Where and how are journal entries (logs) usually stored in etcd?

In etcd, journal entries (logs) are usually stored as WAL (Write-Ahead Log) files on disk. These files contain a sequence of operations that have been applied to the database, allowing recovery of the state after failures.

By default, WAL files are located in the etcd data directory, which is specified by the --data-dir parameter at startup. Inside this directory, there is a subdirectory member/wal, where the log files are stored.

Example path:

/var/lib/etcd/member/wal/

Thus, etcd logs are not just plain text files but binary WAL files that ensure data reliability and consistency.