/var/log/syslog: steam.desktop Took Up Too Much Disk Space

[Grayson Peddie]

I did a search online before I ask in the forum and someone asked how to stop Steam from cluttering up /var/log/syslog[askubuntu.com] and did not get a response. I do not know if there is a section dedicated to Linux, so I'm going to start a thread here in order to try and get some help with clamping down on how much steam.desktop can clutter up /var/log/syslog.

I have allocated a max disk space of 2GB for /var/log. I looked in /var/log/syslog and I saw steam.desktop in the log file. The total amount of space taken up by syslog is 618MB. To investigate further, I decided to split up the log file and output it to two separate files:

[code[grep steam.desktop /var/log/syslog > steam.log
grep -v steam.desktop /var/log/syslog > non-steam.log[/code]

Then, I examined each space taken up by steam.desktop (steam.log) and without steam.desktop (non-steam.log):

gpadmin@epcotcenter 
  ~
$ du -h steam.log
612M	steam.log
gpadmin@epcotcenter 
  ~
$ du -h non-steam.log
5.5M	non-steam.log

Here's a sample of steam.log that I extracted from /var/log/syslog:

gpadmin@epcotcenter 
  ~
$ tail -n 20 steam.log 
Aug 27 07:18:36 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: Uploaded AppInterfaceStats to Steam
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: nload complete.
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 00:06:23] Saving metrics to disk (/home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 00:25:03] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 00:55:03] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 01:25:04] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 01:55:04] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 02:25:04] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 02:55:04] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 03:25:05] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 03:55:05] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 04:25:05] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 04:55:05] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 05:25:05] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 05:55:06] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 06:25:06] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: [2022-08-27 06:55:06] uninstalled manifest found in /home/ldapusers/gpeddie-games/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_publicbeta_ubuntu12 (1).
Aug 27 07:18:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: src/steamexe/main.cpp (254) : Assertion Failed: reaping pid: 54942 -- gameoverlayui
Aug 27 07:18:44 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1661373865)
Aug 27 07:18:45 epcotcenter steam.desktop[41677]: message repeated 2 times: [ Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1661373865)]
gpadmin@epcotcenter 
  ~
$ head -n 20 steam.log 
Aug 21 15:06:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75129]: steam.sh[75129]: Running Steam on pop 22.04 64-bit
Aug 21 15:06:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75129]: steam.sh[75129]: STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
Aug 21 15:06:42 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75262]: setup.sh[75262]: Steam runtime environment up-to-date!
Aug 21 15:06:49 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75129]: steam.sh[75129]: Steam client's requirements are satisfied
Aug 21 15:06:50 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1660166153)
Aug 21 15:06:52 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1660166153)
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Loaded SDL version 2.23.1-7428188
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: (steam:75338): GLib-WARNING **: getpwuid_r(): failed due to unknown user id (2008)
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "gail"
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "atk-bridge"
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "appmenu-gtk-module"
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: (steam:75338): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita",
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: /usr/share/themes/Pop-dark/gtk-2.0/main.rc:775: error: unexpected identifier `direction', expected character `}'
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: (steam:75338): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita",
Aug 21 15:06:56 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: /usr/share/themes/Pop-dark/gtk-2.0/hacks.rc:28: error: invalid string constant "normal_entry", expected valid string constant
Aug 21 15:06:57 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: ComputeStartupMode: found registry default startup mode: 0Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1660166153)
Aug 21 15:06:57 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Fontconfig warning: line 5: unknown element "its:rules"
Aug 21 15:06:57 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Fontconfig warning: line 6: unknown element "its:translateRule"
Aug 21 15:06:57 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Fontconfig warning: line 9: unknown element "description"
Aug 21 15:06:57 epcotcenter steam.desktop[75338]: Fontconfig warning: "/etc/fonts/conf.d/10-hinting-slight.conf", line 4: unknown element "its:rules"

Some more digging, after I grep the steam.log file and output by days into its own separate files (grep "Aug 27" steam.log > steam-0827.log, for example), here's what I have:

$ du -h steam-08*
1.2M	steam-0821.log
148M	steam-0822.log
0	steam-0823.log
43M	steam-0824.log
17M	steam-0825.log
155M	steam-0826.log
251M	steam-0827.log

As far as I know, these are not security incidents as they are part of a normal behavior unless people play Steam games using their Linux gaming machines at work. So what I did is I wipe out /var/log/syslog and put back the non-Steam log entries (non-steam.log) in /var/log/syslog as root:

# cat non-steam.log > /var/log/syslog

Anyway, I have no idea Steam can write all that unnecessary log entries into /var/log/syslog.

