[arm-allstar] logging ideas.. was: update has an error

Fri Jul 28 11:48:18 EST 2017

Tom,

 OK understood but the journal does that now for system logging and any
other logs can just simply be truncated using a script like I do it. No
need to get fancy. Specify the maximum size and let it trim it daily or
more often if desired. If you are concerned about it being oversized you
can create a tmpfs directory and limit the size in fstab like we do with
/var/log now. I run a 24/7 hub here and I never have to worry about
oversize logs using those scripts. There is a lot of ram space and logs
require very little compared to other things.

tmpfs             472180     284    471896   1% /tmp
tmpfs              51200    1484     49716   3% /var/log

*73 Doug*

*WA3DSP*

*http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*

On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 12:14 PM, Tom Hayward <tom at tomh.us> wrote:

> Doug,
>
> You must have missed the beginning of the thread. We're not talking
> about logging to an SD card, but rather creating a circular buffer of
> stderr messages in memory. One way to do this is with a syslog
> application, tmpfs (ramdisk), and log rotation. There is no need to
> keep the data long term, just long enough so that the admin menu can
> display whatever error was returned after one of its child apps
> crashes.
>
> Tom KD7LXL
>
> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 9:09 AM, Doug Crompton <wa3dsp at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Please keep in mind that while logging is nice any logging that would
> > survive a reboot has to write to the SD card. Currently all logging is
> done
> > to RAM and not the SD card. Any method to log to SD should be something
> that
> > could be turned on when necessary and the rest of the time turned off.
> Most
> > would not need theses logs under normal circumstances. I am against
> anything
> > that continually writes to the SD card, it is bad pratice.
> >
> > I run a hub that is 24/7 and I have implemented two methods to truncate
> > logs. The scripts are attached if you want to see how I do it. Logs could
> > also be rsync'ed to another system before truncating using a script like
> > this.
> >
> > Also a user could install a USB stick and direct logging to it or use
> remote
> > logging to another system.
> >
> > 73 Doug
> > WA3DSP
> > http://www.crompton.com/hamradio
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 11:34 AM, "David McGough via arm-allstar"
> > <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> All the syslog utilities that I'm readily familiar with aren't as smart
> as
> >> I'd like;  these common tools will rotate all log entries into the waste
> >> basket after a period of time and leave the administrator looking at
> empty
> >> files....Ideally, the mechanism would always keep at least the amount of
> >> log data specified by the low water mark setting...
> >>
> >> Anyhow, we'll figure out some strategy!
> >>
> >> 73, David KB4FXC
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, 28 Jul 2017, Tom Hayward wrote:
> >>
> >> > I definitely had something more simple in mind, like checking the
> >> > return code of processes started by the menu.
> >> >
> >> > Most syslog utilities support log rotation on both size and time. I
> >> > haven't looked at which one you use in Hamvoip, but it could probably
> >> > be configured with the buffer capability you describe.
> >> >
> >> > Tom KD7LXL
> >> >
> >> > On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 7:52 AM, David McGough <kb4fxc at inttek.net>
> >> > wrote:
> >> > >
> >> > > Hi Tom,
> >> > >
> >> > > I agree that in certain scenarios additional debugging info or logs
> >> > > would
> >> > > be very useful, as you suggest. As we all know, logs can also be a
> >> > > problem, if allowed to grow without maintenance....I recently had a
> >> > > low
> >> > > memory issue due to logs on a busy RPi3 that had been up
> continuously
> >> > > for
> >> > > 2+ months.
> >> > >
> >> > > Ideally, application messages and those generated from Admin Menu
> >> > > operations would get stored in a circular buffer, which could then
> be
> >> > > queried from a menu option. There are already several tools which
> >> > > could be
> >> > > used, but, I'd like to have a little more flexibility---perhaps a
> >> > > ring-buffer log that has a low and high water mark, but also
> includes
> >> > > a
> >> > > timestamp. So, the plan would be to weight the size of the buffer,
> >> > > between
> >> > > the water marks, based on the age of the log entries. The log would
> be
> >> > > allowed to grow up to the high water mark in bursts, but then would
> >> > > shrink
> >> > > back to the low mark after a period of time.
> >> > >
> >> > > Do you (or anyone?) know of an ready-to-use tool that'll do this???
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > 73, David KB4FXC
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > On Thu, 27 Jul 2017, "Tom Hayward via arm-allstar" wrote:
> >> > >
> >> > >> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 9:24 AM, "C B via arm-allstar"
> >> > >> <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > Thanks
> >> > >> > would you consider having the error messages stay on the screen
> >> > >> > until a OK button is pressed?
> >> > >> > this may be helpful.
> >> > >> > Chris
> >> > >>
> >> > >> That would be really helpful for any admin menu command that
> returned
> >> > >> an error. The other day when I was affected by the buffer overflow
> >> > >> bug
> >> > >> for long hostnames, the observed behavior was that clicking
> >> > >> simpleusb-tune-menu in the menu would immediately go back to the
> >> > >> menu.
> >> > >> I had to run the command from a bash shell before I could see that
> >> > >> there was an error message and non-zero return code. Luckily I was
> >> > >> the
> >> > >> one working on it because the repeater owner I was working with
> isn't
> >> > >> as familiar with Linux and probably wouldn't have thought to try
> >> > >> that.
> >> > >> The admin menu hides the complexity of bash, but in its current
> form
> >> > >> it also hides all of the error detection and reporting
> functionality
> >> > >> we have in bash.
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Tom KD7LXL
> >> > >> _______________________________________________
> >> > >>
> >> > >> arm-allstar mailing list
> >> > >> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org
> >> > >> http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
> >> > >>
> >> > >> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
> >> > >>
> >> > >
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >>
> >> arm-allstar mailing list
> >> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org
> >> http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
> >>
> >> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
> >>
> >
>
>