The log files can be very useful when it comes to finding a fault in the server, or maybe even helping find
traces of a security breach. The majority of the log files are kept in the /var/log directory. It pays
to check these files from time to time, a file that has grown very quickly since you last checked could give you
a clue as to where the problem may be.
The log files can also be used to generate statistics for example for your web site. By using the
access log file that is generated by the web server Apache you can maintain a reasonable detailed set
of statistics giving you lots of information about the people visiting your web site. The programme webaliser
reads through the access log file & builds a set of html pages & lots of png graphics to make the statistics
easy to follow. Webaliser is really easy to configure & is started from the command line.
For more information on creating simple log files check the "scripts & crontab" section in the web
server project.
