/var/log/message problem
Rick Stevens
rstevens at vitalstream.com
Fri Dec 10 17:37:30 UTC 2004
daisy wrote:
> Thank you Alexander, gerrynix and Rick
> Restarting the syslog service did the trick. The system is now logging
> messages.
>
> I have tried the logrotate and will wait to see if the system will
> automatically rotate the files.
>
> Rick, thank you for you kind words and welcome.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Daisy
Glad to help, Daisy. See, it wasn't that hard. ;-)
>
> */Rick Stevens <rstevens at vitalstream.com>/* wrote:
>
> daisy wrote:
> > Hello everyone.
> >
> > I would appreciate help with my /var/log/message file. It is no
> longer
> > logging anything.
> >
> > Background of the problem: Previously the message logs worked
> without
> > problem. When the log file grew to a certain size it would create an
> > archive /log/var/message.1 file and create a brand new and empty
> > /log/var/message file. For some reason, however, one day the log
> file
> > archives were no longer being created and the message file just
> grew and
> > grew. When my RedHat Linux system began to slow and lag, I
> thought that
> > the /var/log/message file, which by then was very large, was the
> > problem. I decided to do a temporary fix until I could get expert
> > advice on how to get the system to create archives and new
> message files
> > automatically.
>
> The logs rotate on a scheduled basis as determined by
> /etc/logrotate.conf -- not when they reach a certain size. Note,
> however, that neither the kernel logger nor syslogd are built with LFS
> (large file support), so neither program can "talk" to a file bigger
> than 2GB.
>
> > What I tried: I manually copied the /var/log/message file and
> renamed
> > it /var/log/message.1.
> > I also manually created a /var/log/message file. This did not
> work. No
> > messages were logged at all. I then renamed one of the older archive
> > files that were still of managable size as /var/log/message.
> Still no
> > luck.
>
> A manual rotate is done via:
>
> cp file file.1
> cat /dev/null >file
>
> or
>
> mv file file.1
> touch file
>
> Or you can force logrotate to do it whenever you wish:
>
> logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.conf
>
> >
> > Advice I am hoping for:
> > 1. How to fix my /var/log/message! file so that it will log
> necessary
> > warnings. Why did creating a blank /var/log/message file cause
> the sytem
> > to not log anything? Is the file a special binary file?
>
> syslogd only creates log files when it starts up. If it ever tries to
> log to a non-existant file, it will cease logging for that file
> entirely. Simply make sure the target file exists, then (as root) run:
>
> killall -HUP syslogd
>
> or
>
> /etc/rc.d/init.d/syslog restart
>
> to force syslogd to look at the file again.
>
> > 2. Why did the system stop updating and archiving the
> /var/log/message
> > file in the first place.
>
> If the file went over the 2GB limit, syslogd can't write to it anymore.
> The fix is to make sure the file doesn't go above 2GB or to recompile
> syslogd with LFS (large file support).
>
> > Thanks for any advice in advance. As you can probably tell, I am
> still
> > at beginner level. I hope I explained the situation well enough.
>
> You explained it quite well. Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
> - VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
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> - Real Time, adj.: Here and now, as opposed to fake time, which only -
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--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
- -
- When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried. -
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