sign out issues on linux production servers

i cannot change anything on prod servers
i tried
tail -f xyz.gz

problem i faced after some time that file consolidated and new file getting created and my tail is failing and server is signing out again
does watch do that continuously?

$ watch -l xyz.log.20181011
watch: invalid option -- 'l'
Usage: watch [-dhntv] [--differences[=cumulative]] [--help] [--interval=<n>] [--no-title] [--version] <command>
i get above error
please advise

start by describing how you've logged into your production server.


i have putty
i go to the particuler server say
server6

it asks username i give like john
it asks interactive password i give my 8 digit passcode i set earlier along with rsa token code which keeps on changing every few secons

Please check the TMOUT environment variable:

echo $TMOUT

I guess you get 60 back.

The normal way to disable connection timeouts with ssh is to pass -o TCPKeepAlive=yes which means all connections are persistent... never timeout...

http://www.nth-design.com/2010/05/10/using-keepalive-in-putty/ shows how to enable this in Putty.

@David, TCPKeepAlive is for keeping traffic so NAT tables / statefull inspection data in a firewall don't get dropped. And that mostly peters out with 20 something minutes.

Hi,

In terms of using 'watch', I missed typing 'ls' in there.  It should be:

watch ls -l xyz.log

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However, no idea if that will work or not (in terms of keeping the session alive).

As mentioned above, 'screen' is possibly a good option.

Alan.

I suggest you give the KeepAlive trick a try + see if that fixes your problem.

If this fails, try https://bjornjohansen.no/ssh-timeout which discusses sshd settings which effect session life.

Keep in mind. If you change sshd settings, you must restart sshd + then start new sessions for new settings be take effect.

Did you check the TMOUT variable. If set that is the max idle time for a shel before it logs you off.
if TMOUT has been set you can just change it by setting to the right number of seconds:
TMOUT=1800   # 30 minutes
TMOUT=3600   # one hour\
TMOUT=86400 # one day

before the idle timer drops the shell.
In your case it probably is 60..
echo $TMOUT #will tell.

Please confirm it's setting ro tell here TMOUT is not set..

$ echo $TMOUT

above did not return any value
i do not have any control on these boxes except i can read those logs
any alternate trick to keep session alive all the time?

$ watch -l xyz.log.20181011
watch: invalid option -- 'l'
Usage: watch [-dhntv] [--differences[=cumulative]] [--help] [--interval=<n>] [--no-title] [--version] <command>
i get above error
please advise

what is wrong with above command?

If you are not allowed to extend the timeout I think screen might be your only option. But if you also don't have screen or aren't allowed to install it, your options will be extremely limited...

It is a bit uncommon for someone that is allowed log access to not have some influence on needed tools to do that job...

Missing the command to watch "ls". The -l option applies to the ls command not the watch command.

Type: watch ls -l xyz.log.20181011

above command worked.

how long it keep watching

It keep watching until you stop it; meaning when you do ctrl-c, it will cancel the command.