Delete Log and Other Unnecessary Files...

[JoelBC]

The title says it all...is there a way to safely identify and delete unnecessary log and other files and, if yes, then how...

Thanks in advance,


Joel

[whiteonline]

Kind of an open question, but here you go....

There are application log files in your home directory that may or may not be pretty safe to clear out. Run the following command in terminal:

find $HOME -type f -name *.log -exec du -sh {} \;

Honestly, the savings you will get in space is negligible. Most log files wont exceed 10MB and you're better off keeping them.

There are log files in /var/log, but I would leave those. My entire /var/log directory is only 65MB.

In the end, I advise leaving log files alone unless you know what they are and their significance. But, if it's not a production machine, delete away. It's your funeral.

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by whiteonline

Kind of an open question, but here you go....

There are application log files in your home directory that may or may not be pretty safe to clear out. Run the following command in terminal:

find $HOME -type f -name *.log -exec du -sh {} \;

Honestly, the savings you will get in space is negligible. Most log files wont exceed 10MB and you're better off keeping them.

There are log files in /var/log, but I would leave those. My entire /var/log directory is only 65MB.

In the end, I advise leaving log files alone unless you know what they are and their significance. But, if it's not a production machine, delete away. It's your funeral.

Appreciate both the response and the warning and will likely stand pat and do nothing....just my OCD kicking in

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by JoelBC

The title says it all...is there a way to safely identify and delete unnecessary log and other files and, if yes, then how...

If your goal is freeing up drive space, you'll make a bigger impact by moving user data to external drives.

Freeing up drive space in Mac OS X

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

If your goal is freeing up drive space, you'll make a bigger impact by moving user data to external drives.

Freeing up drive space in Mac OS X

Appreciate the insight...the issue is not freeing up drive space as this is not an issue but rather keeping the SSD as "clean as possible" and not having "unnecessary files" on it...

Joel

[Peace]

You might want to check out Cocktail. It's a great utility and has been around for years.

http://www.maintain.se/cocktail

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by JoelBC

Appreciate the insight...the issue is not freeing up drive space as this is not an issue but rather keeping the SSD as "clean as possible" and not having "unnecessary files" on it...

It's a good idea to refrain from deleting items in the System and Library folders, unless you know exactly what you're doing. Most of those files are not unnecessary. Again, you're better off moving user data to an external drive.

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by Peace

You might want to check out Cocktail. It's a great utility and has been around for years.

http://www.maintain.se/cocktail

Will take a look, appreciated...

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

It's a good idea to refrain from deleting items in the System and Library folders, unless you know exactly what you're doing. Most of those files are not unnecessary. Again, you're better off moving user data to an external drive.

Warning received and appreciated...

[simsaladimbamba]

And if your are worried about the SSD and having small files depreciating its life:

Normally modern SSDs have a theoretical write/read limit of 10,000 to 100,000 cycles (P/E cycles), meaning if you had a 64 GB SSD and its cycle limit would be 10,000, you would have to write 625 TB to it, which would be 351 GB per day everyday for the next five years. Assuming those numbers vary and it would only be a tenth of that, it would still mean 35 GB per day, which under normal usage no average computer consumer does, not even with temporary files.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by JoelBC

The title says it all...is there a way to safely identify and delete unnecessary log and other files and, if yes, then how...

Thanks in advance,


Joel

These apps delete logs:

Onyx
Ccleaner
iBoostUp
IceClean

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

These apps delete logs:

Onyx
Ccleaner
iBoostUp
IceClean

Logs should not be deleted, unless there's a specific problem. You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. Some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some can even degrade, rather than improve system performance.

Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Caches exist to improve performance, so deleting them isn't advisable in most cases.

Many of the tasks performed by these apps should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention. You can use Maintidget to see the last time these scripts were run.

Five Mac maintenance myths

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by simsaladimbamba

And if your are worried about the SSD and having small files depreciating its life:

Normally modern SSDs have a theoretical write/read limit of 10,000 to 100,000 cycles (P/E cycles), meaning if you had a 64 GB SSD and its cycle limit would be 10,000, you would have to write 625 TB to it, which would be 351 GB per day everyday for the next five years. Assuming those numbers vary and it would only be a tenth of that, it would still mean 35 GB per day, which under normal usage no average computer consumer does, not even with temporary files.

Appreciate the post and note that though this is not my concern it is good to know that the SSD will last a long time...by the way, I have a 256 GB SSD so I guess I can write 4 times as much on a daily basis!!

