Name

syslog-debun — syslog-ng DEBUg buNdle generator

Synopsis

syslog-debun [options]

Description

NOTE: The syslog-debun application is distributed with the syslog-ng PE system logging application, and is usually part of the syslog-ng PE package.

The syslog-debun tool collects and saves information about your syslog-ng PE installation, making troubleshooting easier, especially if you ask help about your syslog-ng PE related problem.

General Options

  • -h

    Display the help page.

  • -l

    Do not collect privacy-sensitive data, for example, process tree, fstab, and so on. If you use with -d, then the following parameters will be used for debug mode:-Fev

  • -R <directory>

    The directory where syslog-ng PE is installed instead of /opt/syslog-ng.

  • -W <directory>

    Set the working directory, where the debug bundle will be saved. Default value: /tmp. The name of the created file is syslog.debun.${host}.${date}.${3-random-characters-or-pid}.tgz

Debug mode options

  • -d

    Start syslog-ng PE in debug mode, using the -Fedv --enable-core options.

    CAUTION: Using this option under high message load may increase disk I/O during the debug, and the resulting debug bundle can be huge. To exit debug mode, press Enter.

  • -D <options>

    Start syslog-ng PE in debug mode, using the specified command-line options. To exit debug mode, press Enter.

  • -t <seconds>

    Run syslog-ng PE in noninteractive debug mode for <seconds>, and automatically exit debug mode after the specified number of seconds.

  • -w <seconds>

    Wait <seconds> seconds before starting debug mode.

System call tracing

  • -s

    Enable syscall tracing (strace -f or truss -f). Note that using -s itself does not enable debug mode, only traces the system calls of an already running syslog-ng PE process. To trace system calls in debug mode, use both the -s and -d options.

Packet capture options

Capturing packets requires a packet capture tool on the host. The syslog-debun tool attempts to use tcpdump on most platforms, except for Solaris, where it uses snoop.

  • -i <interface>

    Capture packets only on the specified interface, for example, eth0.

  • -p

    Capture incoming packets using the following filter: port 514 or port 601 or port 53

  • -P <options>

    Capture incoming packets using the specified filter.

  • -t <seconds>

    Run syslog-ng PE in noninteractive debug mode for <seconds>, and automatically exit debug mode after the specified number of seconds.

Examples
syslog-debun

Create a simple debug bundle, collecting information about your environment, for example, list packages containing the word: syslog, ldd of your syslog-binary, and so on.

syslog-debun -l

Similar to syslog-debun, but without privacy-sensitive information. For example, the following is NOT collected: fstab, df output, mount info, ip / network interface configuration, DNS resolv info, and process tree.

syslog-debun -d

Similar to syslog-debun, but it also stops syslog-ng PE, then restarts it in debug mode (-Fedv --enable-core). To stop debug mode, press Enter. The output of the debug mode collected into a separate file, and also added to the debug bundle.

syslog-debun -s

Trace the system calls (using strace or truss) of an already running syslog-ng PE process.

syslog-debun -d -s

Restart syslog-ng PE in debug mode, and also trace the system calls (using strace or truss) of the syslog-ng PE process.

syslog-debun -p

Run packet capture (pcap) with the filter: port 514 or port 601 or port 53 Also waits for pressing Enter, like debug mode.

syslog-debun -p -t 10

Noninteractive debug mode: Similar to syslog-debun -p, but automatically exit after 10 seconds.

syslog-debun -P "host 1.2.3.4"  -D "-Fev --enable-core"

Change the packet-capturing filter from the default to host 1.2.3.4. Also change debugging parameters from the default to -Fev --enable-core. Since a timeout (-t) is not given, waits for pressing Enter.

syslog-debun -p -d -w 5 -t 10

Collect pcap and debug mode output following this scenario:

  • Start packet capture with default parameters (-p)

  • Wait 5 seconds (-w 5)

  • Stop syslog-ng

  • Start syslog-ng PE in debug mode with default parameters (-d)

  • Wait 10 seconds (-t 10)

  • Stop syslog-ng debuging

  • Start syslog-ng

  • Stop packet capturing

Files

/opt/syslog-ng/bin/loggen

See also

The syslog-ng.conf manual page

NOTE: For the detailed documentation of syslog-ng PE see syslog-ng PE Documentation page.

If you experience any problems or need help with syslog-ng PE, visit the syslog-ng mailing list.

For news and notifications about syslog-ng PE, visit the syslog-ng blogs.