diff --git a/pkg/agent/config/config.go b/pkg/agent/config/config.go
index 43533415cb..4b3d7af05e 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/config/config.go
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ func get(envInfo *cmds.Agent) (*config.Node, error) {
 	nodeConfig.Containerd.Config = filepath.Join(envInfo.DataDir, "etc/containerd/config.toml")
 	nodeConfig.Containerd.Root = filepath.Join(envInfo.DataDir, "containerd")
 	nodeConfig.Containerd.Opt = filepath.Join(envInfo.DataDir, "containerd")
+	if !envInfo.Debug {
+		nodeConfig.Containerd.Log = filepath.Join(envInfo.DataDir, "containerd/containerd.log")
+	}
 	nodeConfig.Containerd.State = "/run/k3s/containerd"
 	nodeConfig.Containerd.Address = filepath.Join(nodeConfig.Containerd.State, "containerd.sock")
 	nodeConfig.ServerAddress = serverURLParsed.Host
diff --git a/pkg/agent/containerd/containerd.go b/pkg/agent/containerd/containerd.go
index 156eb4fe50..5b5b8ca948 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/containerd/containerd.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/containerd/containerd.go
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@ package containerd
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/natefinch/lumberjack"
 	util2 "github.com/rancher/k3s/pkg/agent/util"
 	"github.com/rancher/k3s/pkg/daemons/config"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -56,15 +58,30 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Node) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if logrus.GetLevel() >= logrus.DebugLevel {
-		args = append(args, "-l", "debug")
+	if os.Getenv("CONTAINERD_LOG_LEVEL") != "" {
+		args = append(args, "-l", "CONTAINERD_LOG_LEVEL")
+	}
+
+	stdOut := io.Writer(os.Stdout)
+	stdErr := io.Writer(os.Stderr)
+
+	if cfg.Containerd.Log != "" {
+		logrus.Infof("Logging containerd to %s", cfg.Containerd.Log)
+		stdOut = &lumberjack.Logger{
+			Filename:   cfg.Containerd.Log,
+			MaxSize:    50,
+			MaxBackups: 3,
+			MaxAge:     28,
+			Compress:   true,
+		}
+		stdErr = stdOut
 	}
 
 	go func() {
 		logrus.Infof("Running containerd %s", config.ArgString(args[1:]))
 		cmd := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
-		cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
-		cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+		cmd.Stdout = stdOut
+		cmd.Stderr = stdErr
 		cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{
 			Pdeathsig: syscall.SIGKILL,
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/agent/agent.go b/pkg/cli/agent/agent.go
index 1d515e8f5d..83e8632763 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/agent/agent.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/agent/agent.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ func Run(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	cfg := cmds.AgentConfig
+	cfg.Debug = ctx.GlobalBool("debug")
 	cfg.DataDir = dataDir
 
 	contextCtx := signal.SigTermCancelContext(context.Background())
diff --git a/pkg/cli/server/server.go b/pkg/cli/server/server.go
index 2af3badc1c..237cf49d80 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/server/server.go
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net"
-
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/reexec"
 	"github.com/natefinch/lumberjack"
 	"github.com/rancher/k3s/pkg/agent"
@@ -18,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rancher/norman/signal"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net"
 
 	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3" // ensure we have sqlite
 )
@@ -95,17 +94,18 @@ func run(app *cli.Context, cfg *cmds.Server) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	logrus.Info("k3s is up and running")
+
 	if cfg.DisableAgent {
 		<-ctx.Done()
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	logFile := filepath.Join(serverConfig.ControlConfig.DataDir, "agent/agent.log")
 	url := fmt.Sprintf("https://localhost:%d", serverConfig.TLSConfig.HTTPSPort)
-	logrus.Infof("Agent starting, logging to %s", logFile)
 	token := server.FormatToken(serverConfig.ControlConfig.Runtime.NodeToken, certs)
 
 	agentConfig := cmds.AgentConfig
+	agentConfig.Debug = app.GlobalBool("bool")
 	agentConfig.DataDir = filepath.Dir(serverConfig.ControlConfig.DataDir)
 	agentConfig.ServerURL = url
 	agentConfig.Token = token
diff --git a/pkg/daemons/config/types.go b/pkg/daemons/config/types.go
index 2297d1d80c..7c7cfad6fd 100644
--- a/pkg/daemons/config/types.go
+++ b/pkg/daemons/config/types.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type Node struct {
 
 type Containerd struct {
 	Address string
+	Log     string
 	Root    string
 	State   string
 	Config  string