What are the best practices for monitoring and logging system events on an operating system?

1 Choose the right tools

The first step to effective monitoring and logging is to choose the right tools for your OS and your needs. Depending on the type and level of detail of the events you want to capture, you may need different tools for different purposes. For example, you may use built-in tools such as Windows Event Viewer or Linux Syslog for basic event logging, or third-party tools such as Splunk or Logstash for advanced event analysis and visualization. You may also use tools that can automate the monitoring and logging process, such as Nagios or Zabbix, which can alert you of any critical events or anomalies in real time. Whatever tools you use, make sure they are compatible with your OS, scalable to your system size, and configurable to your preferences.

2 Define the scope and frequency

The next step is to define the scope and frequency of your monitoring and logging. This means deciding what types of events you want to monitor and log, how often you want to check them, and how long you want to keep them. The scope and frequency of your monitoring and logging may depend on several factors, such as your OS configuration, your security policies, your compliance requirements, and your business objectives. For example, you may want to monitor and log all security-related events, such as failed login attempts, unauthorized access, or malware infections, on a daily or hourly basis, and retain them for at least a year. On the other hand, you may want to monitor and log performance-related events, such as CPU usage, memory consumption, or disk space, on a weekly or monthly basis, and retain them for a few months.

3 Organize and format the data

Organizing and formatting the data collected from monitoring and logging is the third step. It is essential to ensure that data is consistent, clear, and comprehensive for easy access, readability, and understanding. To do this, you may use a common format for event logs such as JSON, XML, or CSV. Additionally, a standard naming convention should be implemented for event log files to quickly locate and identify them. Furthermore, a consistent level of detail should be included in event logs such as event ID, description, severity, timestamp, user, and action. Finally, a structured directory should be used for event log files by categorizing them by category, subcategory, or priority. This can help you organize and manage them efficiently.

4 Analyze and act on the data

The final step is to analyze and act on the data that you collect from your monitoring and logging. To do this, you can use tools to filter, sort, search, and aggregate your data - such as grep, awk, or sed - in order to find and extract the relevant information. Additionally, tools such as Kibana, Grafana, or Power BI can be used to visualize, graph, and chart your data in order to see and understand the relationships between your event logs. Furthermore, tools like email, SMS, or dashboard can alert and report on your data so that you can stay informed on the status of your OS. Finally, scripts, commands, or policies can be used to automate, remediate, and optimize your data in order to take actions based on your event logs.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?