----------

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

These apps delete logs:

Onyx
Ccleaner
iBoostUp
IceClean

Thanks, much appreciated...

----------

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Logs should not be deleted, unless there's a specific problem. You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. Some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some can even degrade, rather than improve system performance.

Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Caches exist to improve performance, so deleting them isn't advisable in most cases.

Many of the tasks performed by these apps should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention. You can use Maintidget to see the last time these scripts were run.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Appreciate the insight and the two links...

I have reviewed the Maintidget webpage and detail and it looks as though the "daily taks" cover many of the items I am interested in...I will download it and give it a try...

In terms of the others -- though you are not fans of them -- any preferences / suggestions among the 5 listed namely CCleaner, Cocktail, iBoostUp, iClean and Onyx...

Worth also noting is that I am only interested in cleaning out logs and other like files and not applications as to do this I follow another one of the links you posted which essentially entails a Finder search inclusive of system files...

WIth much thanks,


Joel

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by JoelBC

I have reviewed the Maintidget webpage and detail and it looks as though the "daily taks" cover many of the items I am interested in...I will download it and give it a try...

Understand that you don't need that widget, except for information purposes, as those maintenance scripts run automatically, without user or 3rd party app interference.

Originally Posted by JoelBC

In terms of the others -- though you are not fans of them -- any preferences / suggestions among the 5 listed namely CCleaner, Cocktail, iBoostUp, iClean and Onyx...

The preference is none. This isn't Windows. You don't need to tinker around or maintain OS X. It takes care of itself, automatically. You don't need such apps to keep your Mac running well.

Originally Posted by JoelBC

Worth also noting is that I am only interested in cleaning out logs and other like files

That's just it. You don't need to clean out logs, as they don't take much space and you will need them for troubleshooting purposes. You're not helping your Mac by deleting such files. It's better to just use your Mac to surf, check emails, create documents, listen to music, watch movies, etc. and leave the system maintenance up to OS X.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by Peace

You might want to check out Cocktail. It's a great utility and has been around for years.

http://www.maintain.se/cocktail

Cocktail is not on macupdate website, why? Dodgy app?

----------

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Logs should not be deleted, unless there's a specific problem. You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. ..

I clean out my logs regularly, never had a problem.

I will continue cleaning logs as I cannot be sure what kind of personal/sensitive/secure data may be stored in them.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I clean out my logs regularly, never had a problem.

You will if you need to troubleshoot a problem and need the logs you deleted.

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I will continue cleaning logs as I cannot be sure what kind of personal/sensitive/secure data may be stored in them.

That further illustrates why you shouldn't delete them. You don't even know what they contain or what they're used for. You shouldn't delete anything on your Mac unless you know what it's for and what the consequences of deletion are. There is no intelligent reason to "clean" logs on a regular basis. This is old Windows mentality that doesn't apply to OS X.

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Understand that you don't need that widget, except for information purposes, as those maintenance scripts run automatically, without user or 3rd party app interference.

Understood though I appreciate the post in the event that I did not...

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

The preference is none. This isn't Windows. You don't need to tinker around or maintain OS X. It takes care of itself, automatically. You don't need such apps to keep your Mac running well.

Noted with thanks...

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

That's just it. You don't need to clean out logs, as they don't take much space and you will need them for troubleshooting purposes. You're not helping your Mac by deleting such files. It's better to just use your Mac to surf, check emails, create documents, listen to music, watch movies, etc. and leave the system maintenance up to OS X.

Noted with thanks and understand your view on this...

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

..You don't need to tinker around or maintain OS X. It takes care of itself, automatically. ...

I don't agree, as I have learned that we have to manually clear out internet activity to protect our privacy etc. OS X does NOT automatically clear out my activity, I have to do it myself. And OS X does NOT maintain RAM very well either I have noticed, I have to regularly run FreeMemory to free up RAM to run the OS X smoothly as it starts paging out and running sluggish if I don't, even after closing all APPS, it still runs slow and paging out if I don't reboot or run FreeMemory.

So there are times such Apps are needed, as OS X does NOT take care of it on it's own.

[JoelBC]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Cocktail is not on macupdate website, why? Dodgy app?

Enough said...off the list...

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I clean out my logs regularly, never had a problem.

I will continue cleaning logs as I cannot be sure what kind of personal/sensitive/secure data may be stored in them.

