lnav the log file navigator

This is a recommendation to a tool that I am using since months – the log file navigator.

Who does not know the issue, you have to look at logs from various places and you start with stuff like more, grep, cat etc. or upload it to your ELK, Splunk, QRadar – you name it.

While those tools have their good reason, log files usually have a specific set of requirements to handle effectively. And for that reason use lnav. The tool enables you to work with your log file(s) locally, offline and effective.

Some quotes:

Just point lnav to a directory and it will take care of the rest.  File formats are automatically detected and compressed files are unpacked on the fly.

The log message format is automatically determined by lnav while scanning your files.   The following formats are built in by default:

More features on the project website.

The best part? The tool is free! Yes free as free, so no data is shared with the developer, no shareware, it is free!

It runs on Apple OSX and linux – I am waiting for a Windows version as there is Linux subsystem support on Windows 10.