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)