Ubuntu

How do I fix /var/log

Asked by Jon Charge

I have cleaned out /var/log completely (or at least the partition that mounts there). Now I get messages here and there regarding missing directories and logs. Is there a program that will make everything as it needs to be or will this resolve itself on its own?

Thanks for your help.

Jon

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Bhavani Shankar (bhavi) said : 		#1

You must have done a cron job for deleting contents of /var/log... Hmm whats the exact error you recieve?

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Jon Charge (seropith) said : 		#2

Actually, I booted using the live cd and cleared the /var/log of all data. I did this manually. I see things like

Mar 24 22:30:39 central gdm[2778]: WARNING: gdm_config_parse: Logdir /var/log/gdm does not exist or isn't a directory. Using ServAuthDir /var/lib/gdm.

among other items.

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Jon Charge (seropith) said : 		#3

Actually, I booted using the live cd and cleared the /var/log of all data. I did this manually. I see things like

Mar 24 22:30:39 central gdm[2778]: WARNING: gdm_config_parse: Logdir /var/log/gdm does not exist or isn't a directory. Using ServAuthDir /var/lib/gdm.

among other items.

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bixejo (bixo-bixejo) said : 		#4

If you don't care about keeping your logs, you may define temporary filesystems to hold these files. You may include the corresponding lines in your file /etc/fstab. I drop here an example:

tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults 0 0
tmpfs /var/log/apt tmpfs defaults 0 0

Alternatively, you may create the missing directories by hand :-)

Good luck,

--Bixejo

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A. Denton (aquina) said : 		#5

JonCharge,

copy the contents of "/var/log" from your install media (e.g. Ubuntu CD) into your current "/var/log" directory (HDD). That's most likely the easiest way to have at least a basic set of files in there.

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Jon Charge (seropith) said : 		#6

Aquina, I will attempt your solution.