Understood though I am not terribly concerned about this as I would wipe my drive before giving the computer to anyone...and you do this how...

----------

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I don't agree, as I have learned that we have to manually clear out internet activity to protect our privacy etc. OS X does NOT automatically clear out my activity, I have to do it myself. And OS X does NOT maintain RAM very well either I have noticed, I have to regularly run FreeMemory to free up RAM to run the OS X smoothly as it starts paging out and running sluggish if I don't, even after closing all APPS, it still runs slow and paging out if I don't reboot or run FreeMemory.

So there are times such Apps are needed, as OS X does NOT take care of it on it's own.

I do not know what browser you use but I use Chrome and have added he ERASER extension which seems to do a very good job of clearing out browsing history...

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I don't agree, as I have learned that we have to manually clear out internet activity to protect our privacy etc. OS X does NOT automatically clear out my activity, I have to do it myself. And OS X does NOT maintain RAM very well either I have noticed, I have to regularly run FreeMemory to free up RAM to run the OS X smoothly as it starts paging out and running sluggish if I don't, even after closing all APPS, it still runs slow and paging out if I don't reboot or run FreeMemory.

So there are times such Apps are needed, as OS X does NOT take care of it on it's own.

I didn't say anything about browsers or internet caches, cookies and history, which can easily be cleared in the browser, with no need for a 3rd party app. I'm referring to OS X and system files. Your propensity to install a myriad of apps rather than let OS X work natively indicates a lack of understanding about how OS X operates, including memory management.

Of course, it's your Mac and you can do whatever you want with it, but it's not prudent to mislead others into thinking they need such apps.

[Peace]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Cocktail is not on macupdate website, why? Dodgy app?

----------



I clean out my logs regularly, never had a problem.

I will continue cleaning logs as I cannot be sure what kind of personal/sensitive/secure data may be stored in them.

Just because cocktail isn't on macupdate doesn't make it dodgy. It's a well respected tool for many professionals including the New York Times,Business Week and Sony.

I think some Apple engineers also use it.

All Cocktail is is a GUI for the terminal scripts.

Instead of typing "sudo- bla bla bla" you use the GUI.

Here's your macupdate link. Sorry I don't use macupdate because I consider it "dodgy" :-)

http://macupdate.com/app/mac/10909/cocktail

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

I didn't say anything about browsers or internet caches, cookies and history, which can easily be cleared in the browser, with no need for a 3rd party app. I'm referring to OS X and system files. Your propensity to install a myriad of apps rather than let OS X work natively indicates a lack of understanding about how OS X operates, including memory management.

Of course, it's your Mac and you can do whatever you want with it, but it's not prudent to mislead others into thinking they need such apps.

I believe you are misleading others into a false sense of security. There are times people need to use third party Apps to clean out sensitive and private information stored by some Apps which the Apps themselves to do clean out automatically.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I believe you are misleading others into a false sense of security. There are times people need to use third party Apps to clean out sensitive and private information stored by some Apps which the Apps themselves to do clean out automatically.

If you're cleaning out "sensitive and private information", be sure to delete all your emails and user files. Cleaning logs isn't going to do the trick.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

If you're cleaning out "sensitive and private information", be sure to delete all your emails and user files. Cleaning logs isn't going to do the trick.

I am running all my user files and personal email apps from an encrypted partition, so I don't need to worry about that.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I am running all my user files and personal email apps from an encrypted partition, so I don't need to worry about that.

The the fact is that deleting logs on a Mac that you're still using is pointless. Any "sensitive" or "private" information that might be contained in them (which isn't the case for most logs) is not a problem if you still control the computer. Certainly if you're preparing to sell or give a computer to someone else, it makes sense to wipe the drive and clean install the OS, but not when you're still using it, and certainly not on a regular basis.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

The the fact is that deleting logs on a Mac that you're still using is pointless. Any "sensitive" or "private" information that might be contained in them (which isn't the case for most logs) is not a problem if you still control the computer. Certainly if you're preparing to sell or give a computer to someone else, it makes sense to wipe the drive and clean install the OS, but not when you're still using it, and certainly not on a regular basis.

You indicate that only most logs may not contain any "sensitive" or "private" information, so I have to conclude that some may, and the problem is I never know which ones exactly, so hence, the need to wipe them all regularly.

You then indicate that it's not a problem if you still control the computer. What exactly do you mean by that? Please elaborate how I can control my Mac to not write any "sensitive" or "private" information to any log files.