🆘 OPS — Oh Please, Save-me

A lightweight C-based Linux CLI tool to rescue your systemd logs before they rescue you.

OPS is a fast, secure, and minimal Linux CLI utility written in C, designed for system administrators who just want their journalctl logs — quickly, safely, and without drama.

Whether you want to view logs directly in the terminal or save them to a file for later analysis, OPS has your back.
Because sometimes the system breaks… and you just whisper: Oh please, save-me.

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✨ Features

• ⚡ Written in C
  • High performance with near-zero overhead
• 🔍 Live View
  • Display logs for any systemd service directly in your terminal
• 💾 Export Mode
  • Save logs to a local file using the -s flag
• 🔐 Hardened Security
  • Strict validation: service names must be alphanumeric (including ., -, _)
  • Safe bounds: service names limited to 128 characters to prevent buffer overflows
• 🧵 Robust Process Handling
  • Uses fork() and execvp() instead of unsafe system() calls
• 🌍 Global Access
  • Installs to /usr/local/bin for system-wide availability

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🚀 One-Liner Installation

Install OPS globally with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/49mg/ops/main/install.sh | bash

This will automatically clone, compile, and install the ops binary.

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🧪 Usage

📟 View Logs in Terminal

ops nginx

Displays logs for the nginx systemd service.

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💾 Save Logs to a File

ops nginx -s

Logs will be saved in your current directory as:

nginx.log

With permissions set to 0644.

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🔐 Security Details

OPS implements multiple layers of protection:

• Input Sanitization

  • Rejects any input containing /, \, or shell redirection characters

• Privilege Separation

  • Uses fork() to isolate journalctl execution

• Standard File Permissions

  • Owner: Read / Write
  • Group & Others: Read-only

• No External Dependencies

  • Relies only on standard C libraries and systemd

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🗂 Project Structure

ops/
├── main.c      # Argument parsing with getopt
├── utils.c     # Security validation & process logic
├── utils.h     # Function prototypes
├── Makefile    # Automated build system
├── install.sh  # Automated remote installer
└── README.md   # Documentation

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🛠 Requirements

• Linux system with:

  • systemd (journalctl)
  • gcc
  • make

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Built for sysadmins who’ve said “oh please…” one too many times. 😄