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syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.18 - 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 linux-audit: Collecting messages from Linux audit logs 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 python: writing server-style Python sources python-fetcher: writing fetcher-style Python sources 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 (DEPRECATED) 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() python: writing custom Python destinations 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 Client-side failover
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

Posting messages over HTTP

Version 3.7 of syslog-ng OSE can directly post log messages to web services using the HTTP protocol. Error and status messages received from the HTTP server are forwarded to the internal logs of syslog-ng OSE. The current implementation has the following limitations:

  • This destination is only supported on the Linux platform.

  • Only HTTP connections are supported, HTTPS is not.

  • This destination requires Java. For an http destination that does not use Java, see http: Posting messages over HTTP without Java.

Declaration:
@module mod-java

java(
    class-path("/syslog-ng/install_dir/lib/syslog-ng/java-modules/*.jar")
    class-name("org.syslog_ng.http.HTTPDestination")

    option("url", "http://<server-address>:<port-number>")

);
Example: Sending log data to a web service

The following example defines an http destination.

@module mod-java

destination d_http {
    java(
        class-path("/syslog-ng/install_dir/lib/syslog-ng/java-modules/*.jar")
        class-name("org.syslog_ng.http.HTTPDestination")

        option("url", "http://192.168.1.1:80")
    );
};

log
    { source(s_file); destination(d_http); flags(flow-control); };

NOTE:

If you delete all Java destinations from your configuration and reload syslog-ng, the JVM is not used anymore, but it is still running. If you want to stop JVM, stop syslog-ng and then start syslog-ng again.

HTTP destination options

The http destination of syslog-ng OSE can directly post log messages to web services using the HTTP protocol. The http destination has the following options. Some of these options are directly used by the Java code underlying the http destination, therefore these options must be specified in the following format:

option("<option-name>", "<option-value>")

For example, option("url", "http://<server-address>:<port-number>"). The exact format to use is indicated in the description of the option.

Required options:

The following options are required: url(). Note that to use http, you must add the following line to the beginning of your syslog-ng OSE configuration:

@module mod-java
class-name()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: The name of the class (including the name of the package) that includes the destination driver to use.

For the http destination, use this option as class-name("org.syslog_ng.http.HTTPDestination").

client-lib-dir()
Type: string
Default: The syslog-ng OSE module directory: /opt/syslog-ng/lib/syslog-ng/java-modules/

Description: The list of the paths where the required Java classes are located. For example, class-path("/opt/syslog-ng/lib/syslog-ng/java-modules/:/opt/my-java-libraries/libs/"). If you set this option multiple times in your syslog-ng OSE configuration (for example, because you have multiple Java-based destinations), syslog-ng OSE will merge every available paths to a single list.

For the http destination, include the path to the java modules of syslog-ng OSE, for example, class-path("/syslog-ng/install_dir/lib/syslog-ng/java-modules/*.jar").

hook-commands()

Description: This option makes it possible to execute external programs when the relevant driver is initialized or torn down. The hook-commands() can be used with all source and destination drivers with the exception of the usertty() and internal() drivers.

NOTE: The syslog-ng OSE application must be able to start and restart the external program, and have the necessary permissions to do so. For example, if your host is running AppArmor or SELinux, you might have to modify your AppArmor or SELinux configuration to enable syslog-ng OSE to execute external applications.

Using the hook-commands() when syslog-ng OSE starts or stops

To execute an external program when syslog-ng OSE starts or stops, use the following options:

startup()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines the external program that is executed as syslog-ng OSE starts.

shutdown()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines the external program that is executed as syslog-ng OSE stops.

Using the hook-commands() when syslog-ng OSE reloads

To execute an external program when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is initiated or torn down, for example, on startup/shutdown or during a syslog-ng OSE reload, use the following options:

setup()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines an external program that is executed when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is initiated, for example, on startup or during a syslog-ng OSE reload.

teardown()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines an external program that is executed when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is stopped or torn down, for example, on shutdown or during a syslog-ng OSE reload.

Example: Using the hook-commands() with a network source

In the following example, the hook-commands() is used with the network() driver and it opens an iptables port automatically as syslog-ng OSE is started/stopped.

