Evaluate systemd logs using journalctl
Finely Filtered
© Lead Image © Juergen Priewe, 123RF.com
The journal is the systemd component responsible for viewing and managing logfiles.
The systemd service journald creates very comprehensive logs, which allow you to analyze data in a variety of ways. Once you get used to the convenience this affords, you won't even miss the old-style logfiles.
Better structured
The journald daemon collects messages from the kernel, initrd, any running services and other available sources and collects them into one place. This results in a massive amount of data compared to the logfiles you're traditionally used to such as /var/log/messages or /var/log/syslog. You'll also find a huge amount of metadata is included, which can significantly improve your results when searching the journal.
This also results in a larger amount of data which is tricky to store in traditional text files. This is why the journald daemon stores this information in binary files. You can read this data, using the command journalctl. If necessary, you can also convert the binary files to other formats for further analysis.
[...]
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.
-
Linux Kernel 6.14 Released
The latest Linux kernel has arrived with extra Rust support and more.
-
EndeavorOS Mercury Neo Available
A new release from the EndeavorOS team ships with Plasma 6.3 and other goodies.
-
Fedora 42 Beta Has Arrived
The Fedora Project has announced the availability of the first beta release for version 42 of the open-source distribution.
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.