Benjamin Cane

While /var/log/httpd/ is the default location for Apache logs, this location can be changed with Apache's configuration files.

/var/log/messages

By default, this log file contains all syslog messages (except e-mail) of INFO or higher priority.

/var/log/secure

This log file contains authentication related message items such as:

SSH logins
User creations
Sudo violations and privilege escalation

rpm command with the –q (query) flag, and the –c (configfiles) flag, followed by the name of the package:

find /etc -type f -name "http*"

w – show who is logged on and what they are doing

Early in my systems administration career, I had a mentor who used to tell me: I always run w when I log into a server. This simple tip has actually been very useful over and over again in my career. The w command is simple; when executed it will output information such as system uptime, load average, and who is logged in:

When this system was last rebooted:

04:07:37 up 14:26: This information can be extremely useful; whether it is an alert for a service like Apache being down, or a user calling in because they were locked out of the system. When these issues are caused by an unexpected reboot, the reported issue does not often include this in

S.5....T. c /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

S: This means that the file size differs
M: This means that the mode differs (includes permissions and file type)
5: This means that the digest (formerly MD5 sum) differs
D: This means indicates the device major/minor number mismatch
L: This means indicates the readLink(2) path mismatch
U: This means that the user ownership differs
G: This means that the group ownership differs
T: This means that mTime differs
P: This means that caPabilities differs