diff --git a/setup/start.sh b/setup/start.sh
index 8c5b7bd36..54dafee16 100755
--- a/setup/start.sh
+++ b/setup/start.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/collectd/collectd.conf.d"
 mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logrotate.d"
 mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/acme"
 mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/backup"
-mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logs/backup" "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logs/updater"
+mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logs/backup" "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logs/updater" "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/logs/tasks"
 mkdir -p "${PLATFORM_DATA_DIR}/update"
 
 mkdir -p "${BOX_DATA_DIR}/appicons"
diff --git a/src/addons.js b/src/addons.js
index 0a98e2882..a5b83b45c 100644
--- a/src/addons.js
+++ b/src/addons.js
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ var accesscontrol = require('./accesscontrol.js'),
     hat = require('./hat.js'),
     infra = require('./infra_version.js'),
     mail = require('./mail.js'),
-    mailboxdb = require('./mailboxdb.js'),
     once = require('once'),
     os = require('os'),
     path = require('path'),
diff --git a/src/paths.js b/src/paths.js
index 4bd39a148..3db6fcfdd 100644
--- a/src/paths.js
+++ b/src/paths.js
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     UPDATE_CHECKER_FILE: path.join(config.baseDir(), 'boxdata/updatechecker.json'),
 
     LOG_DIR: path.join(config.baseDir(), 'platformdata/logs'),
+    TASKS_LOG_DIR: path.join(config.baseDir(), 'platformdata/logs/tasks'),
+
     // this pattern is for the cloudron logs API route to work
     BACKUP_LOG_FILE: path.join(config.baseDir(), 'platformdata/logs/backup/app.log'),
     UPDATER_LOG_FILE: path.join(config.baseDir(), 'platformdata/logs/updater/app.log')
diff --git a/src/routes/tasks.js b/src/routes/tasks.js
index 880a18104..df387dc6c 100644
--- a/src/routes/tasks.js
+++ b/src/routes/tasks.js
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 exports = module.exports = {
     get: get,
     stopTask: stopTask,
-    list: list
+    list: list,
+
+    getLogs: getLogs,
+    getLogStream: getLogStream
 };
 
 let assert = require('assert'),
@@ -55,3 +58,67 @@ function list(req, res, next) {
         next(new HttpSuccess(200, { tasks }));
     });
 }
+
+function getLogs(req, res, next) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof req.params.taskId, 'string');
+
+    var lines = req.query.lines ? parseInt(req.query.lines, 10) : 100;
+    if (isNaN(lines)) return next(new HttpError(400, 'lines must be a number'));
+
+    var options = {
+        lines: lines,
+        follow: false,
+        format: req.query.format
+    };
+
+    tasks.getLogs(req.params.taskId, options, function (error, logStream) {
+        if (error && error.reason === TaskError.NOT_FOUND) return next(new HttpError(404, 'No such task'));
+        if (error) return next(new HttpError(500, error));
+
+        res.writeHead(200, {
+            'Content-Type': 'application/x-logs',
+            'Content-Disposition': 'attachment; filename="log.txt"',
+            'Cache-Control': 'no-cache',
+            'X-Accel-Buffering': 'no' // disable nginx buffering
+        });
+        logStream.pipe(res);
+    });
+}
+
+// this route is for streaming logs
+function getLogStream(req, res, next) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof req.params.taskId, 'string');
+
+    var lines = req.query.lines ? parseInt(req.query.lines, 10) : -10; // we ignore last-event-id
+    if (isNaN(lines)) return next(new HttpError(400, 'lines must be a valid number'));
+
+    function sse(id, data) { return 'id: ' + id + '\ndata: ' + data + '\n\n'; }
+
+    if (req.headers.accept !== 'text/event-stream') return next(new HttpError(400, 'This API call requires EventStream'));
+
+    var options = {
+        lines: lines,
+        follow: true
+    };
+
+    tasks.getLogs(req.params.taskId, options, function (error, logStream) {
+        if (error && error.reason === TaskError.NOT_FOUND) return next(new HttpError(404, 'No such task'));
+        if (error) return next(new HttpError(500, error));
+
+        res.writeHead(200, {
+            'Content-Type': 'text/event-stream',
+            'Cache-Control': 'no-cache',
+            'Connection': 'keep-alive',
+            'X-Accel-Buffering': 'no', // disable nginx buffering
+            'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*'
+        });
+        res.write('retry: 3000\n');
+        res.on('close', logStream.close);
+        logStream.on('data', function (data) {
+            var obj = JSON.parse(data);
+            res.write(sse(obj.monotonicTimestamp, JSON.stringify(obj))); // send timestamp as id
+        });
+        logStream.on('end', res.end.bind(res));
+        logStream.on('error', res.end.bind(res, null));
+    });
+}
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index 7c8d2961f..e786d366f 100644
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ function initializeExpressSync() {
     // tasks
     router.get ('/api/v1/tasks', settingsScope, routes.tasks.list);
     router.get ('/api/v1/tasks/:taskId', settingsScope, routes.tasks.get);
+    router.get ('/api/v1/tasks/:taskId/logs', cloudronScope, routes.tasks.getLogs);
+    router.get ('/api/v1/tasks/:taskId/logstream', cloudronScope, routes.tasks.getLogStream);
     router.post('/api/v1/tasks/:taskId/stop', settingsScope, routes.tasks.stopTask);
 
