If you’re a web server admin who is experienced with Debian systems, you may find yourself running into the error “bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘”. This error is generally caused by a typo or incorrect syntax in a command line statement. Fortunately, you can use journalctl to help diagnose and solve the error.

Journalctl is a useful tool for both Linux and Mac systems running systems based on systemd, like Debian. It combines all the messages from the kernel ring buffer and syslogs into a single interface. It stores all these messages and makes them accessibile through the command line.

Using journalctl, you can access a complete list of system events, messages, and logs from your terminal. This will allow you to identify any potential issues quickly and take corrective action if necessary.

To view all the system logs using journalctl, log into your system as the root user and type:

# journalctl 

This will display all the system logs from your system.

To view the latest logs related to the error “bash: syntax error near unexpected token`, you can type:

# journalctl | grep -i error

This command will filter out all the messages and logs related to the error.

If you need more information about the error, you can also try using the -f flag. This flag will follow the log output, so if the command you executed is still running, it will also include the logs and messages from that command.

For example, if you executed the command nano test.txt and you’re getting the error “bash: syntax error near unexpected token `(“, you can use the following command:

# journalctl -f | grep -i nano

This command will filter out the logs related to nano test.txt and display any potential issues with the command.

Once you’ve identified the cause of the error, you can take corrective action to solve the problem.

Using journalctl is a great way to quickly diagnose and solve the “bash: syntax error near unexpected token `'” error. It allows you to filter out and view all the relevant logs from your system, so you can quickly and easily identify the source of the problem.