Setting up logging

Like most web servers, Webmin can be configured to create a lot file in the standard CLF format the records every request it receives. As well, it also creates a log of actions performed by users, such as the creation of a DNS zone or the deletion of a Unix group. This actions log can even include the details of every file changed and command run by each action, so that you can see what Webmin is doing under the hood.

Basic logging is enabled by default, but you can configure it further by following these steps :

  1. Click on the Logging icon on the main page.
  2. If Disable logging is selected then Webmin will write no logs at all. However, you should choose Enable logging to activate it.
  3. If the Log resolved hostnames box is checked the log file will contain actual client hostnames instead of IP addresses. This can cause problems if reverse DNS lookups take a long time on your network, as one will need to be done for each request.
  4. To prevent the log files from becoming too large, Webmin can be configured to truncate them periodically. To enable this feature, select the Clear logfiles every box and enter a number of hours into the adjacent text field.
  5. To limit action logging to only specific users, select the Only log actions by option and choose some users from the list next to it. This can be handy if most of your users can only perform tasks that you don’t care much about, and you want to log only actions taken by the more powerful administrators instead.
  6. To limit action logging to only specific modules, select the Only log actions in option and choose one or more modules from its list.
  7. To enable the logging of file changes and commands run for each action, check the *Log changes made to files by each action *box. This will take up more disk space, but provides some very useful and interesting information.
  8. Hit the Save button to activate the changes.

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