I have been task to write a routing for a web server running apache under linux that will basically have the same functionality as a tail -f /var/log/messages. I guess since the web server account does not have access to those files, there must be some type of listener/socket written to accomplish this. The goal is to be able to view log files in real time using a browser instead of a telnet or ssh session. Any ideas out there?

Thanks

A unix socket should do it.
In the server, keep the last N lines in memory, keep scanning for more lines. (use Poll or Select for this)
Client connects.
Client asks for M lines.
Server writes last M (<=N) lines.

This should be a simple modification of the client/server demo. If you use the async event loop, it should be even easier.

Michael.