undefined | Better HN

0 pointsdingnuts2y ago0 comments

how on earth is remembering the location of some log file, buried in /var/log somewhere, hopefully, or maybe next to the application in /etc/ or /opt/, easier than remembering journalctl -u unitfilename ? or journalctl -u unitfilename -f to follow the logs -- the very same flag tail uses?

after a decade of systemd usage I've never once had to actually think about the format the logs are stored in, or where they're stored; journalctl is actually easier than using tail and cat

0 comments

enriquto2y ago

> how on earth is remembering the location of some log file, buried in /var/log somewhere, hopefully, or maybe next to the application in /etc/ or /opt/, easier than remembering journalctl -u unitfilename ?

This may seem obvious to you, but I for one find filenames much easier to remember. Of course the logs are inside /var/log (and not anywhere else).

Moreover, with filenames, you can check your logs with a program that is independent of the program that produces it. Why implement the -f option on other programs when it is already implemented in tail?

dingnutsOP2y ago

That's the thing though, you have to remember filenames. I don't have to remember anything, just journalctl, because it can be run without any arguments and get logs for -everything that's running- including units I totally forgot about!

More than once I've forgotten the name of some unit I wrote -- the same as I easily forget filenames for random services I've installed, and where I might have installed them. I can discover the service name by calling systemctl status, or I can just call journalctl with no arguments and pass directly to grep to find what I need, in whatever unit it's in.

Try that when you have log files scattered all around your filesystem.

michaelcampbell2y ago

> you have to remember filenames.

You have to remember unit names. They're all just names.

1 more reply

lvass2y ago

I concede it's as easy if you're just reading one log from one machine, but what if you're harvesting and/or merging multiple logs from multiple machines? It's much easier to do with simple unix tools and plaintext logs.

michaelcampbell2y ago

> after a decade of systemd usage I've never once had to actually think about the format the logs are stored in, or where they're stored; journalctl is actually easier than using tail and cat

That's wonderful for you. For me, it is not.

Funny how people are different.

pdimitar2y ago

This is not a people problem, it's a technical problem.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

enriquto2y ago

This may seem obvious to you, but I for one find filenames much easier to remember. Of course the logs are inside /var/log (and not anywhere else).

dingnutsOP2y ago

Try that when you have log files scattered all around your filesystem.

michaelcampbell2y ago

> you have to remember filenames.

You have to remember unit names. They're all just names.

1 more reply

lvass2y ago

michaelcampbell2y ago

> after a decade of systemd usage I've never once had to actually think about the format the logs are stored in, or where they're stored; journalctl is actually easier than using tail and cat

That's wonderful for you. For me, it is not.

Funny how people are different.

pdimitar2y ago

This is not a people problem, it's a technical problem.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse