Question
Why is my server not writing entries to /var/log/messages, /var/log/maillog, or /var/log/secure?
Answer
These logs are populated by rsyslog rather than cPanel. If these logs are not being updated or are empty, checking the status of rsyslog would be the best course of action. On CentOS 7/8 you can run the following command to check the status of rsyslog:
systemctl status rsyslog
The output from this command should provide important information regarding this issue. If rsyslog is unable to start, it is recommended to check the rsyslog configuration file (/etc/rsyslog.conf) for potential issues. Since rsyslog is not managed by cPanel, issues regarding this service are best suited for a system administrator. In case you do not already have a system administrator, you may reference the following article: