System Log Viewer Manual
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Getting Started
- 3. Usage
1. Introduction
System Log Viewer is a graphical, menu-driven viewer that you can use to view and monitor your system logs. System Log Viewer comes with a few functions that can help you manage your logs, including a log monitor and log statistics display.
System Log Viewer is useful if you are new to system administration because it provides an easier, more user-friendly display of your logs than a text display of the log file. It is also useful for more experienced administrators, as it contains a monitor to enable you to continuously monitor crucial logs.
System Log Viewer is useful only to those who have access to the system log files, which generally requires root access.
2. Getting Started
You can start System Log Viewer in the following ways:
- menu
-
Choose .
- Command line
-
Type gnome-system-log, then press Return.
When you start System Log Viewer, the following window is displayed.
The first time you start System Log Viewer, the application displays several log files by default (such as /var/log/messages). Opened logs are listed on the left side of the application window. The log selected in this list is displayed in the main area of the application window.
By default, System Log Viewer monitors every opened log, and any change appears automatically in the main window. See Section 3.4 ― To Monitor Logs for more information.
3. Usage
- 3.1. To View a Log
- 3.2. To Copy Log Lines to the Clipboard
- 3.3. To Hide the Sidebar
- 3.4. To Monitor Logs
- 3.5. To View Log Information
- 3.6. To Close a Log
- 3.7. To Exit System Log Viewer
3.1. To View a Log
To view a log, choose . In the Open Log dialog, select the log that you want to open, then click . Use the scrollbars to scroll through the log.
You can open as many logs as you want. System Log Viewer displays one log at a time in the System Log Viewer window. Opened logs are listed on the left side of the application window. The log selected in this list is displayed in the main area of the application window. To display another log already opened in System Log Viewer, select it in the log list.
Note that System Log Viewer also lets you open zipped logs (whole filenames end in ".gz").
3.2. To Copy Log Lines to the Clipboard
To copy one or more log lines to the clipboard, just select the lines in the main area and choose the menu option. If you want to copy the entire log to the clipboard, select it entirely using the menu option, then choose .
3.3. To Hide the Sidebar
To hide the left sidebar, which contains the log list and calendar, just select the menu option.
3.4. To Monitor Logs
You can use System Log Viewer to monitor logs. By default, all logs opened in System Log Viewer are monitored for changes. If new lines are added to a log monitored by System Log Viewer, the log name will appear in bold in the log list. If the log is currently displayed in the main area, the new lines will appear automatically at the end of the log and, after five seconds, the log name will turn back to normal in the list.