can log file messages be deleted? 2

[greenpee]

Do you think it is safe to delete messages file from /var/log? I deleted it and recreate the log file, but no log writes in the file. Should I reboot the machine?

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 6 10:39 messages

Thanks,

 

[lgarner]

Yes, it's safe. Whether it's a good idea depends upon the logs in question and the use of the maching.

You need to restart syslogd. That will recreate any log files which are missing. You can't just "touch logfile" to create it while syslogd is running.

 

[greenpee]

Thanks lgarner. Yes I touch to create the log file. Could you give me a little detail about what I should do now? I am new bee. Should I stop syslogd first? Should I delete log file I created by touch?

 

[lgarner]

The file's ok. Usually you'd enter "/etc/init.d/syslog restart" or maybe "service restart syslog". You can also "kill -HUP" the process; there should be a file like /etc/logrotate.d/syslog with the command syntax.

 

[greenpee]

Thanks again lgarner.

It worked.

 

[redlikeme]

For future reference, if you want to clear out a file (while it is still in use), issue a "> filename". This is a shortcut to copy /dev/null to the file.

Hope this helps.