If you’re a systems administrator, you know the importance of log files. Without those crucial bits of saved information, you might not know where to start troubleshooting issues on your servers. With that information on hand, you are empowered to not only troubleshoot but better optimize your servers for the task at hand.

This guide, written by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic Premium, is here to help. Learn all you need to know to get yourself started on viewing Linux log files.

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HOW DO YOU VIEW THOSE LOG FILES?

There are two main methods of viewing Linux log files from the command line. The first is static and the second is in real-time. First, let’s take a look at the static method. You’ll use this method when you don’t need to see real-time reactions to events in a file (and you simply need to comb through a file to glean information).

Let’s say you’re trying to track down a possible intrusion into your Ubuntu Server instance. The first thing you might want to do is check /var/log/auth.log. To do that, log into the server and issue the command:

less /var/log/auth.log

The contents of that file will include all authentication messages for your server.

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TIME SAVED: Crafting this content required 16 hours of dedicated writing, editing and research.