diff --git a/.github/workflows/execd-test.yml b/.github/workflows/execd-test.yml
index e3004429..1be8dcb9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/execd-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/execd-test.yml
@@ -99,4 +99,7 @@ jobs:
           python3 tests/smoke_api.py
       - name: Show logs
         if: always()
-        run: cat components/execd/execd.log
+        run: |
+          set -x
+          cat components/execd/startup.log || true
+          cat components/execd/execd.log || true
diff --git a/components/execd/README.md b/components/execd/README.md
index b3068a4e..dce1fd73 100644
--- a/components/execd/README.md
+++ b/components/execd/README.md
@@ -250,6 +250,8 @@ logs.Error("message")   // error
 logs.Debug("message")   // debug
 ```
 
+- Env: `EXECD_LOG_FILE` writes execd logs to the given file path; when unset, logs are sent to stdout.
+
 Log levels (0-7):
 
 - 0: Emergency
diff --git a/components/execd/README_zh.md b/components/execd/README_zh.md
index b915d96a..35c3e4aa 100644
--- a/components/execd/README_zh.md
+++ b/components/execd/README_zh.md
@@ -249,6 +249,8 @@ logs.Error("message")   // 错误条件
 logs.Debug("message") // 调试级别消息
 ```
 
+- 环境变量：`EXECD_LOG_FILE` 指定日志输出文件；未设置时日志输出到标准输出（stdout）。
+
 日志级别（0-7）：
 
 - 0：紧急
diff --git a/components/execd/pkg/log/log.go b/components/execd/pkg/log/log.go
index 7fdba2e0..ec3a49da 100644
--- a/components/execd/pkg/log/log.go
+++ b/components/execd/pkg/log/log.go
@@ -16,11 +16,14 @@ package log
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
+const logFileEnvKey = "EXECD_LOG_FILE"
+
 var (
 	atomicLevel = zap.NewAtomicLevelAt(zap.InfoLevel)
 	base        *zap.Logger
@@ -30,6 +33,17 @@ var (
 func init() {
 	cfg := zap.NewProductionConfig()
 	cfg.Level = atomicLevel
+
+	logFile := os.Getenv(logFileEnvKey)
+	if logFile != "" {
+		cfg.OutputPaths = []string{logFile}
+		cfg.ErrorOutputPaths = []string{logFile}
+	} else {
+		// outputs log to stdout pipe by default
+		cfg.OutputPaths = []string{"stdout"}
+		cfg.ErrorOutputPaths = []string{"stdout"}
+	}
+
 	logger, err := cfg.Build()
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to init logger: %v", err))
diff --git a/components/execd/tests/smoke.sh b/components/execd/tests/smoke.sh
index 84d3dff0..f473c364 100755
--- a/components/execd/tests/smoke.sh
+++ b/components/execd/tests/smoke.sh
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ source tests/jupyter.sh
 install_jupyter
 
 export EXECD_API_GRACE_SHUTDOWN=500ms
-./bin/execd -jupyter-host=http://127.0.0.1:${JUPYTER_PORT} --jupyter-token=${JUPYTER_TOKEN} --log-level=7 >execd.log 2>&1 &
+export EXECD_LOG_FILE=execd.log
+./bin/execd -jupyter-host=http://127.0.0.1:${JUPYTER_PORT} --jupyter-token=${JUPYTER_TOKEN} --log-level=7 >startup.log 2>&1 &