Linux – all the posibilities of storing a log file

arch linuxlinuxlogs

I'm writing a program, and would like it to store a log file. Problem is, the program really shouldn't be ran as root.

So if I wanted to uphold to the traditions of where files are placed, where could I keep the log file if not in /var/log that a normal user would have permissions to?

Edit: I'm using Arch linux.

Best Answer

Since the operating system you are using is missing, a more generic approach could be: Create a directory with the name of your app(say, foo) inside /var/log

# mkdir /var/log/foo

Most of all unix-like OSs will allow you to navigate through var_log folders, but not to view the logfiles contents(as expected).

Give the ownership to the user that you are using to run your program, and permission to this user(only) to see/write those logfiles

# chown userfoo /var/log/foo
# chmod 600 /var/log/foo

You could play with groups too, giving read access to operators for example(and of course, a different permission set of chmod, like 640.

Done. This should be generic enough to any Unix like system, and maybe, a better approach than adding a user to administrative groups.

Related Solutions

Linux – Boot Log for Arch Linux

The kernel does not have a filesystem to write to during most of boot, so if the boot failed, you may be out of luck. However, it does keep a log in memory (including what you see on the console) and once it does have a rw fs, that stuff is dumped into /var/log/syslog.

You can also view the kernel log starting from the beginning with dmesg (probably you want to use dmesg | less).

However, I don't think the kernel uses colored emphasis (in any case, the color itself won't be in a log), implying this is a system service. Some of those also start before a rw filesystem is available, and if that's the case, there may be no record of the message at all. Otherwise their stuff should also be in /var/log/syslog.

You can also try SCROLL LOCK, or ctrl-S (pause) ctrl-Q (continue) during boot. There's also a "boot_delay" parameter that can be put on the kernel command-line (e.g. in grub.conf).

From src/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt:

boot_delay =  Milliseconds to delay each printk during boot.
              Values larger than 10 seconds (10000) are changed to
              no delay (0).
              Format: integer

Hopefully at least one of these works for you.

Centos – Where is the postfix Mail Delivery Status Report

The message you posted says the Mail Delivery Status Report will be mailed to <root>.

I would check the root user's mail which by default should be /var/spool/mail/root.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Linux – Boot Log for Arch Linux

Centos – Where is the postfix Mail Delivery Status Report

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