Common Linux Snippets for Server Management

• Clean log file. For example, we'll clean error log of httpd (apache) server:

  > /var/log/httpd/error_log

• View content of file in real-time (stream):

  tail -f /path/to/file

• Customizing motd (Message of The Day):

  echo welcome krishna >> /etc/motd

• Display list of cron jobs for current user

  crontab -l

• Display current machine time

  timedatectl

Common Log Files

• /var/log/messages : General message and system related stuff
• /var/log/auth.log : Authenication logs
• /var/log/kern.log : Kernel logs
• /var/log/cron.log : Crond logs (cron job)
• /var/log/maillog : Mail server logs
• /var/log/qmail/ : Qmail log directory (more files inside this directory)
• /var/log/httpd/ : Apache access and error logs directory
• /var/log/lighttpd/ : Lighttpd access and error logs directory
• /var/log/boot.log : System boot log
• /var/log/mysqld.log : MySQL database server log file
• /var/log/secure or/var/log/auth.log` : Authentication log
• /var/log/utmp or/var/log/wtmp` : Login records file
• /var/log/yum.log : Yum command log file.
• /var/log/anaconda.log : all installation related messages