Re: [cobalt-users] Reading log files (newbie)

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Marcus Hill -webq3m-" <marcus@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'd like to check my log files as (from reading this list) it seems an
> important part of server administration.
>
> I've tried by 2 methods:
> 1. FTPing in as admin, getting into /var/log/maillog and downloading the
> file (tried maillog and maillog.1.gz) -  My FTP client is telling me that
I
> don't have permission

You'll need to become root to read the log file.  From the shell commandline
(telnet or ssh) do:

su -
then supply your admin password to become the root user.

If you want copy the log file to another location, do chown admin maillog to
change the owner to admin then you can access via FTP.  To access the
rotated log (maillog.1.gz) you will need to unzip it using gunzip
maillog.1.gz.  You may want to copy it somewhere first since that will not
leave a copy of the original.

> 2. Telnetting in as admin, I can get to the directory and see the file
when
> I 'dir', but what command do I use to view or d/l the file? ... tried my
old
> DOS caknowledge without luck.

See above.  "cat maillog | more", "more maillog", "less maillog" will all
get you started.  Also do "man x" where x is more, less, cat, etc. to read
manuals on each program.  To find where a program is located do "whereis x"
where x is program name, then browse that directory for other programs, read
the manual on them, get a good Linux book, use google to find Linux
tutorials, manuals, etc. online too.

> Also, I've used 'last|less' and everything looks OK there, is this showing
> me both FTP and telnet connections?
>
> Which other log files should we be keeping an eye on?

messages, xferlog, and the logs in /var/log/httpd are good for starters.
Look through them all, get familiar with them and decide what's important.

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/