Name of log file where boot process is logged

Question

I'm using CentOS 5.3. After booting up, where can I find the log file that contains if all services where successfully loaded or not?

For example when computer boots you get a list of start services and they can be OK or FAILED.

Is there a log file where this information is kept? I had a look in the following directory /var/log/ but not sure which one will contain the informaiton that I need.

Many thanks for any advice,

Answer 1

Two places to look:

Run dmesg. From its man page "dmesg is used to examine or control the kernel ring buffer. The program helps users to print out their bootup messages."

Look in /var/log/messages

Answer 2

You may also have a /var/log/boot.log file. It depends on whether local7.* was configured in /etc/syslog.conf.