O'Reilly Network: Log Rhythms Mar 11, 2000, 16 :36 UTC (0 Talkback[s]) (3421 reads) (Other stories by Rael Dornfest)
"Logs are the pulse of your web server -- the rhythms produced by the comings and goings of your visitors. In
this column I'll give you a gentle introduction to Apache web server logs and their place in monitoring, security,
marketing, and feedback."
"Before you go running for the hills, I won't be talking about those mathematical logarithms that gave you a
headache in high school. Your web server records visits to your web site in the form of logs, a text file (or files)
containing entries corresponding to each request (or "hit"). At first glance, logs may look convoluted, but they're
actually quite simple. Once you're familiar with the notation, you'll be reading your logs as easily as your daily
journal...."
"Let's see what's lurking inside that log. For the purposes of this look at a typical set of logs, I'm assuming your
Apache server has been configured to use Common Log Format (CLF), the default in a fresh Apache installation.
Your httpd.conf file should contain the following configuration directive...."
