Types of Logs

Jobify
June 12, 2025
IT Knowledge

In IT, logs are chronological records of events, activities, or messages generated by software applications, operating systems, servers, and network devices.

Main types of logs in IT

  • System Logs (or OS Logs/Syslogs)
  • Application Logs
  • Security Logs
  • Audit Logs (or Audit Trails)
  • Network Logs
  • Error Logs
  • Performance Logs (or Availability Logs)

 

Common Log Attributes:
Regardless of the type, most log entries typically contain:

  • Timestamp: The exact date and time the event occurred.
  • Event Type/Log Level: Indicates the severity or category of the event (e.g., DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL/CRITICAL).
  • Source: The system, application, or user that generated the event.
  • Description/Message: A detailed explanation of the event.
  • Other relevant data: Depending on the log type, this could include IP addresses, usernames, process IDs, HTTP status codes, bytes transferred, etc.
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