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syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.30 - 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 email 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 collectd: sending metrics to collectd elasticsearch2: Sending messages directly to Elasticsearch version 2.0 or higher (DEPRECATED) elasticsearch-http: Sending messages to Elasticsearch HTTP Bulk API 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 (Java implementation) kafka: Publishing messages to Apache Kafka (C implementation, using the librdkafka client) 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 slack: Sending alerts and notifications to a Slack channel smtp: Generating SMTP messages (email) from logs snmp: Sending SNMP traps Splunk: Sending log messages to Splunk sql: Storing messages in an SQL database stomp: Publishing messages using STOMP Sumo Logic destinations: sumologic-http() and sumologic-syslog() syslog: Sending messages to a remote logserver using the IETF-syslog protocol syslog-ng(): Forward logs 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 Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) License Glossary

Why is syslog-ng needed?

Log messages contain information about the events happening on the hosts. Monitoring system events is essential for security and system health monitoring reasons.

The original syslog protocol separates messages based on the priority of the message and the facility sending the message. These two parameters alone are often inadequate to consistently classify messages, as many applications might use the same facility, and the facility itself is not even included in the log message. To make things worse, many log messages contain unimportant information. The syslog-ng application helps you to select only the really interesting messages, and forward them to a central server.

Company policies or other regulations often require log messages to be archived. Storing the important messages in a central location greatly simplifies this process.

What is new in syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.30?

This section lists the most recent changes of syslog-ng Open Source Edition (syslog-ng OSE).

Version 3.29 - 3.30

  • New template function: filter()

    From version 3.30, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the filter() template function, which runs the filter expression on each element of a given list, and returns only those list elements that meet the requirements of the filter expression.

  • New option for systemd-journal() source: namespace()

    From version 3.30, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the namespace() option for the systemd-journal() source, which works exactly the same way as the respective option of the Journalctl command line tool.

  • Local timezone STD format supported for %z format element in date-parser()

    From version 3.30, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the local timezone STD format for the %z format element of date-parser().

Version 3.28 - 3.29

  • New parser: panos-parser()

    From version 3.29, the syslog-ng OSE application supports the panos-parser() parser as SCL.

  • New PCRE flag: dupnames

    From version 3.29, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the dupnames flag to be used in PCRE expressions, allowing duplicate names for named subpatterns.

Version 3.27-3.28

  • Support for the proxy() option in HTTP-based destinations

    From version 3.28, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the proxy() option in HTTP-based destinations.

  • New template function: map()

    From version 3.28, the syslog-ng OSE application supports the map() template function.

  • Load balancing support

    From syslog-ng OSE version 3.28, you can load balance your logs between multiple destinations.

Version 3.26-3.27

  • New destinations: sumologic-http() and sumologic-syslog()

    From version 3.27, the syslog-ng OSE application can send logs to Sumo Logic through the sumologic-http() and sumologic-syslog() destinations.

  • New rewrite function: set-facility()

    From version 3.27, the syslog-ng OSE application supports using the set-facility() rewrite function to change the syslog facility associated with the message.

  • New parameter: ca-dir()

    From syslog-ng OSE version 3.27, you can use the ca-dir() parameter for the tls() option for the network() source to set a bundled CA-file for peer-verification.

  • New macros

    From syslog-ng OSE version 3.27, three new macros are available:

    • $DESTIP

    • $DESTPORT

    • $PROTO

  • Arrow syntax support (Java and Python options)

    From version 3.27, syslog-ng OSE supports the "arrow" syntax for declaring custom Python and Java options in your configuration.

Who uses syslog-ng?

The syslog-ng application is used worldwide by companies and institutions who collect and manage the logs of several hosts, and want to store them in a centralized, organized way. Using syslog-ng is particularly advantageous for:

  • Internet Service Providers

  • Financial institutions and companies requiring policy compliance

  • Server, web, and application hosting companies

  • Datacenters

  • Wide area network (WAN) operators

  • Server farm administrators.

Supported platforms

The syslog-ng Open Source Edition (syslog-ng OSE) application is highly portable and is known to run on a wide range of hardware architectures (x86, x86_64, SUN Sparc, PowerPC 32 and 64, Alpha) and operating systems, including Linux, BSD, Solaris, IBM AIX, HP-UX, Mac OS X, Cygwin, and others.

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