wat should be done if /var/log/messages file is deleted

deepya · 06-21-2009, 07:02 AM

Hi,
By mistake I deleted /var/log/messages file.Will that harm the OS or the softwares running on linux in any way????????If so,is there any method by which I can avoid it.

Thank you,

Sree Deepya.

harry edwards · 06-21-2009, 07:17 AM

It will not cause any harm; however, you obviously lost any information in the file. To prevent this happening in the future you may wish to log on as a non-privileged user or use the "-i" switch on rm.

deepya · 06-21-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry edwards

It will not cause any harm; however, you obviously lost any information in the file. To prevent this happening in the future you may wish to log on as a non-privileged user or use the "-i" switch on rm.

In future will the system save the logs????

anomie · 06-21-2009, 10:10 AM

You'll need to:

# touch /var/log/messages

Be more careful with root, please.

ml41782 · 06-21-2009, 10:21 AM

Never run the box as root. Run all apps as a user. only use root when you absoluteley have too. and then get out of it.

Be oh so careful when you are running as root !!

arizonagroovejet · 06-21-2009, 04:48 PM

Add this to root's .bashrc file

Code:

alias rm='rm -i'

then next time you try and delete a file with rm you'll be asked if you're sure you want to do it.

Tinkster · 06-21-2009, 04:54 PM

If you've deleted a file that's being written to you probably should
restart syslogd, otherwise it'll keep pushing log messages into what
will disappear next time the logs get rotated.

Cheers,
Tink