The assumption in this example is that the LOGCHAIN chain is part of a larger ruleset that routes traffic to it. Whenever the syslog-ng OSE created rule is there, packets can flow, otherwise the port is closed.

source {
   network(transport(udp)
	hook-commands(
          startup("iptables -I LOGCHAIN 1 -p udp --dport 514 -j ACCEPT")
          shutdown("iptables -D LOGCHAIN 1")
        )
     );
};
jvm-options()
Type: list
Default: N/A

Description: Specify the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) settings of your Java destination from the syslog-ng OSE configuration file.

For example:

jvm-options("-Xss1M -XX:+TraceClassLoading")

You can set this option only as a global option, by adding it to the options statement of the syslog-ng configuration file.

log-fifo-size()
Type: number
Default: Use global setting.

Description: The number of messages that the output queue can store.

method()
Type: DELETE | HEAD | GET | OPTIONS | POST | PUT | TRACE
Default: PUT

Description: Specifies the HTTP method to use when sending the message to the server. Available in syslog-ng OSE version 3.7.2 and newer.

retries()
Type: number (of attempts)
Default: 3

Description: The number of times syslog-ng OSE attempts to send a message to this destination. If syslog-ng OSE could not send a message, it will try again until the number of attempts reaches retries, then drops the message.

template()
Type: string
Default: A format conforming to the default logfile format.

Description: Specifies a template defining the logformat to be used in the destination. Macros are described in Macros of syslog-ng OSE. Please note that for network destinations it might not be appropriate to change the template as it changes the on-wire format of the syslog protocol which might not be tolerated by stock syslog receivers (like syslogd or syslog-ng itself). For network destinations make sure the receiver can cope with the custom format defined.

throttle()
Type: number
Default: 0

Description: Sets the maximum number of messages sent to the destination per second. Use this output-rate-limiting functionality only when using disk-buffer as well to avoid the risk of losing messages. Specifying 0 or a lower value sets the output limit to unlimited.

url()
Type: URL
Default:

Description: Specifies the hostname or IP address and optionally the port number of the web service that can receive log data via HTTP. Use a colon (:) after the address to specify the port number of the server. You can also use macros, templates, and template functions in the URL, for example: http://host.example.com:8080/${MACRO1}/${MACRO2}/script")

http: Posting messages over HTTP without Java

Version 3.8 of syslog-ng OSE can directly post log messages to web services using the HTTP protocol, without having to use Java. The current implementation has the following limitations:

  • Only the PUT and the POST methods are supported.

HTTPS connection, as well as password- and certificate-based authentication is supported.

If the server returns a status code beginning with 4 (for example, 404) to the POST or PUT request, syslog-ng OSE drops the message without trying to resend it.

Example: Client certificate authentication with HTTPS
destination d_https {
  http(
    [...]
    ca-file("/<path-to-certificate-directory>/ca-crt.pem")
    ca-dir("/<path-to-certificate-directory>/")
    cert-file("/<path-to-certificate-directory>/server-crt.pem")
    key-file("/<path-to-certificate-directory>/server-key.pem")
    [...]
  );
};
Declaration:
destination d_http {
    http(
        url("<web-service-IP-or-hostname>")
        method("<HTTP-method>")
        user-agent("<USER-AGENT-message-value>")
        user("<username>")
        password("<password>")
    );
};
Example: Sending log data to a web service

The following example defines an http destination.

destination d_http {
  http(
    url("http://127.0.0.1:8000")
    method("PUT")
    user-agent("syslog-ng User Agent")
    user("user")
    password("password")
    headers("HEADER1: header1", "HEADER2: header2")
    body("${ISODATE} ${MESSAGE}")
  );
};

log
    { source(s_file); destination(d_http); flags(flow-control); };

You can also use the http() destination to forward log messages to Splunk using syslog-ng OSE.

Batch mode

Starting with version 3.18, you can send multiple log messages in a single HTTP request if the destination HTTP server supports that.

Batch size

The flush-lines(), flush-lines(), and flush-timeout() options of the http destination determine how many log messages syslog-ng OSE sends in a batch. The flush-lines() option determines the maximum number of messages syslog-ng OSE puts in a batch in. This can be limited based on size and time:

  • syslog-ng OSE sends a batch every flush-timeout() seconds, even if the number of messages in the batch is less than flush-lines(). That way the destination receives every message in a timely manner even if suddenly there are no more messages.

