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syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.16 - Administration Guide

Preface Introduction to syslog-ng The concepts of syslog-ng Installing syslog-ng The syslog-ng OSE quick-start guide The syslog-ng OSE configuration file source: Read, receive, and collect log messages
How sources work default-network-drivers: Receive and parse common syslog messages internal: Collecting internal messages file: Collecting messages from text files wildcard-file: Collecting messages from multiple text files network: Collecting messages using the RFC3164 protocol (network() driver) nodejs: Receiving JSON messages from nodejs applications mbox: Converting local e-mail messages to log messages osquery: Collect and parse osquery result logs pipe: Collecting messages from named pipes pacct: Collecting process accounting logs on Linux program: Receiving messages from external applications snmptrap: Read Net-SNMP traps sun-streams: Collecting messages on Sun Solaris syslog: Collecting messages using the IETF syslog protocol (syslog() driver) system: Collecting the system-specific log messages of a platform systemd-journal: Collecting messages from the systemd-journal system log storage systemd-syslog: Collecting systemd messages using a socket tcp, tcp6, udp, udp6: Collecting messages from remote hosts using the BSD syslog protocol— OBSOLETE unix-stream, unix-dgram: Collecting messages from UNIX domain sockets stdin: Collecting messages from the standard input stream
destination: Forward, send, and store log messages
amqp: Publishing messages using AMQP elasticsearch: Sending messages directly to Elasticsearch version 1.x elasticsearch2: Sending logs directly to Elasticsearch and Kibana 2.0 or higher file: Storing messages in plain-text files graphite: Sending metrics to Graphite Sending logs to Graylog hdfs: Storing messages on the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) Posting messages over HTTP http: Posting messages over HTTP without Java kafka: Publishing messages to Apache Kafka loggly: Using Loggly logmatic: Using Logmatic.io mongodb: Storing messages in a MongoDB database network: Sending messages to a remote log server using the RFC3164 protocol (network() driver) osquery: Sending log messages to osquery's syslog table pipe: Sending messages to named pipes program: Sending messages to external applications pseudofile() redis: Storing name-value pairs in Redis riemann: Monitoring your data with Riemann smtp: Generating SMTP messages (e-mail) from logs Splunk: Sending log messages to Splunk sql: Storing messages in an SQL database stomp: Publishing messages using STOMP syslog: Sending messages to a remote logserver using the IETF-syslog protocol syslog-ng: Forwarding messages and tags to another syslog-ng node tcp, tcp6, udp, udp6: Sending messages to a remote log server using the legacy BSD-syslog protocol (tcp(), udp() drivers) Telegram: Sending messages to Telegram unix-stream, unix-dgram: Sending messages to UNIX domain sockets usertty: Sending messages to a user terminal: usertty() destination Write your own custom destination in Java or Python
log: Filter and route log messages using log paths, flags, and filters Global options of syslog-ng OSE TLS-encrypted message transfer template and rewrite: Format, modify, and manipulate log messages parser: Parse and segment structured messages db-parser: Process message content with a pattern database (patterndb) Correlating log messages Enriching log messages with external data Statistics of syslog-ng Multithreading and scaling in syslog-ng OSE Troubleshooting syslog-ng Best practices and examples The syslog-ng manual pages Third-party contributions Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) License About us

Configuring TLS on the syslog-ng clients

Purpose:

Complete the following steps on every syslog-ng client host. Examples are provided using both the legacy BSD-syslog protocol (using the network() driver) and the new IETF-syslog protocol standard (using the syslog() driver):

Steps:

  1. Copy the CA certificate (for example cacert.pem) of the Certificate Authority that issued the certificate of the syslog-ng server (or the self-signed certificate of the syslog-ng server) to the syslog-ng client hosts, for example into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d directory.

    Issue the following command on the certificate: openssl x509 -noout -hash -in cacert.pem The result is a hash (for example 6d2962a8), a series of alphanumeric characters based on the Distinguished Name of the certificate.

    Issue the following command to create a symbolic link to the certificate that uses the hash returned by the previous command and the .0 suffix.

    ln -s cacert.pem 6d2962a8.0

  2. Add a destination statement to the syslog-ng configuration file that uses the tls( ca-dir(path_to_ca_directory) ) option and specify the directory using the CA certificate. The destination must use the network() or the syslog() destination driver, and the IP address and port parameters of the driver must point to the syslog-ng server.

    Example: A destination statement using TLS

    The following destination encrypts the log messages using TLS and sends them to the 6514/TCP port of the syslog-ng server having the 10.1.2.3 IP address.

    destination demo_tls_destination {
    network("10.1.2.3" port(6514)
        transport("tls")
        tls( ca-dir("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d"))
    );
};

    A similar statement using the IETF-syslog protocol and thus the syslog() driver:

    destination demo_tls_syslog_destination {
    syslog("10.1.2.3" port(6514)
                        transport("tls")
        tls(ca-dir("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d"))
    );
};

  3. Include the destination created in Step 2 in a log statement.

    		 Caution:

    The encrypted connection between the server and the client fails if the Common Name or the subject_alt_name parameter of the server certificate does not contain the hostname or the IP address (as resolved from the syslog-ng clients and relays) of the server.

    Do not forget to update the certificate files when they expire.

Configuring TLS on the syslog-ng server

Purpose:

Complete the following steps on the syslog-ng server:

Steps:

  1. Create an X.509 certificate for the syslog-ng server.

    		 NOTE:

    The subject_alt_name parameter (or the Common Name parameter if the subject_alt_name parameter is empty) of the server's certificate must contain the hostname or the IP address (as resolved from the syslog-ng clients and relays) of the server (for example syslog-ng.example.com).

