Table of Contents
Where to Find Critical Logs
/var/log/syslog— General system messages/var/log/auth.log— Authentication attempts (SSH logins, sudo)/var/log/nginx/access.log— All NGINX requests/var/log/nginx/error.log— NGINX errors/var/log/mysql/error.log— MySQL errors/var/log/apt/history.log— Package installation history
Analyzing NGINX Access Logs
# Top 10 IPs by request count
awk '{print $1}' /var/log/nginx/access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10
# Top requested URLs
awk '{print $7}' /var/log/nginx/access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20
# 500 errors today
grep " 500 " /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep $(date +%d/%b/%Y)Automated Log Monitoring with GoAccess
GoAccess provides real-time terminal-based log analysis: apt install goaccess && goaccess /var/log/nginx/access.log -c
Log Rotation
Configure /etc/logrotate.d/nginx to rotate logs daily and keep 14 days. Without rotation, logs grow until they fill your disk.
FAQ
How do I find the cause of a 502 Bad Gateway error?
Check /var/log/nginx/error.log for the exact time of the 502. Look for upstream connection failures or timeout messages. Then check your application logs for crashes or slow responses.
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