How to write real client IP address in error Log with Varnish 4 and Apache 2.4 in Ubuntu 16.04

In order to have Varnish 4 pass on the real client IP to your Apache 2.4 error log in Ubuntu 16.04 , you'll need to edit your Varnish configuration (/etc/varnish/default.vcl on Ubuntu) to add an X-Forwarded-For header. Find the vcl_recv section and added the following:

sub vcl_recv {
  unset req.http.X-Forwarded-For;
  set req.http.X-Forwarded-For = client.ip;
}

(Note: If you are using Varnish < 4.0 change unset to remove as the syntax is different.)

Then, open your Apache Virtual Host,

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

and set a CustomLog format:

ErrorLogFormat "[%{u}t] [%-m:%l] [pid %P] %7F: %E: [client\ %{X-Forwarded-For}i %a] %M% ,\ referer\ %{Referer}i"

Finally, restart both Apache and Varnish for the changes to take effect:

systemctl restart varnish.service
systemctl restart apache2.service

Janeth Kent

Licenciada en Bellas Artes y programadora por pasión. Cuando tengo un rato retoco fotos, edito vídeos y diseño cosas. El resto del tiempo escribo en MA-NO WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT.