Using logcat to convert binary logs to ASCII

You must convert a binary log file to ASCII before you can analyze it using standard tools.

Steps

  1. Change to the directory containing the binary log file.
  2. Make sure that the logcat utility is in your path.
  3. Enter the following command:

    logcat <options> <input_filename>

    The command-line options are:

    Option Description
    -o output_file Specifies where the command output is directed.
    -a

    Automatically generates the output filename based on the input filename. If the input is from stdin, this option is ignored.

    For example:

    logcat -a squid-1.blog squid-2.blog squid-3.blog

    generates:

    squid-1.log, squid-2.log, squid-3.log
    -S Attempts to transform the input to Squid format, if possible.
    -C Attempts to transform the input to Netscape Common format, if possible.
    -E Attempts to transform the input to Netscape Extended format, if possible.
    -2 Attempt to transform the input to Netscape Extended-2 format, if possible.
    Note:

    Use only one of the following options at any given time:

    -S, -C, -E, or -2.

    If no input files are specified, logcat reads from the standard input (stdin). If you do not specify an output file, logcat writes to the standard output (stdout).

    For example, to convert a binary log file to an ASCII file, you can use the logcat

    command with either of the following options:

    logcat binary_file > ascii_file

    logcat -o ascii_file binary_file

    The binary log file is not modified by this command.