     // backups
diff --git a/src/tasks.js b/src/tasks.js
index 1a94fdc8b..eaf390e5d 100644
--- a/src/tasks.js
+++ b/src/tasks.js
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     update: update,
     listPaged: listPaged,
 
+    getLogs: getLogs,
+
     startTask: startTask,
     stopTask: stopTask,
 
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ let assert = require('assert'),
     mailer = require('./mailer.js'),
     paths = require('./paths.js'),
     safe = require('safetydance'),
+    spawn = require('child_process').spawn,
+    split = require('split'),
     taskdb = require('./taskdb.js'),
     util = require('util'),
     _ = require('underscore');
@@ -34,7 +38,6 @@ const NOOP_CALLBACK = function (error) { if (error) debug(error); };
 const TASKS = { // indexed by task type
     backup: {
         lock: locker.OP_FULL_BACKUP,
-        logFile: paths.BACKUP_LOG_FILE,
         program: __dirname + '/tasks/backuptask.js',
         onFailure: mailer.backupFailed,
         startEventId: eventlog.ACTION_BACKUP_START,
@@ -42,7 +45,6 @@ const TASKS = { // indexed by task type
     },
     update: {
         lock: locker.OP_BOX_UPDATE,
-        logFile: paths.UPDATER_LOG_FILE,
         program: __dirname + '/tasks/updatertask.js',
         onFailure: NOOP_CALLBACK,
         startEventId: eventlog.ACTION_UPDATE,
@@ -116,16 +118,16 @@ function startTask(type, args, auditSource, callback) {
     let error = locker.lock(taskInfo.lock);
     if (error) return callback(new TaskError(TaskError.BAD_STATE, error.message));
 
-    let fd = safe.fs.openSync(taskInfo.logFile, 'a'); // will autoclose
-    if (!fd) {
-        debug(`startTask: unable to get log filedescriptor ${safe.error.message}`);
-        locker.unlock(taskInfo.lock);
-        return callback(new TaskError(TaskError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error.message));
-    }
-
     taskdb.add({ type: type, percent: 0, message: 'Starting', args: args }, function (error, taskId) {
         if (error) return callback(new TaskError(TaskError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
+        let fd = safe.fs.openSync(`${paths.TASKS_LOG_DIR}/${taskId}.log`, 'a'); // will autoclose
+        if (!fd) {
+            debug(`startTask: unable to get log filedescriptor ${safe.error.message}`);
+            locker.unlock(taskInfo.lock);
+            return callback(new TaskError(TaskError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error.message));
+        }
+
         debug(`startTask - starting task ${type}. logs at ${taskInfo.logFile}. id ${taskId}`);
 
         eventlog.add(taskInfo.startEventId, auditSource, args);
@@ -184,3 +186,50 @@ function listPaged(type, page, perPage, callback) {
         callback(null, tasks);
     });
 }
+
+function getLogs(taskId, options, callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof taskId, 'string');
+    assert(options && typeof options === 'object');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    debug(`Getting logs for ${taskId}`);
+
+    var lines = options.lines || 100,
+        format = options.format || 'json',
+        follow = !!options.follow;
+
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof lines, 'number');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof format, 'string');
+
+    let cmd = '/usr/bin/tail';
+    var args = [ '--lines=' + lines ];
+
+    if (follow) args.push('--follow', '--retry', '--quiet'); // same as -F. to make it work if file doesn't exist, --quiet to not output file headers, which are no logs
+    args.push(`${paths.TASKS_LOG_DIR}/${taskId}.log`);
+
+    var cp = spawn(cmd, args);
+
+    var transformStream = split(function mapper(line) {
+        if (format !== 'json') return line + '\n';
+
+        var data = line.split(' '); // logs are <ISOtimestamp> <msg>
+        var timestamp = (new Date(data[0])).getTime();
+        if (isNaN(timestamp)) timestamp = 0;
+        var message = line.slice(data[0].length+1);
+
+        // ignore faulty empty logs
+        if (!timestamp && !message) return;
+
+        return JSON.stringify({
+            realtimeTimestamp: timestamp * 1000,
+            message: message,
+            source: taskId
+        }) + '\n';
+    });
+
+    transformStream.close = cp.kill.bind(cp, 'SIGKILL'); // closing stream kills the child process
+
+    cp.stdout.pipe(transformStream);
+
+    callback(null, transformStream);
+}