CatLogs

What is CatLogs?

CatLogs gathers historical commands and system events from various log sources across your Linux machine and displays them in a searchable, sortable table. It reads from shell history files (bash, zsh, fish), /var/log/auth.log, systemd-journald, process accounting, last/lastb, dpkg/apt logs, syslog, dmesg, and running processes.

All data stays on your machine. CatLogs makes no network connections and sends nothing anywhere. You can export filtered views to CSV for auditing or record-keeping.

Installation

Choose one of the methods below. The quick install and binary download require no dependencies; building from source needs Python 3.

Method	What it does	Requires
Quick install	Downloads binary + icon, creates desktop entry	curl, root
Binary download	Single standalone file, run from anywhere	curl
.deb package	Installs via dpkg with full desktop integration	Debian/Ubuntu, root
From source	Clone + make build	Python 3, git, make

Quick install (one command)

This downloads the installer script, which fetches the binary and icon, installs them to /usr/local/bin, and creates a .desktop entry so CatLogs appears in your application menu.

copy$ curl -sSL https://catlogs.wassim.tech/install.sh | sudo bash

Binary download

Download the standalone binary directly. It has no dependencies — everything is bundled inside a single file.

copy$ curl -sSL https://catlogs.wassim.tech/catlogs -o catlogs
$ chmod +x catlogs
$ ./catlogs

To install system-wide, move it to your path:

copy$ sudo mv catlogs /usr/local/bin/

Debian / Ubuntu package (.deb)

For Debian-based systems. Installs the binary to /usr/bin, the icon, and a desktop entry. Uninstall cleanly with dpkg -r catlogs.

copy$ curl -sSL https://catlogs.wassim.tech/catlogs_1.0.0_amd64.deb -o catlogs.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i catlogs.deb

Building from source

Clone the repository and use the provided Makefile. This builds a standalone executable with PyInstaller.

copy$ git clone https://github.com/wmBolles/catlogs.git
$ cd catlogs
$ make build

The binary is placed at ./dist/catlogs. Other Makefile targets:

• make install — set up venv and install dependencies
• make run — run directly from source without building
• make package — create a release folder with binary and install.sh
• make deb — build a .deb package
• make clean — remove build artefacts

System Requirements

Operating system

Linux (any distribution — Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, etc.)

For binary download

No dependencies. The standalone binary includes everything it needs.

For building from source

Python 3.8 or later, tkinter (usually included with Python on Linux), pip, make.

Display

X11 or Wayland with XWayland. Minimum window size: 900×520 pixels.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
F5, Ctrl+R	Refresh data
Ctrl+E	Export to CSV
Ctrl+N	Open new window
Esc	Clear all filters
Ctrl++, Ctrl+−	Zoom in / out
Ctrl+0	Reset zoom
Ctrl+?	Show shortcuts dialog
Ctrl+Q	Quit

Uninstalling

If installed via the quick installer or binary download:

copy$ sudo rm /usr/local/bin/catlogs
$ sudo rm /usr/share/applications/catlogs.desktop
$ sudo rm /usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/catlogs.png

If installed via .deb:

copy$ sudo dpkg -r catlogs