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NAME

       console-log.conf - Main configuration file for console-log

DESCRIPTION

       console-log keeps logfile pagers open on virtual consoles.
       /etc/console-log.conf is the configuration file controlling which log
       file is opened on which tty.

       Empty lines and lines starting with "#" are ignored.

       The rest of the file consists of stanzas consisting of lines formed as
       a single keyword and multiple values. Each stanza describes one pager
       being started. Stanzas are separated with blank lines. Other keywords
       preceded by $ are interpolated if the other keyword is set in the same
       stanza _before_ the current line.

       tty is the number of the tty the log pager should be started on. Choose
           a tty that has a virtual console. This is a mandatory setting.

       chvt
           If chvt is yes, the system’s console will be switched to the tty of
           this stanza on startup. Default is no.

       file
           is a list of absolute paths to log files to display. The first file
           that is either a plain file or a symlink is displayed. The file
           name must not contain any spaces. This is a mandatory setting.

       user, group
           If user and/or group is/are given, uid/gid will be changed to the
           given values before invoking the log pager. User needs to be in
           group in /etc/group. If no user is given, the pager will be run as
           the default user/group set at compile time.

       maxfilesize
           If the file to be paged exceeds the configured size, no pager is
           started to avoid memory overflow. Value given in bytes. Default is
           7000000. Additionally, ulimit -v is set to twice this value.

       locscript
           is the absolute path to a bash shell script that will be sourced
           before the pager is being started. The script will receive the file
           path as a parameter and can set environment variables that can
           influence the pager.

       pager
           is the actual program that will be invoked to display the file. Use
           $file in the position of the file name. Default is less $file,
           invoked with secure settings and follow mode acticvted. If you want
           to use a different pager, you need to manually adapt
           /usr/share/console-log/logpage. Please submit patches that extend
           logpager’s support for other pagers via the BTS.

EXAMPLE

       The default config file

        tty 9
        chvt yes
        file /var/log/syslog
        group adm

        tty 8
        file /var/log/exim4/mainlog /var/log/exim/mainlog /var/log/mail.log
        group adm

       will start one log pager for the first file found from
       /var/log/exim4/mainlog, /var/log/exim/mainlog and /var/log/mail.log,
       and one log pager for /var/log/syslog, and will chvt to tty9.

       If a file cannot be read by the user specified in the config file, the
       init script will complain. You can either change the log file
       permissions or put the user account in the appropriate group.  For
       example, if /var/log/exim/mainlog is only readable by group mail, you
       can either change the log file group to adm (make sure to adapt the log
       file creation/rotation process as well), run the pager as a user that
       can access the log file, or else put the user account into group mail.
       Making the file readable for the default account is the preferred way
       to solve this issue since it introduces the least security risk.

FILES

       /etc/console-log.conf

BUGS

       Many. Be prepared to debug.

AUTHOR

       This manpage was written by Marc Haber for console-log in Debian/GNU
       Operating System.

SEE ALSO

       /etc/init.d/console-log /usr/sbin/convert-console-log.conf
       convert-console-log.conf(8)