understanding cpanel error log

[novice norris]

Hi,


Looked at my cpanel error log for the first time as part of a learning curve. I noticed the Error log was full with errors, the log seems to take only and hour or so to fill up with the same repetitive errors namely;
file does not exist/bla bla etc and all finish public-html/404.shtml or favicon.ico.
Very scary for a new user. My Hosting company said not to worry its only people trying to hack/looking for vunrabilities.

Happy with that. However, a large percentage of the entries are showing the client I.S.P. to be MINE !
As a novice I would expect the ISPS to be from other people, what I am doing wrong to generate my own I.S.P.in the error log ?



Any help or Advice would be most grateful, I have read/searched other posts but it talks of clearing and moving logs, which I do not want to do until I learn about what's causing the problem first

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

Could you post an example of an error message you see in the log so we can get a better idea of what you are looking at?

Thank you.

 

[novice norris]

Hi, Thanks for such a quick response,

Some of the line entries are very long:

[Thu Jan 26 10:13:17 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml, referer: [url]http://www.caladormarina.com/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/custom.css[/url]
[Thu Jan 26 10:13:17 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/spacer.gif, referer: [url]http://www.caladormarina.com/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/custom.css[/url]
[Thu Jan 26 10:13:17 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml, referer: [url]http://www.caladormarina.com/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/custom.css[/url]
[Thu Jan 26 10:13:17 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/spacer.gif, referer: [url]http://www.caladormarina.com/sohoadmin/program/modules/site_templates/pages/PROFESSIONAL-Cutting_Edge-Blue/custom.css[/url]
[Thu Jan 26 10:10:49 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 10:10:49 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/favicon.ico
[Thu Jan 26 10:10:49 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 10:10:49 2012] [error] [client 95.146.99.92] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/favicon.ico
[Thu Jan 26 09:58:33 2012] [error] [client 88.31.137.58] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 09:58:33 2012] [error] [client 88.31.137.58] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/favicon.ico
[Thu Jan 26 09:55:49 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.40] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 09:55:49 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.40] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/blog
[Thu Jan 26 09:54:55 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.234] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/soho/500.shtml

And some of the entries are only his long

Thu Jan 26 09:55:49 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.40] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 09:55:49 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.40] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/blog
[Thu Jan 26 09:54:55 2012] [error] [client 66.249.72.234] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/soho/500.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 09:43:35 2012] [error] [client 88.31.137.58] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/404.shtml
[Thu Jan 26 09:43:35 2012] [error] [client 88.31.137.58] File does not exist: /home/calad627/public_html/favicon.ico

Just keeps going on and on,

Please except my apologies if I have pasted to many lines, but not sure what you are looking for

thanks again

 

[cPanelMichael]

That indicates those IP addresses are attempting to access files that do not exist. It may not be that you are attempting to accessing them directly. Instead, it's possible the scripting used for your website results in you attempting to access those files. For example, part of your website may link to an image that does not exist on the server. Thus, when you access your website, it produces that error message.

Thank you.

 

[storminternet]

It is also possible that some spider/bot are looking for vulnerabilities within your site and for thatreason they are using random urls.
Please refer to some security tips for apache (Though I am not sure about apache version on your server)

 

[novice norris]

Thanks very much for your replies, I now have a better understanding and peace of mind . The server is using Apache 2.2 and your link is 2.2 handy that !. I will start reading about clearing redundant links/images and apache security.You have pointed a beginner in the right directions

Much appreciated

 

[Infopro]

You should create your error pages and a favicon and upload to the public_html directory. In doing so your log will be much easier to read for real problems, like missing images on your site.