# Run as root, of course.
# For sh shells:
cd /var/log
: > messages
: > wtmp
echo "Log files cleaned up."
# For bash shells:
cd /var/log
> messages
> wtmp
echo "Log files cleaned up."
# This is a better version, does the same thing, less redundancy.
# visit this link for detailed explanation:
https://superuser.com/questions/849413/why-would-you-cat-dev-null-var-log-messages

# Run as root, of course.
cd /var/log
cat /dev/null > messages
cat /dev/null > wtmp
echo "Log files cleaned up."
# for detailed exaplanations on this, visit this link:
# https://superuser.com/questions/849413/why-would-you-cat-dev-null-var-log-messages
# /var/log:
# path where logs for the system, running processes etc are usually saved
# cat /dev/null > messages command:
# opens a null file in path /dev/null
# pushes /dev/null file into messages file
# cat /dev/null > wtmp : this is basically the same