On 28.3.2010 19:11, Dotan Cohen wrote: > Is there a good resource for learning to read log files such as the > kernel log, messages, dmesg, and such? I have been googling but found > nothing really comprehensive yet understandable for a newbie. Where > should I start? > As has been said, Google is maybe the best answer here. I doubt there is any comprehensive tutorial, because (while the log file has some - logger dependent - format), the messages themselves are not standardized. Each and every application (including Linux kernel) has it's own messages, and if Googling the message (with the app name added to the query) does not help; there is always the source code *horror*. Indeed, while I try to use Debian packaged applications, I remember having downloaded the source code and tried to understand what the code is trying to do. While this may sound horrendous, it is IMHO still miles better than what we have in Windows. Windows log messages are usually totally bizarre, and there is in most cases not anything in Google, nor source code available. Understanding log files is - while not art - sometimes hard labor. Google, mailing lists, Usenet, those are good to have. Often some one else has seen the same message, and internet remembers. It has quite good memory, and it does not pay much to ask. If you still insist, and want to be the über authority and master of all log messages, feel free to begin your journey. Such a master most certainly will get paid as a system admin, and enjoy great salary! -- http://www.iki.fi/jarif/ If you laid all of our laws end to end, there would be no end. -- Mark Twain
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature