Log files are a set of records that Linux maintains for the administrators to keep track of important events. They contain messages about the server, including the kernel, services, and applications running on it. Linux provides a centralized repository of log files that can be located under the /var/log directory. Files are stored in plain-text and can be found in the /var/log directory and subdirectory. For nearly anything you can think of, there is a log file. Most log files can be found in one convenient location: /var/log.