So now comes the question: how do I stop Steam from writing log entries in /var/log/syslog?

[Bee🐝]

This is better posted and discussed here: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/

It's just a better place for tech-related discussions.

[Grayson Peddie]

Can I have my thread moved over there to Hardware and Operating Systems? I do not want to cross-post. In the future, I will make sure to ask anything technical-related in the hardware/OS forum.

It's no wonder why someone did not get a response in the Ask Ubuntu website. It's better to post anything Steam-related in the Steam forums if they know which forum to post, such as Hardware and OS. :)

[Bee🐝]

Grayson Peddie の投稿を引用：

Can I have my thread moved over there to Hardware and Operating Systems? I do not want to cross-post. In the future, I will make sure to ask anything technical-related in the hardware/OS forum.

The mods might move it. There's a lot of emphasis on might.

Oh and I forgot - here's the official Linux forum: https://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/
And yes, it should be in the sidebar. We've asked before for it to be added alongside the Deck forum - it's super frustrating.

If your post doesn't get traction here, I'd repost it there or in the Hardware section anyway. You can just reference this thread.

Most likely no one will bat an eye at the cross-posting, happens all the time.

[Unn4m3d (♥AUT♥)]

Grayson Peddie の投稿を引用：

Can I have my thread moved over there to Hardware and Operating Systems? I do not want to cross-post. In the future, I will make sure to ask anything technical-related in the hardware/OS forum.

It's no wonder why someone did not get a response in the Ask Ubuntu website. It's better to post anything Steam-related in the Steam forums if they know which forum to post, such as Hardware and OS. :)

Volunteer Mods would probably have already been on it, unfortunately they are no longer Mods, and I dont often see the Paid Mods do anything unless there has been a report, so I'd just do as Bee said:

Bee の投稿を引用：

If your post doesn't get traction here, I'd repost it there or in the Hardware section anyway. You can just reference this thread.

[Grayson Peddie]

Then I will wait for moderators (if any) to move my thread over to the Linux forum. I think that will be better than Hardware and Operating Systems forum.

If not, then I will have to cross-post and reference my thread in my new thread. Even if cross-posting happens all the time, I do not want to do that unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks everyone. Not that I won't get much help here (no offense). I'm just trying to get my problem with Steam filling up my /var/log/syslog log file resolved, that's all. (chuckles). :)

[ShelLuser]

The answer is very simple: learn how to properly use & set up Linux, this isn't a problem with Steam but with your poor administrative skills.

Check out /etc/syslog.conf (from the top of my head), this allows you configure the syslog daemon and tell it exactly which facilities & levels it should process and how. Add an entry to ignore the Steam entries (or raise the level to log less entries) and you're done.

Also... why is this even a problem to begin with? Linux provides log rotation services, so it's not as if your PC would completely fill up: logs get rotated, archived and eventually removed. Of course assuming that you configured all this in the right way.

Even so, in the end this is a non-issue.

[Grayson Peddie]

Before I deal with /var/log/syslog, the SystemD's Journal along with /var/log/syslog filled up 92% of my /var/log partition combined and GNOME in Pop!_OS (known as Cosmic desktop environment forked from GNOME) told me /var/log is getting very full. I will modify the log rotation configuration to rotate once the syslog hits 5MB.

This is the command I use to clean up the journal as root. That command cleaned up more than 1GB of log entries that I do not have a need for in my desktop.

journalctl --vacuum-time=1h

However, this does not answer my question about preventing Steam from cluttering up log entries in /var/log/syslog.

And I have been using Linux for more than 12 years, so I know how to setup Linux. Thank you for your help.