1NEWSLOG(5) File Formats Manual NEWSLOG(5)
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6 newslog - description of Usenet log files
7
9 Most log files created by Usenet programs reside in the <pathlog in
10 inn.conf> directory and have a ``.log'' extension. Several versions
11 are usually kept with an additional extension such as ``.1'', ``.2'',
12 etc. — the higher the number, the older the log. The older versions
13 may be compressed and thus may have a ``.1.gz'', ``.2.gz'', etc. exten‐
14 sion.
15 The scanlogs script and related utilities (see scanlogs(8)) are respon‐
17 sible for rotating and compressing these files.
18 Some log files always have data, others only have data if there is a
20 problem, and others are only created if a particular program is used or
21 configuration parameter is set. The innstat script (see innstat(8))
22 monitors the size of all log files.
23 The following files will only accumulate data under the direction of
25 control.ctl(5):
26 control.log miscctl.log newgroup.log rmgroup.log unwanted.log
28 In order to create these files, the ``message'' and ``action'' fields
30 of control.ctl should be chosen from the following table:
31 Message Action Meaning
33 all log=miscctl Log all messages by default
34 default log=miscctl Log unknown messages
35 newgroup doit=newgroup Create group and log message
36 newgroup log=newgroup Log message
37 rmgroup doit=rmgroup Remove group and log message
38 rmgroup log=rmgroup Log message
39 ``other'' doit=miscctl log and process the message
40 ``other'' log=miscctl Log message
41 Here, ``other'' refers to any other control message such as:
43 checkgroups
45 ihave
46 sendme
47 sendsys
48 senduuname
49 version
50 The following is a list of log files:
52 control.log
54 This file maintains a count of the number of newgroup and
55 rmgroup control messages seen for each newsgroup. The count is
56 of the number of control messages with the indicated arguments,
57 regardless if they were actually processed. All control argu‐
58 ments, including invalid ones, are counted. This file is
59 updated by tally.control, which is invoked by scanlogs if either
60 the newgroup or rmgroup logs exist. This file is not rotated.
61 errlog This file contains the standard output and standard error of any
63 program spawned by innd(8), such as channel feeds configured in
64 newsfeeds. This file should normally be empty. Scanlogs will
65 print the entire contents of this log file if it is non-empty.
66 expire.log
68 By default, when news.daily is going to expire old news arti‐
69 cles, it writes the date to this file, followed by any output
70 from expire(8) and the ending date. All lines but the first are
71 indented four spaces.
72 miscctl.log
74 When control.ctl is configured as described above, all control
75 messages except newgroup and rmgroup are appended to this file
76 by writelog. There will be a summary line describing the mes‐
77 sage and the action taken, followed by the article indented by
78 four spaces, and a blank line.
79 newgroup.log
81 When control.ctl is configured as described above, all newgroup
82 messages are appended to this file using the same format as for
83 miscctl.log.
84 news This file logs articles received by innd. Scanlogs summarizes
86 the rejected articles reported in this file.
87 news.crit
89 All critical error messages issued by innd are appended to this
90 file via syslog(3). This log file should be empty. Scanlogs
91 will print the entire contents of this log file if it is non-
92 empty. You should have the following line in your system sys‐
93 log.conf file, using a tab character for the delimiter:
94 news.crit <pathlog in inn.conf>/news.crit
96 (A typical entry is shown; it should agree with <pathlog in inn.conf>.)
98 news.err
100 All major error messages issued by innd are appended to this
101 file via syslog(3). This log file should be empty. Scanlogs
102 will print the entire contents of this log file if it is non-
103 empty. You should have the following line in your system sys‐
104 log.conf file, using a tab character for the delimiter:
105 news.err <pathlog in inn.conf>/news.err
107 (A typical entry is shown; it should agree with <pathlog in inn.conf>.)
109 news.notice
111 All standard error messages and status messages issued by innd
112 are appended to this file via syslog(3). Scanlogs uses the
113 perl(1) script innreport(8) to summarize this file. You should
114 have the following line in your system syslog.conf file, using a
115 tab character for the delimiter:
116 news.notice <pathlog in inn.conf>/news.notice
118 (A typical entry is shown; it should agree with <pathlog in inn.conf>.)
119 nntpsend.log
121 The nntpsend(8) programs appends all status messages to this
122 file.
123 rmgroup.log
125 When control.ctl is configured as described above, all rmgroup
126 messages are appended to this file using the same format as for
127 miscctl.log.
128 unwanted.log
130 This log maintains a count of the number of articles that were
131 rejected because they were posted to newsgroups that do not
132 exist at the local site. This file is updated by tally.unwanted
133 and maintained in reverse numeric order (the most popular
134 rejected group first). This file is not rotated.
135
137 Written by Landon Curt Noll <chongo@toad.com> and Rich $alz
138 <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is revision 6398, dated
139 2003-07-12.
140
142 control.ctl(5), ctlinnd(8), expire(8), inn.conf(5), innd(8),
143 news.daily(8), nntpsend(8), syslog.conf(5).
144 NEWSLOG(5)