Five Log Monitoring Tools
A system's logfiles not only record failed login attempts by users, but they also log program errors and information about attacks. Admins therefore should keep a continuous eye on them. Tools such as LOGalyze [1], Logcheck [2], Logwatch [3], MultiTail [4], and SwatchDog [5] can help you here.
Unlike with large monitoring solutions like Nagios and Icinga, the minor variants focus on analyzing logfiles. They use fewer resources and can be set up much more quickly. They are therefore ideally suited for use on weak hardware and embedded devices like the Raspberry Pi, as well as on servers with few selected services.
All candidates use one or more logfiles and filter out important messages according to predefined rules. As an option, they can send the result by email to the administrator or output it on the command line. Admins can also add their own filter rules, usually in the form of regular expressions. Sometimes the developer provides a set of oft-needed rules. Powerful tools may also put together a report about the state of the system and indicate security problems. However, a comparison of the above candidates shows that these functions are not a matter of course (Table 1).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.