How to View Power Manager's Unified Log Entries

Learn how to view Power Manager's log entries in macOS's Unified Logging system.

With macOS 10.12, aka Sierra, Apple introduced a new log file system called Unified Logging. This new system changes how you find and view log entries created by Power Manager and other applications on your Mac. In this recipe, I will show you how to list Power Manager’s log entries.

From Console to Command Line

Previously, the Power Manager Administrator Guide recommended using macOS’s Console.app to view Power Manager log entries. With macOS 10.12 and the introduction of Unified Logging, our recommendation has changed.

Unified Logging and log

Unified Logging on macOS uses a database in place of the traditional text files.

We now have to use queries to extract logging information from the log database. To extract Power Manager’s scheduling messages, use the following command in Terminal.app:

log show --style syslog --info --debug --predicate 'senderImagePath ENDSWITH "pmd"'

Screenshot showing Power Manager unified log command

The log command flags for this command are:

  • show the entries from the system datastore.
  • --style syslog format the output in a traditional textual fashion.
  • --info include informational entries.
  • --debug include debugging entries.
  • --predicate 'senderImagePath ENDSWITH "pmd"' filter entries and show only those issued by processes ending in pmd.

The query can take a few moments to complete. You should expect to see a list of entries documenting events being triggered and performing. Each entry will include its date and time.