If I’m using Arch or another minimal distro, is it a good idea to install a syslog daemon? Or can I go without?

    • LemmyHead@lemmy.ml
      2·
      2 months ago

      I also don’t like the duplication of logs in journald and syslog, so I always disable forwarding to syslog

    • DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.worksOP
      02·
      2 months ago

      What if I’m on another minimal distro, like Artix, that doesn’t use systemd? Journald is a systemd thing, and I’m not going to install systemd on top of a perfectly good init system.

      • nous@programming.devEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        Use whatever that distro recommends then - which as far as I can tell seems to be svlogd for runit based systems. Though you should consult their documentation and make your own decision on which logger to use.

  • nerdovic@discuss.tchncs.deDeutsch
    5·
    2 months ago

    Whatever floats your boat, but if something goes wrong you don’t really have anything to figure out what’s going on.

  • Mactan@lemmy.ml
    1·
    2 months ago

    wish I knew how to use the journal, seems like there isn’t any good way to just search the previous session’s logs without a mountain of fuss or having to guess file names

    • MummifiedClient5000@feddit.dkEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Check that you actually have persistent storage enabled. (See man journald.conf and search for Storage)

      Read up on the numerous parameters to journalctl. (man journalctl)

      journalctl --boot -2 will show logs from previous boot.

      journalctl --since "-2 weeks" --unit=sshd last two weeks worth of sshd logs.

  • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
    1·
    2 months ago

    It’s often more useful for minimal installations to keep the system log daemon running so that you can see when things happen and stop them from happening.

    Especially now that even very low power embedded systems run multiple cpu cores at multi-ghz clocks, interface with gigabytes of memory, hundreds of gigabytes of attached storage and communicate through multi-gigabit network links, lots of stuff can be happening that is unwanted or simply unnecessary without any external indications.

    What are you trying to accomplish by not running a syslog daemon?

      • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
        2·
        2 months ago

        If it’s a race from boot to login prompt then making sure the installer never has to dial out and retrieve packages would be a bigger savings. Making sure the installer is on the fastest bus possible would be huge too. I think one nvme installing to another one would be fastest (assuming enough lanes).

        Don’t take the wheelie bars off your dragster to save weight, wheelies are slow.

  • FuckBigTech347@lemmygrad.ml
    1·
    2 months ago

    It’s not necessary, but a good thing to have if something goes wrong and you want to debug/monitor something. It’s really up to you and your needs.

  • ssm@lemmy.sdf.org
    29·
    2 months ago

    If you’re on arch you use redhat’s garbage. On non-corpo linux syslog can be disabled if you want, though I’d prefer to just symlink/mount /var/log to a memory filesystem instead.

    • Markaos@lemmy.one
      32·
      2 months ago

      On non-corpo linux syslog can be disabled

      systemctl disable --now systemd-journald

      I’d prefer to just symlink/mount /var/log to a memory filesystem instead

      Set Storage=volatile in /etc/systemd/journald.conf

      • ssm@lemmy.sdf.org
        25·
        2 months ago

        Like how you cropped my message to make it seem like I was implying you couldn’t disable logging on systemd

        • Markaos@lemmy.one
          6·
          2 months ago

          Then what’s the meaning of this whole part?

          On non-corpo linux syslog can be disabled if you want, though I’d prefer to just symlink/mount /var/log to a memory filesystem instead.

          Is it just a random tidbit that could be replaced with a blueberry muffin recipe without any change of meaning of the whole comment? Because it sure won’t help OP at all with their Arch-specific question, so it’s either that, or it provides contrast to the “corpo Linux”, which is how I interpreted it.

          And here’s the remaining part of your comment I left out, just to make sure people won’t lose the context between two three sentence long comments (for those without any attention span, it comes before the previous quoted part):

          If you’re on arch you use redhat’s garbage.

          • ssm@lemmy.sdf.org
            23·
            2 months ago

            OP was asking about syslog so I answered about using using syslog. You’re reading too much into it. They asked if they could go with or without a syslog daemon, so I told them they can disable syslog if they want to. They did not ask about journald so I didn’t answer about journald.