How to view syslog logs in Linux?

In Linux systems, syslog logs can be viewed in several ways:

1. To view a log file using the cat command: syslog files are typically located in /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages. You can use the cat command to directly view the contents of this log file.

cat /var/log/syslog

cat /var/log/messages

1. You can use the “tail” command to view the latest content of a log file in real-time. For example, the following command will display the latest 10 lines of the syslog log file in real-time:

tail -f /var/log/syslog

tail -f /var/log/messages

1. To page through a log file using the less command: use the less command to view the content of a log file in pages, press the spacebar to scroll down, and press the ‘q’ key to exit. The following command will use the less command to view the content of the syslog log file:

less /var/log/syslog

less /var/log/messages

1. Filtering logs using the grep command: You can filter specific content in log files using the grep command. For example, the following command will filter logs that contain the keyword “error”.

grep "error" /var/log/syslog

grep "error" /var/log/messages

1. To view systemd logs using the journalctl command: If you are using the systemd init system, you can use the journalctl command to view system logs. The following command will display the contents of all system logs.

journalctl

These are some common methods for viewing syslog logs in a Linux system. Choose the appropriate method based on your actual needs to view and analyze the logs.