    Alternatively, the Common Name or the subject_alt_name parameter can contain a generic hostname, for example *.example.com.

    Note that if the Common Name of the certificate contains a generic hostname, do not specify a specific hostname or an IP address in the subject_alt_name parameter.

  2. Copy the certificate (for example syslog-ng.cert) of the syslog-ng server to the syslog-ng server host, for example into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d directory. The certificate must be a valid X.509 certificate in PEM format.

  3. Copy the private key (for example syslog-ng.key) matching the certificate of the syslog-ng server to the syslog-ng server host, for example into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d directory. The key must be in PEM format. If you want to use a password-protected key, see Password-protected keys.

  4. Add a source statement to the syslog-ng configuration file that uses the tls( key-file(key_file_fullpathname) cert-file(cert_file_fullpathname) ) option and specify the key and certificate files. The source must use the source driver (network() or syslog()) matching the destination driver used by the syslog-ng client.

    Example: A source statement using TLS

    The following source receives log messages encrypted using TLS, arriving to the 1999/TCP port of any interface of the syslog-ng server.

    source demo_tls_source {
    network(ip(0.0.0.0) port(1999)
        transport("tls")
        tls( 
            key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/syslog-ng.key")
            cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/syslog-ng.cert")
        )
    );
};

    A similar source for receiving messages using the IETF-syslog protocol:

    source demo_tls_syslog_source {
    syslog(ip(0.0.0.0) port(1999)
    transport("tls")
    tls(
        key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/syslog-ng.key")
        cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/syslog-ng.cert")
        )
    );
};

  5. Disable mutual authentication for the source by setting the following TLS option in the source statement: tls( peer-verify(optional-untrusted);

    If you want to authenticate the clients, you have to configure mutual authentication. For details, see Mutual authentication using TLS.

    For the details of the available tls() options, see TLS options.

    Example: Disabling mutual authentication

    The following source receives log messages encrypted using TLS, arriving to the 1999/TCP port of any interface of the syslog-ng server. The identity of the syslog-ng client is not verified.

    source demo_tls_source {
    network(
        ip(0.0.0.0) port(1999)
        transport("tls")
        tls(
            key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/syslog-ng.key")
            cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/syslog-ng.cert")
            peer-verify(optional-untrusted)
        )
    );
};

    A similar source for receiving messages using the IETF-syslog protocol:

    source demo_tls_syslog_source {
    syslog(
        ip(0.0.0.0) port(1999)
        transport("tls")
        tls(
            key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/syslog-ng.key")
            cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/syslog-ng.cert")
            peer-verify(optional-untrusted)
        )
    );
};

    		 Caution:

    Do not forget to update the certificate and key files when they expire.

Mutual authentication using TLS

This section describes how to configure mutual authentication between the syslog-ng server and the client. Configuring mutual authentication is similar to configuring TLS (for details, see Encrypting log messages with TLS), but the server verifies the identity of the client as well. Therefore, each client must have a certificate, and the server must have the certificate of the CA that issued the certificate of the clients. For the concepts of using TLS in syslog-ng, see Secure logging using TLS.

Configuring TLS on the syslog-ng clients

Purpose:

Complete the following steps on every syslog-ng client host. Examples are provided using both the legacy BSD-syslog protocol (using the network() driver) and the new IETF-syslog protocol standard (using the syslog() driver):

Steps:

  1. Create an X.509 certificate for the syslog-ng client.

  2. Copy the certificate (for example client_cert.pem) and the matching private key (for example client.key) to the syslog-ng client host, for example into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d directory. The certificate must be a valid X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you want to use a password-protected key, see Password-protected keys.

  3. Copy the CA certificate of the Certificate Authority (for example cacert.pem) that issued the certificate of the syslog-ng server (or the self-signed certificate of the syslog-ng server) to the syslog-ng client hosts, for example into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d directory.

    Issue the following command on the certificate: openssl x509 -noout -hash -in cacert.pem The result is a hash (for example 6d2962a8), a series of alphanumeric characters based on the Distinguished Name of the certificate.

    Issue the following command to create a symbolic link to the certificate that uses the hash returned by the previous command and the .0 suffix.

    ln -s cacert.pem 6d2962a8.0

  4. Add a destination statement to the syslog-ng configuration file that uses the tls( ca-dir(path_to_ca_directory) ) option and specify the directory using the CA certificate. The destination must use the network() or the syslog() destination driver, and the IP address and port parameters of the driver must point to the syslog-ng server. Include the client's certificate and private key in the tls() options.

    Example: A destination statement using mutual authentication

    The following destination encrypts the log messages using TLS and sends them to the 1999/TCP port of the syslog-ng server having the 10.1.2.3 IP address. The private key and the certificate file authenticating the client is also specified.

    destination demo_tls_destination {
    network(
        "10.1.2.3" port(1999)
        transport("tls")
        tls(
            ca-dir("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d")
            key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/client.key")
            cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/client_cert.pem")
        )
    );
};
    destination demo_tls_syslog_destination {
    syslog(
        "10.1.2.3" port(1999)
        transport("tls")
        tls(
            ca-dir("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/ca.d")
            key-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/key.d/client.key")
            cert-file("/opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/cert.d/client_cert.pem")
        )
    ); 
};

  5. Include the destination created in Step 2 in a log statement.

    		 Caution:

    The encrypted connection between the server and the client fails if the Common Name or the subject_alt_name parameter of the server certificate does not the hostname or the IP address (as resolved from the syslog-ng clients and relays) of the server.

    Do not forget to update the certificate files when they expire.

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