CentOS Quick Start Guide

Working with rsyslog

The rsyslog service centrally collects the log messages from different applications running in the Linux system. It collects the logs based on their type and their priorities, and stores them persistently in the /var/logfollows:/ directory.

The following table lists some important log files maintained by rsyslog, along with their description:

Log file path	Description
/var/log/messages	Most standard log messages are stored here, except authentication logs, email logs, and some application debugging logs.
/var/log/secure	Authentication logs containing errors and other messages are stored here.
/var/log/maillog	Mail server logs are stored here.
/var/log/boot.log	Boot/system startup messages ...