  • syslog-ng OSE sends the batch if the total size of the messages in the batch reaches flush-bytes() bytes.

To increase the performance of the http() destination, increase the number of worker threads for the destination using the workers() option.

Formatting the batch

By default, syslog-ng OSE separates the log messages of the batch with a newline character. You can specify a different delimiter by using the delimiter() option.

If the destination requires a special beginning or ending to recognize batches, use the body-prefix() and body-suffix() options to add a beginning and ending to the batch. For example, you can use these options to create JSON-encoded arrays as POST payloads, which is required by a number of REST APIs. The body of a batch HTTP request looks like this:

value of body-prefix() option
log-line-1 (as formatted in the body() option)
log-line-2 (as formatted in the body() option)
....
log-line-n (the number of log lines is flush-lines(), or less if flush-timeout() has elapsed or the batch would be longer than flush-bytes())
value of body-suffix() option
Example: HTTP batch mode

The following destination sends log messages to an Elasticsearch server using the bulk API. A batch consists of 100 messages, or a maximum of 512 kilobytes, and is sent every 10 seconds (10000 milliseconds).

destination d_http {
    http(url("http://your-elasticsearch-server/_bulk")
        method("POST")
        flush-lines(100)
        flush-bytes(512Kb)
        flush-timeout(10000)
        headers("Content-Type: application/x-ndjson")
        body-suffix("\n")
        body('{ "index":{} }
             $(format-json --scope rfc5424 --key ISODATE)')
    );
};

HTTP destination options

The http destination of syslog-ng OSE can directly post log messages to web services using the HTTP protocol. The http destination has the following options.

body()
Type: string or template
Default:

Description: The body of the HTTP request, for example, body("${ISODATE} ${MESSAGE}"). You can use strings, macros, and template functions in the body. If not set, it will contain the message received from the source by default.

body-prefix()
Accepted values: string
Default: none

Description: The string syslog-ng OSE puts at the beginning of the body of the HTTP request, before the log message. Available in syslog-ng OSE version 3.18 and later.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

body-suffix()
Accepted values: string
Default: none

Description: The string syslog-ng OSE puts to the end of the body of the HTTP request, after the log message. Available in syslog-ng OSE version 3.18 and later.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

ca-dir()
Accepted values: Directory name
Default: none

Description: Name of a directory, that contains a set of trusted CA certificates in PEM format. The CA certificate files have to be named after the 32-bit hash of the subject's name. This naming can be created using the c_rehash utility in openssl. For an example, see Configuring TLS on the syslog-ng clients. The syslog-ng OSE application uses the CA certificates in this directory to validate the certificate of the peer.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

ca-file()
Accepted values: Filename
Default: none

Description: Name of a file that contains an X.509 CA certificate (or a certificate chain) in PEM format. The syslog-ng OSE application uses this certificate to validate the certificate of the HTTPS server. If the file contains a certificate chain, the file must begin with the certificate of the host, followed by the CA certificate that signed the certificate of the host, and any other signing CAs in order.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

cert-file()
Accepted values: Filename
Default: none

Description: Name of a file, that contains an X.509 certificate (or a certificate chain) in PEM format, suitable as a TLS certificate, matching the private key set in the key-file() option. The syslog-ng OSE application uses this certificate to authenticate the syslog-ng OSE client on the destination server. If the file contains a certificate chain, the file must begin with the certificate of the host, followed by the CA certificate that signed the certificate of the host, and any other signing CAs in order.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

cipher-suite()
Accepted values: Name of a cipher, or a colon-separated list
Default: Depends on the OpenSSL version that syslog-ng OSE uses

Description: Specifies the cipher, hash, and key-exchange algorithms used for the encryption, for example, ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384. The list of available algorithms depends on the version of OpenSSL used to compile syslog-ng OSE. To specify multiple ciphers, separate the cipher names with a colon, and enclose the list between double-quotes, for example:

cipher-suite("ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384")

For a list of available algorithms, execute the openssl ciphers -v command. The first column of the output contains the name of the algorithms to use in the cipher-suite() option, the second column specifies which encryption protocol uses the algorithm (for example, TLSv1.2). That way, the cipher-suite() also determines the encryption protocol used in the connection: to disable SSLv3, use an algorithm that is available only in TLSv1.2, and that both the client and the server supports. You can also specify the encryption protocols using ssl-options().

