Trending Free and Open Source Log ManagementSoftware

All the Operating Systems that we use now-a-days, either Windows or an Open Source platformlike Linux, comprise of various sets of programs and events that keeps running in the background tocarry out the tasks to maintain efficient and reliable use of system resources. These events mayhappen in system software, for example the init process, or user applications such as Apache, FTPand others.

Now the question that arises in everyone's mind is - how to keep an eye on working state of thesystem and different applications that are running in the background? One of the general solutionsis that the system administrator himself keeps a review on the Log-files on a daily basis from theProduction Environment.

But is this really a productive and easy factor to check each Log file on a daily basis which involvesreviewing each log file from several system areas and applications. Still it is possible but making auser available at daily basis is not always a possible task. Here come the Log software managementtools into action. They help to monitor, review, analyse and even generate reports from different logfiles as configured by a System Administrator.

Whether it’s a brand new car or just a Chipotle burrito, free stuff makes you happy. The same goeshere with these Log management software as all of these are free to download and easy to manage.We have put together a list of the best free Log management software solutions out there for you tocompare and contrast accordingly to you needs.

1. Graylog 2.

Being a fully integrated Open Source Log management software Graylog 2 enables a user tocollect, index, and analyse both framed, systematic and disorganized data from any available sourcesystems. Apart from this, the tool helps in running analytics, alerting, monitoring and powerfulsearches over your whole log base.

Its web interface is designed in Ruby on Rails while the server is programmed in Java. All of thesource code can be accessed through Github.

When it comes to Features. Graylog 2 consist of following features1. More Reliable due to its Features2. Enabled with dashboard and a notification system3. Can work from any log source4. Real time log processing5. Parsing of unstructured data can be easily carried out

2. Logcheck

Logcheck is a full platform to monitor and control your system. It helps a system administrator toIdentify unknown problems that occurs automatically in Log-files. During configuration the systemadministrator provides with an email address such that all of the analysis report is automaticallyforwarded to this email ID on a periodic basis.

All of the Log system rebooting is done on an hourly basis that occur by default. Log-check enableswith different layer of filtering done depending on the system. These are:

1. Paranoid: is maintain for high-security systems where the services that runs are very less innumber.

2. Server: this is the default filtering level for log-check and its rules are defined accordingly todifferent systems.

3. Workstation: it is for sheltered systems and helps to filter most of the messages. It also includesrules defined under paranoid and server levels.

3. ClearOS Log Viewer

The powerful Log Viewer by ClearOS serves something more than just log management – it keeps your system safe and also checks system status and health. Need to manage huge log files, no issue. ClearOS Log Viewer is capable of handling and reviewing large databases with great precision. It shows a tabular display of all log files in your system, making the search process easy for you.

4. Logwatch

Logwatch is an easily customizable Open Source Log management tool that carries out featuressuch as reviewing Log files for a given period of time and then generating report for the same basedon the areas set by the administrator itself. That is one only need to set up his own information area.

One of the most essential features of this logging system is that it is easy to use for new SystemAdministrator and it also works on most Linux distributions available and many Unix systems.It enables a system administrator to add additional plug-ins, create custom scripts that serve specificlogging needs.

4. Logstash

Just like the other open source Log management tools available on Linux defined above, Logstashresembles its own functionality of Real-time pipelining. As it was originally intended to maintaindata collection but if we told about the new updated version integrated with several other featuresthat collects a wide range of input data formats, works as an Open Source Filter and also outputplug-ins and formats.

Logstash also allows System Administrators to cleanse, compare and standardize all their loggingdata for distinct advanced analytics and also create visualization use cases as well.