Adding custom log locations to the OS X console application...

After searching online, the best solution I've found so far is to just make a symbolic link in either "/Library/logs/" or "~/Library/logs/" to get it to show up in the Console application.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to add a new directory or log file to the "root" level directly under the "LOG FILES" section in the console.

Here's a quick screenshot:

From stackoverflow

• I don't believe it's possible.

  If you're generating log files, you should generate them into one of the standard locations anyway, so this won't be an issue.

• There is one way to get you log files into the console.

  You can add a symlink to the log file or log directory to one of the directories in the list. The directory ~/Library/Logs seems like the logical choice for adding your own log files.

  ---

  For myself I wanted easy access to apache2 logs. I installed apache2 using macports and the default log file is located at /opt/local/apache2/logs.

  Thus all I did was create the symlink to that directory.

  # cd ~/Library/Logs
  # ln -s /opt/local/apache2/logs/ apache2
  

  Now I can easily use the console.app to get to the logs.

• In Terminal run this command... append any log file directories you want to add

  defaults write com.apple.Console LogFolderPaths -array '~/Library/Logs/' '/Library/Logs/' '/var/log/' '/opt/local/var/log/'

  Ted Naleid : This didn't seem to work for me on Leopard 1.5.7, am I missing something?

  Wilco : Doesn't work for me either (sasme OS/version) - any ideas?

  sholsinger : Sorry I thumbed it up before trying. That default doesn't exist.

• I actually just came across this option that worked perfectly for me:

  Actually if you open terminal and...

  $ cd /Library/Logs

  then sym-link to your new log directory. eg i want my chroot'ed apache logs as 'www'

  $ ln -s /chroot/apache/private/var/log www

  then re-open Console.app

  drill down into /Library/Logs and you will find your sym-linked directory.

  ;-)

  Mohclips.

  http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=35680