It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

1045io · 2020-01-26 13:48:57

Hello, I would like to remove these log files:

/var/log/lastlog
/var/log/pacman.log
/var/log/tallylog
/var/log/wtmp

after deletion they will be recreated? In other words, which system log files it's safe to remove from /var/log?

Last edited by 1045io (2020-01-26 16:27:57)

teckk · 2020-01-26 13:58:12

I would not get rid of any of them, they are log files, they don't take up much space. I definitely would not delete /var/log/pacman.log.'

I fact I broke mine up on one machine(9 year old install)
/var/log/pacman1.log
/var/log/pacman2.log
/var/log/pacman3.log
/var/log/pacman.log

Why do you want/need to delete them?

1045io · 2020-01-26 14:14:30

To clean up logs, because I have a custom software that displays them (and is quite annoying to me to watch them on my desktop every moment), It's safe to remove some lines from /var/log/pacman.log?

1045io · 2020-01-26 14:16:48

And again, which system log files it's safe to remove from /var/log? or other locations like /opt? (always speaking for system stuff)

teckk · 2020-01-26 14:26:26

It's safe to remove some lines from /var/log/pacman.log?

Yes, it's just a text log file. Not wise though if you want to troubleshoot something later. This is a rolling release. Log files are most handy.

And again, which system log files it's safe to remove from /var/log?

My answer is none. Someone else may think differently. But it's your machine, do what you want.

Slithery · 2020-01-26 14:38:36

It's safe, yes. But I wouldn't say that it's a good idea - what are you going to do when you need the log files to troubleshoot an issue or look up information?

It would be far better to rewrite the custom software you are using to filter out any unnecasary information from being displayed and to keep the log files intact.

1045io · 2020-01-26 14:42:42

Except of pacman.log, where can I read more info about those (lastlog, tallylog, wtmp) log files? Any documentation/wiki about Arch Linux log files out there?

1045io · 2020-01-26 14:51:17

Slithery wrote:

It's safe, yes.

You mean all of them? Or just pacman.log?

Slithery wrote:

But I wouldn't say that it's a good idea - what are you going to do when you need the log files to troubleshoot an issue or look up information?

Are saved in a database.

Slithery wrote:

It would be far better to rewrite the custom software you are using to filter out any unnecasary information from being displayed and to keep the log files intact.

I thought so too.

seth · 2020-01-26 15:44:40

man pam_tally
man lastlog
man wtmp

Those are login records, whether it's "safe" to mess with them depends on the context:
Your system will not explode or be otherwise broken, but there might be legal repercussions if you're not supposed to mess with this data.

+1 for fixing the actual problem and leaving the logs intact. If you encounter issues and ask here, you might be asked for your pacman log. If it looks doctored, you can't expect help (notably since the log is now invalid)

1045io · 2020-01-26 16:25:02

I'll read those man pages, thanks for everyone's help.

Arch Linux

#1 2020-01-26 13:48:57

It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#2 2020-01-26 13:58:12

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#3 2020-01-26 14:14:30

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#4 2020-01-26 14:16:48

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#5 2020-01-26 14:26:26

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#6 2020-01-26 14:38:36

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#7 2020-01-26 14:42:42

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#8 2020-01-26 14:51:17

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#9 2020-01-26 15:44:40

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

#10 2020-01-26 16:25:02

Re: It's secure to remove these log files? [SOLVED]

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