I've been using the built-in real-time logging portal for individual Azure Function Apps, but I've found it to be quite noisy and delayed, making it hard to manage. I'm aware of the option to connect to Function App logs through the command line, but I'm curious if there are better alternatives available for handling Azure Functions logs. Specifically, I'm looking for ways to route logs to storage or Application Insights. Am I expecting too much from this product?
6 Answers
Have you considered using Azure Service Bus? You can set your app to send messages there, and then various services can listen for those messages to log or process data accordingly.
I've had similar issues with logging being overwhelming, so I created a storage table for my custom logs that included timestamps. This made it easier to sort through run IDs and messages. The default logging can indeed get pretty chaotic, especially with durable functions running multiple instances simultaneously.
Yeah, Application Insights is the main real-time option in Azure. Just make sure you handle errors clearly in your app to make troubleshooting easier.
The built-in log stream isn't great and tends to be noisy. In my experience, combining Application Insights with Log Analytics works best, even if it's not exactly real-time. Live Metrics gives you almost instant visibility, and KQL queries help filter out the important logs quickly. I usually only rely on the portal's log stream for quick checks, not for deeper debugging.
Using Application Insights is likely your best bet. If your functions are built on .NET or Java using standard logging, it should work seamlessly. If you're looking for more, like tracking custom events, you might just need to include the SDK.
Try Application Insights; setting up sampling and filters can really help manage the output.
I totally get that! I used the default logging when deploying to dev and prod to ensure everything was working, but it was stressful, especially with my manager hovering over me. The default logs didn’t really help.