Skip to content

Console Logging

The Console can be helpful tool for diagnosing QGroundControl problems. It can be found in SettingsView > Console.

Console logging

Click the Set Logging button to enable/disable logging information displayed by QGroundControl.

Common Logging Options

The most commmonly used logging options are listed below.

Option(s)Description
LinkManagerLog, MultiVehicleManagerLogDebug connection problems.
LinkManagerVerboseLogDebug serial ports not being detected. Very noisy continuous output of available serial ports.
FirmwareUpgradeLogDebug firmware flash issues.
ParameterManagerLogDebug parameter load problems.
ParameterManagerDebugCacheFailureLogDebug parameter cache crc misses.
PlanManagerLog, MissionManagerLog, GeoFenceManagerLog, RallyPointManagerLogDebug Plan upload/download issues.
RadioComponentControllerLogDebug Radio calibration issues.

Logging from the Command Line

An alternate mechanism for logging is using the --logging command line option. This is handy if you are trying to get logs from a situation where QGroundControl crashes.

How you do this and where the traces are output vary by OS:

  • Windows
    • You must open a command prompt, change directory to the qgroundcontrol.exe location, and run it from there:
      bash
      cd "\Program Files (x86)\qgroundcontrol"
      qgroundcontrol --logging:full
    • When QGroundControl starts you should see a separate console window open which will have the log output
  • OSX
    • You must run QGroundControl from Terminal. The Terminal app is located in Applications/Utilities. Once Terminal is open paste the following into it:
      bash
      cd /Applications/qgroundcontrol.app/Contents/MacOS/
      ./qgroundcontrol --logging:full
    • Log traces will output to the Terminal window.
  • Linux

    bash
    ./qgroundcontrol-start.sh --logging:full
    • Log traces will output to the shell you are running from.