[ale] how do I view system logs / check disk space

[jwkite at gmail.com]

My favorite command for identifying which directories are causing space problems is:  du -h --max-depth=1 which shows the size of each directory in human readable form without the details. I also like du -- max-depth=1 | sort -n to show the directories from largest to smallest. 

I know most of the experts here may know these commands, but it took me years to find them and I hope it may help someone else.
Josh Kite
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com>
Sender: ale-bounces at ale.org
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:40:33 
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts<ale at ale.org>
Reply-To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
Subject: Re: [ale] how do I view system logs / check disk space

There is the GNOME Log Viewer[1] that you could use. The logs you
can't view are limited to root access. So you can view them if you use
a privileged account.

There are two commands for checking disk space: `du` and `df`. `du`
will tell you how much space a specific directory tree is using, and
`df` will report the free space on all mounted file systems. If you
want to find large files, you could do `find /some/directory -type f
-size +20MB` to find all files larger than 20MB. KDirState[2] would
allow you to explore the large files on your system in a graphical
manner. Looks like Ubuntu has a GNOME version[3].

[1] -- http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-system-log/
[2] -- http://kdirstat.sourceforge.net/
[3] -- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Baobab

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 12:17 PM, Ron Frazier
<atllinuxenthinfo at c3energy.com> wrote:
> I was trying to view some of the logs in /var/log with gedit.  I have
> some questions.
>
> Is there a gui based log viewer where I can pick the log from a list and
> view it quickly?
>
> There are some logs such as wtmp which gedit cannot edit.  Is there a
> way to access those.
>
> Also, what's the command to check how much disk space you're using and
> how much each thing in a directory is using?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
> --
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
>
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT c3energy.com
>
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-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59

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