:

```auto
# Timezone from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
TZ=America/Edmonton
# Directory locations
DIRECTORY_CELLS=/srv/pydio/cells
DIRECTORY_DATA=/media/storage/cells/
DIRECTORY_MYSQL=/srv/pydio/mysql
FILE_INSTALL=/srv/pydio/config/install-conf.yml
# Container specifics
## cells
CELLS_INSTALL_YAML=/pydio/config/install-conf.yml
CELLS_BIND=0.0.0.0:8080
CELLS_SITE_BIND=0.0.0.0:8080
CELLS_EXTERNAL=https://files.example.com
CELLS_SITE_EXTERNAL=https://files.example.com
CELLS_SITE_NO_TLS=1
CELLS_NO_TLS=1
CELLS_LOG=warn
CELLS_LOG_LEVEL=warn
CELLS_LOG_JSON=false
CELLS_JOBS_LOG_LEVEL=info
CELLS_DEFAULT_DS_STRUCT=true
## mysql
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=[password]
MYSQL_DATABASE=cells
MYSQL_USER=pydio
MYSQL_PASSWORD=[password]

```

And finally the contents of the install-conf.yml file:

```auto
# DB Connection
dbconnectiontype: tcp
dbtcphostname: pydio-db
dbtcpport: 3306
dbtcpname: cells
dbtcpuser: pydio
dbtcppassword: [database-password]

# Frontend
frontendhosts: http://[server-ip]:8808,https://files.example.com
frontendlogin: admin
frontendpassword: [frontend-password]
frontendapplicationtitle: My Pydio Cells
frontenddefaultlanguage: en-us

```

When I start my docker container, the log level is not set correctly. Here is the output:

```auto
$ docker logs pydio-cells
### Pydio Cells Home Edition
 Version: 4.4.9
 Built: 27 Jan 25 13:56 +0000
 Git commit: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
 OS/Arch: linux/amd64
 Go version: go1.22.11
### About to execute: [cells start]
Binary:
  Package: Pydio Cells Home Edition
  Version: 4.4.9
  BuildTime: 27 Jan 25 13:56 +0000
  Git Commit: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
  Go Version: go1.22.11
  OS/arch: linux/amd64

Drivers:
  Registry: mem:///registry
  Broker: mem:///broker
  Config: file:///var/cells/pydio.json
  Vault: file:///var/cells/pydio-vault.json
  Keyring: file:///var/cells/cells-vault-key
  Certificates: file:///var/cells/certs
  Cache: bigcache:///cache
  ShortCache: pm:///shortcache
  Queue: mem:///queue
  Persisting Queue: file:///queue

Networking:
  Hostname: files
  Advertise: 127.0.0.1

Monitoring:
  Metrics: false
  Profiles: false

Build Settings:
  -buildmode: exe
  -compiler: gc
  -trimpath: true
  CGO_ENABLED: 0
  GOARCH: amd64
  GOOS: linux
  GOAMD64: v1
  vcs: git
  vcs.revision: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
  vcs.time: 2025-01-27T13:54:55Z
  vcs.modified: false

2025-02-04T18:06:21.783Z INFO pydio.grpc.registry ready
2025-02-04T18:06:21.784Z INFO pydio.grpc.config ready
2025-02-04T18:06:21.786Z INFO pydio.grpc.broker ready
2025-02-04T18:06:21.884Z INFO pydio.grpc.log ready
2025-02-04T18:06:21.893Z INFO pydio.server.manager Discovery services started, carry on to other services
2025-02-04T18:06:22.097Z INFO pydio.gateway.grpc.clear Configuring HTTP only gRPC gateway. Will be accessed directly through :0
*****************************************************************
* Dynamic bind flag detected, overriding any configured sites *
*****************************************************************
2025-02-04T18:06:22.121Z INFO pydio.grpc.data.objects Starting umbrella service pydio.grpc.data.objects. with sources {"sources": ["local1", "gateway1"]}
2025-02-04T18:06:22.122Z INFO pydio.grpc.data.objects ready
2025-02-04T18:06:22.123Z INFO pydio.grpc.data.sync Starting umbrella service pydio.grpc.data.sync. with sources {"sources": ["pydiods1", "personal", "cellsdata", "versions", "thumbnails", "s3storage"]}
2025-02-04T18:06:22.126Z INFO pydio.grpc.data.sync ready

```

### What version of Cells are you using?

Pydio Cells Home Edition  
Version: 4.4.9  
Built: 27 Jan 25 13:56 +0000  
Git commit: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714  
OS/Arch: linux/amd64  
Go version: go1.22.11

### What steps have you taken to resolve this issue already?

I’ve reviewed the documentation and have searched the forums. I even updated my configuration to skip the environment files and pass command line options, and the log level still did not change.