You can also use the following command to automatically list only ciphers permitted in a specific encryption protocol, for example, TLSv1.2:

echo "cipher-suite(\"$(openssl ciphers -v | grep TLSv1.2 | awk '{print $1}' | xargs echo -n | sed 's/ /:/g' | sed -e 's/:$//')\")"

Note that starting with version 3.10, when syslog-ng OSE receives TLS-encrypted connections, the order of ciphers set on the syslog-ng OSE server takes precedence over the client settings.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

delimiter()
Accepted values: string
Default: newline character

Description: By default, syslog-ng OSE separates the log messages of the batch with a newline character. You can specify a different delimiter by using the delimiter() option. Available in syslog-ng OSE version 3.18 and later.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

disk-buffer()

Description: This option enables putting outgoing messages into the disk buffer of the destination to avoid message loss in case of a system failure on the destination side. It has the following options:

reliable()
Type: yes|no
Default: no

Description: If set to yes, syslog-ng OSE cannot lose logs in case of reload/restart, unreachable destination or syslog-ng OSE crash. This solution provides a slower, but reliable disk-buffer option. It is created and initialized at startup and gradually grows as new messages arrive. If set to no, the normal disk-buffer will be used. This provides a faster, but less reliable disk-buffer option.

Caution:

Hazard of data loss! If you change the value of reliable() option when there are messages in the disk-buffer, the messages stored in the disk-buffer will be lost.

dir()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines the folder where the disk-buffer files are stored.

Caution:

When creating a new dir() option for a disk buffer, or modifying an existing one, make sure you delete the persist file.

syslog-ng OSE creates disk-buffer files based on the path recorded in the persist file. Therefore, if the persist file is not deleted after modifying the dir() option, then following a restart, syslog-ng OSE will look for or create disk-buffer files in their old location. To ensure that syslog-ng OSE uses the new dir() setting, the persist file must not contain any information about the destinations which the disk-buffer file in question belongs to.

disk-buf-size()
Type: number (bytes)
Default:

Description: This is a required option. The maximum size of the disk-buffer in bytes. The minimum value is 1048576 bytes. If you set a smaller value, the minimum value will be used automatically. It replaces the old log-disk-fifo-size() option.
mem-buf-length()
Type: number (messages)
Default: 10000
Description: Use this option if the option reliable() is set to no. This option contains the number of messages stored in overflow queue. It replaces the old log-fifo-size() option. It inherits the value of the global log-fifo-size() option if provided. If it is not provided, the default value is 10000 messages. Note that this option will be ignored if the option reliable() is set to yes.
mem-buf-size()
Type: number (bytes)
Default: 163840000
Description: Use this option if the option reliable() is set to yes. This option contains the size of the messages in bytes that is used in the memory part of the disk buffer. It replaces the old log-fifo-size() option. It does not inherit the value of the global log-fifo-size() option, even if it is provided. Note that this option will be ignored if the option reliable() is set to no.
qout-size()
Type: number (messages)
Default: 64
Description: The number of messages stored in the output buffer of the destination. Note that if you change the value of this option and the disk-buffer already exists, the change will take effect when the disk-buffer becomes empty.

Options reliable() and disk-buf-size() are required options.

Example: Examples for using disk-buffer()

In the following case reliable disk-buffer() is used.

destination d_demo {
    network(
        "127.0.0.1"
        port(3333)
        disk-buffer(
            mem-buf-size(10000)
            disk-buf-size(2000000)
            reliable(yes)
            dir("/tmp/disk-buffer")
        )
    );
};

In the following case normal disk-buffer() is used.

destination d_demo {
    network(
        "127.0.0.1"
        port(3333)
           disk-buffer(
            mem-buf-length(10000)
            disk-buf-size(2000000)
            reliable(no)
            dir("/tmp/disk-buffer")
        )
    );
};
flush-bytes()
Accepted values: number [bytes]
Default: none

Description: Sets the maximum size of payload in an HTTP batch. If the size of the messages reaches this value, syslog-ng OSE sends the batch to the destination even if there are less messages in than set in the flush-lines() option. Available in syslog-ng OSE version 3.18 and later.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

flush-lines()
Type: number
Default: Use global setting (exception: for http() destination, the default is 1).

