Linux equivalent for Windows Event Log
 

I'm trying to get used figuring out problems in my Red Hat environment. In Windows I would go to the event log and check the application, system and security logs as appropriate. What is the equivalent in Linux?

I've been looking around and it seems that /var/log seems to hold most of what I need:
boot.log - start up
messages - generic stuff
yum.log - application install

Any others that might be generally useful?

Dennis

the "dmesg" command gives you latest kernel messages,
/var/log/Xorg.0.log for GUI stuff.
-v (or -vv, -vvv sometimes) for more info from most commands
lspci, lsusb for device info
netstat -tlnp (as root) for a list of open tcp sockets and the related program
top for current process info
jnettop for current network

that about scratches the surface...

Thanks, yowi.

dmesg - looks handy and appears to be a way to avoid sudo to look at messages file.
I rarely have GUI problems.
If I need lspci or lsusb I'm in big trouble.
netstat I knew from windows and top I already figured out (shared dev boxes).
jnettop is new to me. One cool thing is how my laptop didn't have jnettop so it asked if I wanted to download the package. Not in Redmond anymore...

Basically, I advise looking into everything under /var and just googling it if its not obvious. You don't have to know it all inside out, but it you should know (roughly) what each dir/log file under there is for; then you'll know where to start looking when you get a specific problem.
Might be worth getting a notebook and writing it down. Storing it on the system might be problematic if you get a serious problem ;)

You cracked me up. I wish others would realize how simple Linux has been written in the recent past to be so user empowering.

Linux is great for anyone who wants to get out of the "We own you now" trap of the typical commercial computer you buy at the big box store down the street, or online at the big net stores (think NewEgg, Amazon, BestBuy, etc.)

Welcome to the real world where real people learn real computing using a real OS, which they get to choose and configure the way THEY want.

Freedom!