Virtual Private Server User Guide

Log Files and Statistics Reports

Chapter 7   Log Files and Statistics Reports

Log Files

Many of the activities that occur on your VPS server are logged to some kind of a 

log file. Log files can be useful for troubleshooting problems and tracking usage.

Many of the network services that run on your VPS server have their own log file. 

Most of these log files are contained in the /var/log directory, while others, such as 

the Apache log files, are located elsewhere.

The following table lists the names of some of the more important log files, where 

they are located, and what type of information they contain:

Log File 

Location Description 

Name 

maillog 

/var/log 

Contains a history of the e mail messages that 

were received by the server or were sent from 

the server. 

xferlog 

/var/log 

Contains a history of the FTP transactions that 

have occurred on the server. 

messages 

/var/log 

This is a general purpose log file. Status 

messages sent by the server are recorded 

here, as are messages from some network 

services such as FTP and popper. 

userlog 

/var/log 

Contains a history of the users and groups that 

have been added to the server. 

cron 

/var/log 

Contains information about the commands 

executed through the cron program. 

Because of the large amount of data that is logged to files, it is important to keep 

an eye on the amount of disk space that is being used by these log files. Log files 

can be useful, but they do need to be kept manageable. For information on using 

a graphic Web based log manager tool, please see the appropriate section of the 

VAdmin User Guide.

Technical Training Department

August 2004

7 1