Viewing Logs when pmlogd is Enabled

This page outlines pmlogd and describes how to view logs when pmlogd is enabled in webOS Open Source Edition (OSE).

Overview of pmlogd

pmlogd is a subset of syslogd implementation as per RFC 3164 (The BSD syslog Protocol). pmlogd is intended to efficiently address the needs for webOS embedded devices.

Some of the additional features are as follows:

• Support for RFC 3339-style timestamps;
• Support for advanced file buffering + rotation configuration;
• Support for custom filtering/redirection.

It has the following restrictions:

• It does not support remote logging;
• It only supports the standard datagram socket on port 514;
• It does not support /etc/syslog.conf or standard filtering/redirection.

Viewing the Logs in /var/log/messages

When pmlogd is enabled, the log messages are stored in /var/log/messages.

Search for a Keyword

To view lines that include a specific keyword, you can use the cat or vi command on /var/log/messages and search for the keyword.

root@raspberrypi4:/# cat /var/log/messages | grep <keyword>
root@raspberrypi4:/# vi /var/log/messages
< search for the keyword >

Follow the logs

To follow the logs, use the tail -f command on /var/log/messages.

root@raspberrypi4:/# tail -f /var/log/messages

To follow the logs specific to your app or service, use the tail and grep command in the form shown below.

root@raspberrypi4:/# tail -f /var/log/messages | grep <Context Name of Your App or Service>