Description: Specifies how many lines are flushed to a destination at a time. The syslog-ng OSE application waits for this number of lines to accumulate and sends them off in a single batch. Increasing this number increases throughput as more messages are sent in a single batch, but also increases message latency.

The syslog-ng OSE application flushes the messages if it has sent flush-lines() number of messages, or the queue became empty. If you stop or reload syslog-ng OSE or in case of network sources, the connection with the client is closed, syslog-ng OSE automatically sends the unsent messages to the destination.

For optimal performance when sending messages to an syslog-ng OSE server, make sure that the flush-lines() is smaller than the window size set using the log-iw-size() option in the source of your server.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

flush-timeout()
Type: time in milliseconds
Default: 10000 [milliseconds]

Description: Specifies the time syslog-ng OSE waits for lines to accumulate in the output buffer. The syslog-ng OSE application sends flushes to the destinations evenly. The timer starts when the first message arrives to the buffer, so if only few messages arrive, syslog-ng OSE sends messages to the destination at most once every flush-timeout() seconds.

For details on how this option influences HTTP batch mode, see Batch mode

headers()
Type: string list
Default:

Description: Custom HTTP headers to include in the request, for example, headers("HEADER1: header1", "HEADER2: header2"). If not set, only the default headers are included, but no custom headers.

The following headers are included by default:

  • X-Syslog-Host: <host>

  • X-Syslog-Program: <program>

  • X-Syslog-Facility: <facility>

  • X-Syslog-Level: <loglevel/priority>

hook-commands()

Description: This option makes it possible to execute external programs when the relevant driver is initialized or torn down. The hook-commands() can be used with all source and destination drivers with the exception of the usertty() and internal() drivers.

NOTE: The syslog-ng OSE application must be able to start and restart the external program, and have the necessary permissions to do so. For example, if your host is running AppArmor or SELinux, you might have to modify your AppArmor or SELinux configuration to enable syslog-ng OSE to execute external applications.

Using the hook-commands() when syslog-ng OSE starts or stops

To execute an external program when syslog-ng OSE starts or stops, use the following options:

startup()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines the external program that is executed as syslog-ng OSE starts.

shutdown()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines the external program that is executed as syslog-ng OSE stops.

Using the hook-commands() when syslog-ng OSE reloads

To execute an external program when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is initiated or torn down, for example, on startup/shutdown or during a syslog-ng OSE reload, use the following options:

setup()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines an external program that is executed when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is initiated, for example, on startup or during a syslog-ng OSE reload.

teardown()
Type: string
Default: N/A

Description: Defines an external program that is executed when the syslog-ng OSE configuration is stopped or torn down, for example, on shutdown or during a syslog-ng OSE reload.

Example: Using the hook-commands() with a network source

In the following example, the hook-commands() is used with the network() driver and it opens an iptables port automatically as syslog-ng OSE is started/stopped.

The assumption in this example is that the LOGCHAIN chain is part of a larger ruleset that routes traffic to it. Whenever the syslog-ng OSE created rule is there, packets can flow, otherwise the port is closed.

source {
   network(transport(udp)
	hook-commands(
          startup("iptables -I LOGCHAIN 1 -p udp --dport 514 -j ACCEPT")
          shutdown("iptables -D LOGCHAIN 1")
        )
     );
};
log-fifo-size()
Type: number
Default: Use global setting.

Description: The number of messages that the output queue can store.

key-file()
Accepted values: Filename
Default: none

Description: The name of a file that contains an unencrypted private key in PEM format, suitable as a TLS key. If properly configured, the syslog-ng OSE application uses this private key and the matching certificate (set in the cert-file() option) to authenticate the syslog-ng OSE client on the destination server.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

method()
Type: POST | PUT
Default: POST

Description: Specifies the HTTP method to use when sending the message to the server.

password()
Type: string
Default:

Description: The password that syslog-ng OSE uses to authenticate on the server where it sends the messages.

peer-verify()
Accepted values: yes | no
Default: yes

Description: Verification method of the peer. The following table summarizes the possible options and their results depending on the certificate of the peer.

