Check Linux Error Logs: A Complete Guide

In Linux systems, log files are typically stored in the /var/log directory. To view error messages in the logs, you can use the following common methods:

1. To view log files using a command-line tool, you can use utilities like cat, less, tail, etc. For example, you can use the following command to view the latest content of the system log file /var/log/syslog.

sudo tail -n 100 /var/log/syslog

1. Utilize log viewing tools:
   Linux systems offer various log viewing tools such as journalctl and dmesg. The journalctl command is used to view systemd logs, while the dmesg command is used to view kernel logs. For example, use the command below to view the latest system logs:

journalctl -xe

1. Filtering log information with the grep command:
   You can use the grep command to search for log information that contains specific keywords. For example, the following command is used to search for system logs containing the keyword “error”:

sudo grep "error" /var/log/syslog

By using the methods above, you can view error log information in a Linux system to help you troubleshoot and resolve issues.