How to enable boot-time logging (/var/log/boot.log) in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5?

Resolution

• In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, the /var/log/boot.log file was only populated (with service-loading success/failure info) in version 5.0, 5.1, & 5.2

• For earlier parts of the boot process (i.e., kernel logging), /var/log/dmesg has always been available (and those logs should be duplicated in /var/log/messages)
   

Work-Around for Missing boot.log in RHEL 5.3+

The following information is provided by Red Hat Global Support Services "as-is" for the benefit of the user
Red Hat GSS makes no guarantees as to the fitness of the configuration changes suggested herein

One way to enable population of /var/log/boot.log in any version of RHEL5 is to modify the service-loading script /etc/rc.d/rc
Steps:

1. Download the attached patch file rc-bootlog.txt to a RHEL5 system (use wget from the system in question or right-click & save as)

2. While in the directory containing the txt patch file, run the following command:

   patch -bp0 <rc-bootlog.txt
   

• Notes:

  • The above patch file and patch command will create /etc/rc.d/rc.orig (a backup) before performing any modifications

  • The end result will be that on every change of runlevel (including boot and shutdown), service success/failure output will be appended to boot.log, in addition to going to the physical console

  • It would also be prudent to comment/delete the local7.* /var/log/boot.log line from the standard syslog configuration, as it is no longer being utilized (if this is not done, stray log entries from applications that utilize the local7 facility could end up in the boot.log)
    Run the following to prevent local7 logs from going to boot.log

    sed -i 's/^local7.*boot\.log.*/#&/' /etc/{r,}syslog.conf
    for s in /etc/init.d/{r,}syslog*; do $s condrestart; done