The remote peer has:
no certificate invalid certificate valid certificate
Local peer-verify() setting no (optional-untrusted) TLS-encryption TLS-encryption TLS-encryption
yes (required-trusted) rejected connection rejected connection TLS-encryption

For untrusted certificates only the existence of the certificate is checked, but it does not have to be valid — syslog-ng accepts the certificate even if it is expired, signed by an unknown CA, or its CN and the name of the machine mismatches.

Caution:

When validating a certificate, the entire certificate chain must be valid, including the CA certificate. If any certificate of the chain is invalid, syslog-ng OSE will reject the connection.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

persist-name()
Type: string
Default:

Description:If you receive the following error message during syslog-ng OSE startup, set the persist-name() option of the duplicate drivers:

Error checking the uniqueness of the persist names, please override it with persist-name option. Shutting down.

This error happens if you use identical drivers in multiple sources, for example, if you configure two file sources to read from the same file. In this case, set the persist-name() of the drivers to a custom string, for example, persist-name("example-persist-name1").

retries()
Type: number (of attempts)
Default: 3

Description: The number of times syslog-ng OSE attempts to send a message to this destination. If syslog-ng OSE could not send a message, it will try again until the number of attempts reaches retries, then drops the message.

To handle HTTP error responses, if the HTTP server returns 5xx codes, syslog-ng OSE will attempt to resend messages until the number of attempts reaches retries. If the HTTP server returns 4xx codes, syslog-ng OSE will drop the messages.

ssl-version()
Type: string
Default: None, uses the libcurl default

Description: Specifies the permitted SSL/TLS version. Possible values: sslv2, sslv3, tlsv1, tlsv1_0, tlsv1_1, tlsv1_2.

An alternative way to specify this option is to put into a tls() block and specify it there, together with any other TLS options. This allows you to separate these options and ensure better readability.

Declaration:
destination  d_http {
	http(
		url("http://127.0.0.1:8080")
		tls(
			ca-dir("dir")
			ca-file("ca")
			cert-file("cert")
			cipher-suite("cipher") 
			key-file("key")
			peer-verify(yes|no)
			ssl-version(<the permitted SSL/TLS version>)
		)
	);
};

Make sure that you specify TLS options either using their own dedicated option (ca-dir(), ca-file(), cert-file(), cipher-suite(), key-file(), peer-verify(), and ssl-version()), or using the tls() block and inserting the relevant options within tls(). Avoid mixing the two methods. In case you do specify TLS options in both ways, the one that comes later in the configuration file will take effect.

template()
Type: string
Default: A format conforming to the default logfile format.

Description: Specifies a template defining the logformat to be used in the destination. Macros are described in Macros of syslog-ng OSE. Please note that for network destinations it might not be appropriate to change the template as it changes the on-wire format of the syslog protocol which might not be tolerated by stock syslog receivers (like syslogd or syslog-ng itself). For network destinations make sure the receiver can cope with the custom format defined.

throttle()
Type: number
Default: 0

Description: Sets the maximum number of messages sent to the destination per second. Use this output-rate-limiting functionality only when using disk-buffer as well to avoid the risk of losing messages. Specifying 0 or a lower value sets the output limit to unlimited.

timeout()
Type: number [seconds]
Default: 0

Description: The value (in seconds) to wait for an operation to complete, and attempt to reconnect the server if exceeded. By default, the timeout value is 0, meaning that there is no timeout. Available in version 3.11 and later.

url()
Type: URL
Default: http://localhost/

Description: Specifies the hostname or IP address and optionally the port number of the web service that can receive log data via HTTP. Use a colon (:) after the address to specify the port number of the server. For example: http://127.0.0.1:8000

user-agent()
Type: string
Default: syslog-ng [version]/libcurl[version]

Description: The value of the USER-AGENT header in the messages sent to the server.

user()
Type: string
Default:

Description: The username that syslog-ng OSE uses to authenticate on the server where it sends the messages.

workers()
Type: integer
Default: 1

Description: Specifies the number of worker threads (at least 1) that syslog-ng OSE uses to send messages to the HTTP server. Increasing the number of worker threads can drastically improve the performance of the destination.

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