Monitoring logs with Logcheck and Logsurfer

Log Rider

Article from Issue 139/2012
Author(s):

Logfiles contain records of what happens on a Linux system and the services it runs. Tools like Logcheck and Logsurfer filter out the most important events for the administrator, and they can even trigger an appropriate reaction automatically.

Most sys admins rely on logfiles as an important source of security and troubleshooting information. System information typically resides in several different logfiles on every computer, and dozens or even hundreds of computers might fall within the oversight of a single IT specialist. In this setting, the ancient technique of combing through logfiles manually to look for suspicious information has long lost its shine. Many admins use text-filtering tools such as grep to look for specific warnings or events. Grep and its text search counterparts still play an important role on the network, but if you’re looking for a little relief from the tedious task of monitoring logfiles, you might want to try a log analysis tool.

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