NEWSLOG(5)NEWSLOG(5)NAMEnewslog - description of Usenet log files
DESCRIPTION
Most log files created by Usenet programs reside in the
<pathlog in inn.conf> directory and have a ``.log'' exten-
sion. Several versions are usually kept with an addi-
tional extension such as ``.1'', ``.2'', etc. -- the
higher the number, the older the log. The older versions
are compressed.
The scanlogs script and related utilities (see newslog(8))
are responsible for rotating and compressing these files.
Some log files always have data, others only have data if
there is a problem, and others are only created if a par-
ticular program is used or configuration parameter is set.
The innstat script (see newslog(8)) monitors the size of
all log files.
The following files will only accumulate data under the
direction of control.ctl(5):
control.log miscctl.log newgroup.log rmgroup.log
unwanted.log
In order to create these files, the ``message'' and
``action'' fields of control.ctl should be chosen from the
following table:
Message Action Meaning
all log=miscctl Log all messages by default
default log=miscctl Log unknown messages
newgroup doit=newgroup Create group and log message
newgroup log=newgroup Log message
rmgroup doit=rmgroup Remove group and log message
rmgroup log=rmgroup Log message
``other'' doit=miscctl log and process the message
``other'' log=miscctl Log message
Here, ``other'' refers to any other control message such
as:
checkgroups ihave sendme sendsys senduuname version
The following is a list of log files.
control.log
This file maintains a count of the number of new-
group and rmgroup control messages seen for each
newsgroup. The count is of the number of control
messages with identical arguments, regardless if
they were actually processed. All control argu-
ments, including invalid ones, are counted. This
file is updated by tally.control, which is invoked
by scanlogs if either the newgroup or rmgroup logs
exist. This file is not rotated.
errlog This file contains the standard output and standard
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NEWSLOG(5)NEWSLOG(5)
error of any program spawned by innd(8). The most
common programs are the control-message handlers
found in <pathcontrol in inn.conf>. This file
should be empty. Scanlogs will print the entire
contents of this log file if it is non-empty.
expire.log
By default, when news.daily is going to expire old
news articles, it writes the date to this file,
followed by any output from expire(8) and the end-
ing date. All lines but the first are indented
four spaces.
miscctl.log
When control.ctl is configured as described above,
all control messages except newgroup and rmgroup
are appended to this file by writelog. There will
be a summary line describing the message and the
action taken, followed by the article indented by
four spaces, and a blank line.
newgroup.log
When control.ctl is configured as described above,
all newgroup messages are appended to this file
using the same format as for miscctl.log.
news This file logs articles received by innd. Scanlogs
summarizes the rejected articles reported in this
file.
news.crit
All critical error messages issued by innd are
appended to this file via syslog(3). This log file
should be empty. Scanlogs will print the entire
contents of this log file if it is non-empty. You
should have the following line in your sys-
log.conf(5) file. (A typical entry is shown; it
should agree with <pathlog in inn.conf>)
news.crit <pathlog in inn.conf>/news.crit
news.err
All major error messages issued by innd are
appended to this file via syslog(3). This log file
should be empty. Scanlogs will print the entire
contents of this log file if it is non-empty. You
should have the following line in your sys-
log.conf(5) file: (A typical entry is shown; it
should agree with <pathlog in inn.conf>)
news.err <pathlog in inn.conf>/news.err
news.notice
All standard error messages and status messages
issued by innd are appended to this file via sys-
log(3). Scanlogs uses the perl(1) script
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NEWSLOG(5)NEWSLOG(5)innreport(8) to summarize this file. You should
have the following line in your syslog.conf(5)
file: (A typical entry is shown; it should agree
with <pathlog in inn.conf>)
news.notice <pathlog in
inn.conf>/news.notice
nntpsend.log
The nntpsend(8) programs appends all status mes-
sages to this file.
rmgroup.log
When control.ctl is configured as described above,
all rmgroup messages are appended to this file
using the same format as for miscctl.log.
unwanted.log
This log maintains a count of the number of arti-
cles that were rejected because they were posted to
newsgroups that do not exist at the local site.
This file is updated by tally.unwanted and main-
tained in reverse numeric order (the most popular
rejected group first). This file is not rotated.
HISTORY
Written by Landon Curt Noll <chongo@toad.com> and Rich
$alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is revi-
sion 1.1.2.1, dated 1999/06/12.
SEE ALSOcontrol.ctl(5), ctlinnd(8), expire(8), innd(8),
news.daily(8), nntpsend(8), newslog(8).
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