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+
+Use of the cluster log
+======================
+
+(Note: none of this applies to the local "dout" logging. This is about
+the cluster log that we send through the mon daemons)
+
+Severity
+--------
+
+Use ERR for situations where the cluster cannot do its job for some reason.
+For example: we tried to do a write, but it returned an error, or we tried
+to read something, but it's corrupt so we can't, or we scrubbed a PG but
+the data was inconsistent so we can't recover.
+
+Use WRN for incidents that the cluster can handle, but have some abnormal/negative
+aspect, such as a temporary degradation of service, or an unexpected internal
+value. For example, a metadata error that can be auto-fixed, or a slow operation.
+
+Use INFO for ordinary cluster operations that do not indicate a fault in
+Ceph. It is especially important that INFO level messages are clearly
+worded and do not cause confusion or alarm.
+
+Frequency
+---------
+
+It is important that messages of all severities are not excessively
+frequent. Consumers may be using a rotating log buffer that contains
+messages of all severities, so even DEBUG messages could interfere
+with proper display of the latest INFO messages if the DEBUG messages
+are too frequent.
+
+Remember that if you have a bad state (as opposed to event), that is
+what health checks are for -- do not spam the cluster log to indicate
+a continuing unhealthy state.
+
+Do not emit cluster log messages for events that scale with
+the number of clients or level of activity on the system, or for
+events that occur regularly in normal operation. For example, it
+would be inappropriate to emit a INFO message about every
+new client that connects (scales with #clients), or to emit and INFO
+message about every CephFS subtree migration (occurs regularly).
+
+Language and formatting
+-----------------------
+
+(Note: these guidelines matter much less for DEBUG-level messages than
+ for INFO and above. Concentrate your efforts on making INFO/WRN/ERR
+ messages as readable as possible.)
+
+Use the passive voice. For example, use "Object xyz could not be read", rather
+than "I could not read the object xyz".
+
+Print long/big identifiers, such as inode numbers, as hex, prefixed
+with an 0x so that the user can tell it is hex. We do this because
+the 0x makes it unambiguous (no equivalent for decimal), and because
+the hex form is more likely to fit on the screen.
+
+Print size quantities as a human readable MB/GB/etc, including the unit
+at the end of the number. Exception: if you are specifying an offset,
+where precision is essential to the meaning, then you can specify
+the value in bytes (but print it as hex).
+
+Make a good faith effort to fit your message on a single line. It does
+not have to be guaranteed, but it should at least usually be
+the case. That means, generally, no printing of lists unless there
+are only a few items in the list.
+
+Use nouns that are meaningful to the user, and defined in the
+documentation. Common acronyms are OK -- don't waste screen space
+typing "Rados Object Gateway" instead of RGW. Do not use internal
+class names like "MDCache" or "Objecter". It is okay to mention
+internal structures if they are the direct subject of the message,
+for example in a corruption, but use plain English.
+Example: instead of "Objecter requests" say "OSD client requests"
+Example: it is okay to mention internal structure in the context
+of "Corrupt session table" (but don't say "Corrupt SessionTable")
+
+Where possible, describe the consequence for system availability, rather
+than only describing the underlying state. For example, rather than
+saying "MDS myfs.0 is replaying", say that "myfs is degraded, waiting
+for myfs.0 to finish starting".
+
+While common acronyms are fine, don't randomly truncate words. It's not
+"dir ino", it's "directory inode".
+
+If you're logging something that "should never happen", i.e. a situation
+where it would be an assertion, but we're helpfully not crashing, then
+make that clear in the language -- this is probably not a situation
+that the user can remediate themselves.
+
+Avoid UNIX/programmer jargon. Instead of "errno", just say "error" (or
+preferably give something more descriptive than the number!)
+
+Do not mention cluster map epochs unless they are essential to
+the meaning of the message. For example, "OSDMap epoch 123 is corrupt"
+would be okay (the epoch is the point of the message), but saying "OSD
+123 is down in OSDMap epoch 456" would not be (the osdmap and epoch
+concepts are an implementation detail, the down-ness of the OSD
+is the real message). Feel free to send additional detail to
+the daemon's local log (via `dout`/`derr`).
+
+If you log a problem that may go away in the future, make sure you
+also log when it goes away. Whatever priority you logged the original
+message at, log the "going away" message at INFO.
+