---
name: logs-router-getting-started-v3
title: Getting started with IBM® Cloud Logs Routing V3
description: Use the IBM Cloud Logs Routing service to route platform logs from your IBM Cloud account to your chosen target destination.
last-updated: 2026-04-29
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Getting started with IBM® Cloud Logs Routing V3
{: #getting-started-v3}

Use the IBM Cloud Logs Routing service to route platform logs from your IBM Cloud account to your chosen target destination.
{: shortdesc}

![Flow of routed logs](/images/cloud-logs-platform-logs.png "Flow of routed logs"){: caption="Flow of routed logs" caption-side="bottom"}

Complete the following steps to start using IBM® Cloud Logs Routing:

## Before you begin
{: #getting-started-v3-before-you-begin}
{: step}

1. If you don't have an IBM Cloud account, [register an IBM Cloud account](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external}. You need an IBMid to work in IBM Cloud.

2. [Check the regions where the IBM Cloud Logs Routing service is available](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-locations&format=markdown).

3. Check that the user who is configuring IBM Cloud Logs Routing for the IBM Cloud® account has sufficient permissions to manage the IBM Cloud Logs Routing service. For more information, see [Managing IAM access for IBM Cloud Logs Routing](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-iam&format=markdown).

    You need platform role **Adminsitrator** to manage resources.

4. Install the following tools:

    - [Download and install the IBM Cloud® CLI](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cli?format=markdown).

    - [Download and install jq](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/){: external} to process output and query desired results.

5. Provision or have acces to an IBM Cloud Logs instance. For more information, see [Provisioning an instance](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-instance-provision&interface=ui&format=markdown).

## Creating a service to service authorization
{: #getting-started-v3-create-s2s}
{: step}

You must use IBM Cloud® Identity and Access Management (IAM) to create an authorization that grants IBM Cloud Logs Routing access to IBM Cloud Logs so the IBM Cloud Logs Routing service can send logs to your IBM Cloud Logs instance destination (target).

You must have the **sender** role for IBM Cloud Logs before you configure the service to service authorization.
{: important}

Complete the following steps:

1. In the IBM Cloud console, click **Manage** > **Access (IAM)**, and select **Authorizations**.

2. Click **Create**.

3. Configure the source account. Select **This account**.

4. Select **Logs Routing** as the source service. Then, set the scope of the access to **All resources**.

5. Select **Cloud Logs** as the target service. Then, set the scope of the access to **All resources**, which grants access to all IBM Cloud Logs instances, or a single instance by configuring **Resources based on selected attributes** > **Service Instance**.

    Other attributes are not supported for this type of authorization.

6. In the *Service Access* section, select **Sender** to assign access to the source service that accesses the target service.

7. Click **Authorize**.


For more information, see [Creating a S2S authorization to grant access to send logs to IBM Cloud Logs](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-iam-service-auth-logs-routing&format=markdown).

## Configure the primary metadata location and API version
{: #getting-started-v3-settings}
{: step}

Complete the following steps:

1. [Log in to your IBM Cloud account](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external}.

2. Click the **Menu** icon ![Menu icon](../icons/icon_hamburger.svg) > **Observability**.

3. Click **Logging >Routing**.

4. Click the **Settings** tab.

5. Click **Edit** next to the setting to be changed.

    Enter a **Primary Metadata location**.

    Set the API version to `3`.


## Create a target
{: #getting-started-v3-create-target}
{: step}

Complete the following steps to create a target:

1. [Log in to your IBM Cloud account](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external}.
2. Click the **Menu** icon ![Menu icon](../icons/icon_hamburger.svg) > **Observability**.
3. Select **Logging > Routing**.
4. In the *Targets* section, click **Create** to open the create panel.
5. In the *Choose destination*, pick **Search by instance** or **Specify CRN**.

    Select **Search by instance** to choose an IBM Cloud Logs instance from the table that is available in the account

    Select **Specify CRN** to add the IBM Cloud Logs instance CRN of an instance that is located in a different account.

6. In the *target details* section, complete the following tasks:

    Enter the target name.

    Enable the toggle from **Not set** to automatically set your new target as a default target in your IBM Cloud Logs Routing settings.

7. Click **Create target**.


## Configure a route
{: #getting-started-v3-create-route}
{: step}

Complete the following steps to create a target:

1. [Log in to your IBM Cloud account](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external}.

2. Click the **Menu** icon ![Menu icon](../icons/icon_hamburger.svg) > **Observability**.

3. Click **Logging > Routing**.

4. In the *Routes* tab, click **Create**.

5. In *Routing rules* section, modify the *Action* for *Rule 1*:

    Select an *Action* for *Rule 1*:

    - Select **Send logs from** for the rule to route platform logs to the associated targets.

    - Select **Drop logs from** for the rule to drop platform logs matching this rule.

    Add the [inclusion filters](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-route_rules_definitions&interface=ui&format=markdown#route_rules_definitions_filters) to determine the platform logs routed to the targets specified in the rule.

    - Select a condition, and specify the location values to be matched by the inclusion filter.

    - To add multiple inclusion filters, click **Add filter** to add additional filters.

    Add the [targets](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-target&interface=ui&format=markdown) to associate with the rule by selecting a target from the list. If you do not have a target defined, click **Add target** to create a new one.

6. Click **Add rule** to add additional rules to the route.

    The order of route rules affects the routing behavior. Rules are processed in order and once a rule is matched, the subsequent rules are not processed.

    The order of the routing rules can be changed by clicking the up and down arrows to the right of each rule definition.

    If you need to remove a rule or filter, click the **Remove** icon associated with the rule or filter.

    You can configure up to 10 rules per route.
    {: note}

7. Click **Next**.

8. Enter a name for the route.

9. Review the route definition ensuring the order of the rules is as intended.

    For more information, see [Understanding routing precedence](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/logs-router?topic=logs-router-routes_precedence&format=markdown).

10. Click **Create**.

## Verifying that logs are sent to the destination target
{: #getting-started-v3-verify-logs}
{: step}

Verify that the logs are routed to your IBM Cloud Logs instance.

Complete the following steps:

1. [Launch the IBM Cloud Logs web UI](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-instance-launch&interface=ui&format=markdown) for the IBM Cloud Logs instance that is configured as the target to collect platform logs in a region. This is the instance that you selected in the step where you setup a target.

2. View logs through custom views. For more information, see [Viewing logs](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cloud-logs?topic=cloud-logs-custom_views&format=markdown).

    All platform logs are generated in JSON. You can filter platform logs in your instance be selecting the value of **ibm-platform-logs** as the `applicationName` or by running the Lucene query: `coralogix.metadata.applicationName:"ibm-platform-logs"`