System Log File

[Nash Computer Technology]

One of my clients has been running short on disk space on the /root volume
(OpenServer 5.0.5), and I've discovered the /usr/adm/syslog@ file is huge
(about 400MB!).

What is the safest way to delete it or move it to another disk volume?

Most of its contents appear to be lines like:

scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Unable to get canonical name of client,
err=114
scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Ending request from "mathesom" at
(192.0.0.26) 192.0.0.26

Any idea about what this means? There is email on this machine, using mmdf,
fetchmail and trestlemail, over an ISDN2e line (with router), but everything
appears to be working fine.

Thanks in advance

David Nash

[Jean-Pierre Radley]

Nash Computer Technology propounded (on Sat, Jan 06, 2001 at 08:42:26PM +0000):

| One of my clients has been running short on disk space on the /root volume
| (OpenServer 5.0.5), and I've discovered the /usr/adm/syslog@ file is huge
| (about 400MB!).
|
| What is the safest way to delete it or move it to another disk volume?

Just remove it, though I prefer to install prune (source code is at
ftp.jpr.com.

| scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Unable to get canonical name of client,
| err=114
| scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Ending request from "mathesom" at
| (192.0.0.26) 192.0.0.26
|
| Any idea about what this means? There is email on this machine, using mmdf,
| fetchmail and trestlemail, over an ISDN2e line (with router), but everything
| appears to be working fine.

The popper make a lot of noise. I suspect it uses the mail facility,
and you might be able to shut it up by editing /etc/syslog.conf.

While you're about it: how big are your printing log files?

--
JP

[Ian Peattie]

In article <000701c07821$2ec9b9c0$0a00...@nashcom.co.uk>,

Nash Computer Technology <nas...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>One of my clients has been running short on disk space on the /root volume
>(OpenServer 5.0.5), and I've discovered the /usr/adm/syslog@ file is huge
>(about 400MB!).
>
>What is the safest way to delete it or move it to another disk volume?

Periodically run 'prune' (ftp://ftp.jpr.com/pub/prune.c) on it and the
other log files on your system, such as those under /usr/mmdf/log.

>Most of its contents appear to be lines like:
>
>scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Unable to get canonical name of client,
>err=114
>scosys popper[258]: (v2.1.4-R3) Ending request from "mathesom" at
>(192.0.0.26) 192.0.0.26
>
>Any idea about what this means? There is email on this machine, using mmdf,
>fetchmail and trestlemail, over an ISDN2e line (with router), but everything
>appears to be working fine.

Once email arrives on this machine, it is being collected via POP3 by
other machines. Those machines do not have reverse DNS set up. If they
did have reverse DNS set up, you'd still get messages in syslog, but
showing the host name instead.... (tweak /etc/syslog.conf to disable the
messages if you want)

Ian.
--
Ian Peattie <i...@john-richard.co.uk>

[Tony Lawrence]

Jean-Pierre Radley wrote:
>
> Nash Computer Technology propounded (on Sat, Jan 06, 2001 at 08:42:26PM +0000):
> | One of my clients has been running short on disk space on the /root volume
> | (OpenServer 5.0.5), and I've discovered the /usr/adm/syslog@ file is huge
> | (about 400MB!).
> |
> | What is the safest way to delete it or move it to another disk volume?
>
> Just remove it, though I prefer to install prune (source code is at
> ftp.jpr.com.

Don't remove it. Zero it out with

> /usr/adm/syslog

leaving the file empty but not affecting permissions and
ownership.

--
Tony Lawrence (to...@aplawrence.com)
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