Where are pfsense log files?

Solution 1:

In the nanobsd 2.0.3 release at least, they are found by going to:

• cd /var/log (not plural logs ;)
• clog system.log | less
  • Replace system.log with name of any log in the directory.
  • Because these log files are not regular text files, but are actually binary circular logs, then the clog utility is used to view them and | less pipes the output to less so that you can scroll up and down through the logs using page up/down keys. Press q to exit.
• When you are done viewing logs and want to return from the shell prompt back to the pfsense menu, type exit at the command prompt.

Solution 2:

pfSense stores its log files in the /var/log directory.

The logs are not stored in the standard text-based format. Instead they are stored in a 'circular logging' format. Use the clog tool to view the logs. You can use it similarly to the tail command. i.e. clog -f /var/log/system.log will display the entire log and then continue to 'follow' it.

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Solution 3:

Simpler way of looking at logs - log into the pfsense web console and Select 'Edit File' within 'Diagnostics'. Here you can browse the directory /var/log/system.log.

Example: