How do I view log files in Linux?
Like any other OS, you can use certain commands to see Linux log files. Linux logs will display with the command cd/var/log. Then, you can type ls to see the logs stored under this directory. One of the most important logs to view is the syslog, which logs everything but auth-related messages.
You can read a LOG file with any text editor, like Windows Notepad. You might be able to open one in your web browser, too. Just drag it directly into the browser window, or use the Ctrl+O keyboard shortcut to open a dialog box to browse for the file.
If you want to get the last 1000 lines from a log file and they do not fit into your shell window, you can use the command "more" to be able to view them line by line. press [space] on the keyboard to go to the next line or [ctrl] + [c] to quit.
You can also press Ctrl+F to search your log messages or use the Filters menu to filter your logs. If you have other log files you want to view — say, a log file for a specific application — you can click the File menu, select Open, and open the log file.
Log files are a set of records that Linux maintains for the administrators to keep track of important events. They contain messages about the server, including the kernel, services and applications running on it. Linux provides a centralized repository of log files that can be located under the /var/log directory.
Double-click the PuTTY icon on your Desktop to open it or search your Start menu. Connect to your server. Enter your hostname (or IP address), port number, and password to connect to your server with PuTTY. Navigate the PuTTY window to your logs.
- Find your Linux logs in /var/log.
- Use cat to display the entirety of a log file.
- Use tail to see just the last lines.
- Use vi to open a log in a text editor.
- Use dmesg to view the contents of /var/log/dmesg.
- Use lastlog to view the contents of /var/log/lastlog.
Double-click on the log file and it will likely open in a text program by default, or you can choose the program you'd like to use to open the file by using the right-click and “Open With” option. Another option is to use a web browser and open the server log file in HTML.
The syslog service, which receives and processes syslog messages. It listens for events by creating a socket located at /dev/log , which applications can write to. It can write messages to a local file or forward messages to a remote server. There are different syslog implementations including rsyslogd and syslog-ng.
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What is the Linux tail command?
How do I open a tail file in Linux?
- Enter the tail command, followed by the file you'd like to view: tail /var/log/auth.log. ...
- To change the number of lines displayed, use the -n option: tail -n 50 /var/log/auth.log. ...
- To show a real-time, streaming output of a changing file, use the -f or --follow options: tail -f /var/log/auth.log.
The Windows operating system records events in five areas: application, security, setup, system and forwarded events. Windows stores event logs in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\ folder.

- All messages about sshd : journalctl -t sshd. journalctl -u ssh where -u == unit.
- Messages about sshd from the last boot: journalctl -t sshd -b0.
- Messages about sshd from the last boot in the reverse order: journalctl -t sshd -b0 -r.
Logs can store any type of information you want but they typically answer who, what, when, where, and why something occurred. Logs can be useful when your shell script performs several actions or produces a lot of output that might scroll off your screen.
The logger command sends logging messages to the syslogd daemon, and consequently provokes system logging. This means we can check from the command line at any time the syslogd daemon and its configuration. The logger command provides a method for adding one-line entries to the system log file from the command line.
Unix syslog is a host-configurable, uniform system logging facility. The system uses a centralized system logging process that runs the program /etc/syslogd or /etc/syslog. The operation of the system logger is quite straightforward.
You can also view this log using the dmesg command. Another log you can use to view kernel information is the /var/log/kern. log file, this logs the kernel information and events on your system, it also logs dmesg output.
A log file is a computer-generated data file that contains information about usage patterns, activities, and operations within an operating system, application, server or another device.
- Press ⊞ Win + R on the M-Files server computer. ...
- In the Open text field, type in eventvwr and click OK. ...
- Expand the Windows Logs node.
- Select the Application node. ...
- Click Filter Current Log... on the Actions pane in the Application section to list only the entries that are related to M-Files.
It is located at /var/log/syslog, and may contain information other logs do not. Consult the System Log when you can't locate the desired log information in another log. It also contains everything that used to be in /var/log/messages.
How do I get syslog in Linux?
- Log in to your Linux OS device, as a root user.
- Open the /etc/syslog.conf file and add the following facility information: authpriv.*@ <ip_address> where: ...
- Save the file.
- Restart syslog by typing the following command: service syslog restart.
- Log in to the QRadar Console.
- Execute the following command as root. Example: command for checking the status of syslog-ng OSE service. systemctl --no-pager status syslog-ng.
- Check the Active: field, which shows the status of syslog-ng OSE service. The following statuses are possible: active (running) - syslog-ng OSE service is up and running.
The tail -f command prints the last 10 lines of a text or log file, and then waits for new additions to the file to print it in real time. This allows administrators to view a log message as soon as a system creates it.
The tail command, as the name implies, print the last N number of data of the given input. By default it prints the last 10 lines of the specified files. If more than one file name is provided then data from each file is precedes by its file name. Syntax: tail [OPTION]... [ FILE]...
The folder /var/log/messages contain a variety of messages, such as mail, kern, auth, cron, daemon, and so on. Linux log data is a useful debugging utility whenever you run into problems with the Linux operating system, programs, or server. They give a chronology of the Linux system, apps, and framework actions.
As their names imply, the head command will output the first part of the file, while the tail command will print the last part of the file. Both commands write the result to standard output.