Updates compose.yaml file:

```YAML
services:
  pydio:
    image: pydio/cells:latest
    container_name: pydio-cells
    ports:
      - "8808:8080" # web ui
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ${FILE_INSTALL}:/pydio/config/install-conf.yml:ro
      - ${DIRECTORY_CELLS}:/var/cells
      - ${DIRECTORY_DATA}:/var/cells/data
      - /media:/media
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    command: --site_external=https://files.example.com --site_no_tls=false --log=warn --log_json=false
    restart: unless-stopped
  pydio-db:
    image: mysql:latest
    container_name: pydio-db
    command: [mysqld, --character-set-server=utf8mb4, --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci, --log-error-verbosity=2]
    ports:
      - "3306:3306" # mysql
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ${DIRECTORY_MYSQL}:/var/lib/mysql
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

```

Updated .env file:

```auto
# Timezone from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
TZ=America/Edmonton
# Directory locations
DIRECTORY_CELLS=/srv/pydio/cells
DIRECTORY_DATA=/media/storage/cells/
DIRECTORY_MYSQL=/srv/pydio/mysql
FILE_INSTALL=/srv/pydio/config/install-conf.yml
# Container specifics
## cells
CELLS_INSTALL_YAML=/pydio/config/install-conf.yml
#CELLS_BIND=0.0.0.0:8080
#CELLS_SITE_BIND=0.0.0.0:8080
#CELLS_EXTERNAL=https://files.example.com
#CELLS_SITE_EXTERNAL=https://files.example.com
#CELLS_SITE_NO_TLS=1
#CELLS_NO_TLS=1
#CELLS_LOG=warn
#CELLS_LOG_LEVEL=warn
#CELLS_LOG_JSON=false
#CELLS_JOBS_LOG_LEVEL=info
CELLS_DEFAULT_DS_STRUCT=true
## mysql
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=[password]
MYSQL_DATABASE=cells
MYSQL_USER=pydio
MYSQL_PASSWORD=[password]

```

Here’s the log file showing the command line options:

```auto
$ docker logs pydio-cells
### Pydio Cells Home Edition
 Version: 4.4.9
 Built: 27 Jan 25 13:56 +0000
 Git commit: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
 OS/Arch: linux/amd64
 Go version: go1.22.11
### About to execute: [cells start --site_external=https://files.example.com --site_no_tls=false --log=warn --log_json=false]
Binary:
  Package: Pydio Cells Home Edition
  Version: 4.4.9
  BuildTime: 27 Jan 25 13:56 +0000
  Git Commit: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
  Go Version: go1.22.11
  OS/arch: linux/amd64

Drivers:
  Registry: mem:///registry
  Broker: mem:///broker
  Config: file:///var/cells/pydio.json
  Vault: file:///var/cells/pydio-vault.json
  Keyring: file:///var/cells/cells-vault-key
  Certificates: file:///var/cells/certs
  Cache: bigcache:///cache
  ShortCache: pm:///shortcache
  Queue: mem:///queue
  Persisting Queue: file:///queue

Networking:
  Hostname: files
  Advertise: 127.0.0.1

Monitoring:
  Metrics: false
  Profiles: false

Build Settings:
  -buildmode: exe
  -compiler: gc
  -trimpath: true
  CGO_ENABLED: 0
  GOARCH: amd64
  GOOS: linux
  GOAMD64: v1
  vcs: git
  vcs.revision: eb934e272fbdb043978fcf6ae9c164eda6ebc714
  vcs.time: 2025-01-27T13:54:55Z
  vcs.modified: false

2025-02-04T18:43:40.630Z INFO pydio.grpc.registry ready
2025-02-04T18:43:40.637Z INFO pydio.grpc.broker ready
2025-02-04T18:43:40.637Z INFO pydio.grpc.config ready
2025-02-04T18:43:40.642Z INFO pydio.grpc.log ready
2025-02-04T18:43:40.648Z INFO pydio.server.manager Discovery services started, carry on to other services
2025-02-04T18:43:40.850Z INFO pydio.gateway.grpc.clear Configuring HTTP only gRPC gateway. Will be accessed directly through :0
2025-02-04T18:43:40.865Z INFO pydio.rest.templates starting {"service": "pydio.rest.templates", "hook router to": "/a/templates"}
2025-02-04T18:43:40.887Z INFO pydio.gateway.data ready

```

Why can I not change the log level using either the environment variables or the command line options?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/uploads/pydio/original/2X/6/61f19fa52ec15fd4250db51aea351adba0e831fd.png) [@system](https://forum.pydio.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.pydio.com/t/inconsistent-behaviour-for-cells-log-and-other-environment-variables/6526/2 "2025-04-05T18:51:40Z")

</div>

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