What are system logs?
System logs are records that a computer system generates to track and record events and activities within the system. These logs can contain important information such as system errors, security breaches, user activities and performance metrics. System logs are typically stored in a centralized location and can be reviewed by the system administrator to detect potential issues and monitor system performance. System logs can also be used for auditing purposes to ensure compliance with security policies and regulations. Types of system logs include application logs, security logs, event logs and audit logs.
Why should you ship my system logs with Logstail?
System logs are a critical tool for system administrators and IT professionals. They allow them to review the history of events and activities that have occurred on a system. The Logstail platform offers a centralized solution for multiple sources, such as servers, applications and network devices, making it much easier to access and monitor all your system logs. In order to make the users experience more effective Logstail provides features including visualizations, alerting system, generated reports and anomaly detection.
How to ship your system logs?
To send logs to Logstail platform you first need to install Filebeat, which is a lightweight shipper, in every system or service you wish to monitor.
To install the Filebeat agent you can use the detailed guide found on the Log Shippers page on the platform.
[Note: You need to have an active Logstail account to follow the links given bellow]
- First, you must follow the detailed steps given by the instructions in the link above to install our agent.
- As soon as your shipper is set up and ready your next move is to head to the apps page and locate the system metrics service, there by pressing: “Add data” you will install the dashboards that will provide you with the visualizations which are used for providing a cleaner and clearer picture of your system.
- Now you can head up at the dashboards page and you will be able to select from a bunch of different dashboards as seen below:
- This is an example of how [Metrics System] Host overview ECS dashboard will look:
Logstail Alerting
The Alerts feature allows you to receive notifications when certain events happen and become crucial, such as attacks on your infrastructure. By setting up an alert for example you can be notified when a user pings your server repeatedly, which could suggest a bot attack, or when a response status code appears. Overall, the use of alerting is highly beneficial for identifying potential threats or unusual behavior.
Logstail Insights
Talking about abnormal and unusual activities and traffic, Insights feature is the one which can run historical analysis on long term data and find detect patterns and trends that may not be immediately apparent through simple data analysis. Anomaly detection involves identifying patterns or data points that deviate significantly from the norm, which may indicate unusual or potential problematic activity.
Logstail Reporting
Finally, Reports feature allows to generate reports and visualizations of your Nginx data. This can help in optimizing the web traffic and gain valuable insights into the data such as sharing information and events with the decision makers inside an organization.
Conclusion
In conclusion, system log shipping is a crucial process for any system administrator and IT professional. By centralizing your logs onto a log management platform, you can gain valuable insights into your system’s performance, troubleshoot issues efficiently and enhance your overall security posture.
Selecting a liable log management platform is an important step and Logstail offers a wide variety of solutions and features for anything a user could need. By using the above steps, you can make the most of your system logs and drive better outcomes.
Contact Our Experts or Sign Up for Free
