An access log contains all WWW accesses associated with a specific hostname formated into a readable log. You also have the option of having your accesses stored in common log file format logs or in both formats.

WWW 11/03/94 05:13:40 129.177.211.114             gnosis101.html          16214
WWW 11/03/94 05:27:41 jackal.webcom.com/~webcom           (default home page)     8147
WWW 11/03/94 05:41:11 ikarus.ethz.ch              (default home page)     8147
WWW 11/03/94 05:41:15 ikarus.ethz.ch              graphics/peace_dove.xbm 1791
WWW 11/03/94 05:41:17 ikarus.ethz.ch              graphics/owl.gif        464
WWW 11/03/94 06:20:33 freenet3.scri.fsu.edu       (default home page)     8147
FTP 11/03/94 06:49:08 djoy@moose.uvm.edu          www/gnosis101.html      16214
FTP 11/03/94 06:53:03 djoy@moose.uvm.edu          www/jcs.html            16564
WWW 11/03/94 07:10:45 moose.uvm.edu               (default home page)     8147
FTP 11/03/94 07:11:27 djoy@moose.uvm.edu          www/overview.html       7020
FTP 11/03/94 07:15:46 djoy@moose.uvm.edu          www/sufi.mystica.html   14806
FTP 11/03/94 07:19:41 djoy@moose.uvm.edu          www/update.html         2415
WWW 11/03/94 07:27:41 pslip133.egr-ri.ids.net     (default home page)     8147
WWW 11/03/94 07:28:38 pslip133.egr-ri.ids.net     overview.html           7020
WWW 11/03/94 07:47:31 bso-cli-pc.jhuapl.edu       (default home page)     8147
WWW 11/03/94 07:47:32 bso-cli-pc.jhuapl.edu       graphics/peace_dove.xbm 1791
WWW 11/03/94 07:47:33 bso-cli-pc.jhuapl.edu       graphics/owl.gif        464
WWW 11/03/94 07:51:54 kraz.process.com            (default home page)     8147

The first column contains the access method:

• WWW - File retrieved via the World Wide Web server (http GET method)
• WH - HTML header only retrieved via the WWW server (http HEAD method)
• FTP - File retrieved via FTP
• FP - File created via FTP put

The second and third columns are the date and time the access ocurred.

The fourth column is the accesser; sometimes a valid email address, sometimes an invalid email address, and sometimes an Internet machine address only (domain name or IP address). A more detailed explanation of this is available.

The fifth column is the file accessed. When it list "default home page", it mean that the person did not request a specific file, so the web server returned to them your default home page, either welcome.html or index.html.

The sixth and final column is the number of bytes transferred to or from your site in the access.

Location and Function of your Log Files

Log files are automatically updated for you if you have a directory called "logs" in your home directory (This directory is automatically created by default when your account is first created). Inside your logs directory you will find a sub-directory which corresponds to each hostname associated with your account. For example, if people access your account through three hostnames, "www.domain.com", "domain.com" and "www.seconddomain.com," you will find three directories with those respective names.

Access to both domain.com and www.domain.com both load the same web pages, and our system stores the accesses for both in the same log directory, which is domain.com.

Each hostname sub-directory contains the log file for that hostname, along with your most recent Site Activity Reports, and an archive file if your have configured your account to archive log information. New access information is appended to the log file periodically. You can delete or rename the log file in your logs directory; the system will simply create a new one the very next time that it attempts to append to the log (NOTE: If you do not have a logs directory, and you create one, there may be a delay before logging begins; the system only checks for the addition of a logs directory periodically).

If you do not wish to maintain logs, you can remove the "logs" subdirectory from your home directory, and the system will stop recording access logs for your hostnames. If you remove the logs subdirectory and thus terminate access logging, you cannot receive Site Activity Reports.

Logs in Common Log Format

You can also have your logs recorded in the "Common Log Format" native to Netscape, NCSA, CERN, and other web servers. This log format is not as readable and compact as the WebCom log format, but you may wish to have a common log so you can use log analysis tools which support common log format. This common log behaves just like default the log; subdirectories are automatically created for each hostname associated with your account, each one containing a log file for that hostname. You can delete or rename a log file, and the system will create a new one and resume recording accesses, or you can delete the "clogs" directory to terminate logging in the common format altogether.

Logs and Site Activity Reports

Site Activity Reports work off the WebCom log format (in the subdirectories of the logs directory) only; if you want to receive Site Activity Reports, you must maintain WebCom format logs (However you can configure the reports to delete the WebCom log files after each report is mailed, so that the disk space used by the WebCom log is trivial and will not build up).