GoAccess is a real-time web log analyzer and interactive viewer that runs in a *nix system. Installing GoAccess on your VPS server running Ubuntu 24.04 allows you to visualize web log data, which is essential for understanding your site's traffic patterns. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to install GoAccess on Ubuntu 24.04.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• A VPS server running Ubuntu 24.04.
• Root or sudo access to the server.
• Access to your web server's log files (e.g., Apache or Nginx).

Step 1: Update Your System

First, log in to your server and update the package list and installed packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Install the necessary packages for building GoAccess:

sudo apt install -y build-essential libncurses5-dev libgeoip-dev libgdbm-dev libbz2-dev libssl-dev

Step 3: Install GoAccess

Now, you can install GoAccess. You have two options: install via the official Ubuntu repository or compile from source. Here, we will install from the official repository:

sudo apt install -y goaccess

Step 4: Configure GoAccess

Once installed, you need to configure GoAccess to analyze your web logs. The configuration can vary based on your web server. For example, if you're using Apache, you might use the following command to analyze the access log:

goaccess /var/log/apache2/access.log --log-format=COMBINED -o report.html

This command generates an HTML report named report.html.

Step 5: View the Report

Open the generated HTML report in your web browser:

xdg-open report.html

You can also upload this report to a web server for easier access.

Step 6: Real-Time Web Log Analysis

To view your logs in real-time, you can run:

goaccess /var/log/apache2/access.log -c

This command provides an interactive terminal interface to analyze the logs in real-time.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully installed and configured GoAccess on your VPS server running Ubuntu 24.04. This tool is invaluable for gaining insights into your web traffic and improving your site's performance. For reliable hosting solutions, consider using windowsvps for your next VPS server deployment.