syslog-ng Premium Edition 6.0.17 - Administration Guide

Procedure 3.3. Installing syslog-ng PE on RPM-based platforms (Red Hat, SUSE, AIX)

Purpose: 

To install syslog-ng PE on operating systems that use the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM), complete the following steps. Installing syslog-ng PE automatically replaces the original syslog service. The following supported operating systems use RPM:

Steps: 

1. Login to MyDownloads and download the syslog-ng RPM package for your system.

2. • If the host already uses syslog-ng PE for logging, execute the following command as root. Otherwise, skip this step.

     rpm -U syslog-ng-premium-edition-<version>-<OS>-<arch>.rpm

     The syslog-ng Premium Edition application and all its dependencies will be installed, and the configuration of the existing syslog-ng PE installation will be used.

     NOTE: If you are upgrading from syslog-ng version 2.1, note that the location of the configuration file has been moved to /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng.conf

   • Execute the following command as root:

     rpm -i syslog-ng-premium-edition-<version>-<OS>-<arch>.rpm

     The syslog-ng PE application and all its dependencies will be installed.

3. Caution: When performing an upgrade, the package manager might automatically execute the post-uninstall script of the upgraded package, stopping syslog-ng PE and starting syslogd. If this happens, stop syslogd and start syslog-ng PE by issuing the following commands: /etc/init.d/syslogd stop /etc/init.d/syslog-ng start This behavior has been detected on CentOS 4 systems, but may occur on other rpm-based platforms as well.

4. Edit the syslog-ng PE configuration file as needed. If you want to run syslog-ng PE in server mode, copy the license file to the /opt/syslog-ng/etc/ directory.

   For information on configuring syslog-ng PE, see the Chapter 4, The syslog-ng PE quick-start guide.

5. Optional step for SELinux-enabled systems: Complete Procedure 3.4, “Using syslog-ng PE on SELinux”.

6. Optional step for AIX systems: To redirect the messages of the AIX Error log into syslog, create a file (for example /tmp/syslog-ng.add) with the following contents:

   errnotify:
   en_name = "syslog1"
   en_persistenceflg = 1
   en_method = "logger Msg from Error Log: `errpt -l $1 | grep -v 'ERROR_ID TIMESTAMP'`"

   Then execute the following command as root: odmadd /tmp/syslog-ng.add.

Procedure 3.4. Using syslog-ng PE on SELinux

Purpose: 

Version syslog-ng PE 5 F2 and later properly supports SELinux on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 and newer platforms. Version 5 F5 and later also supports SELinux on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, as well as on 6.0-6.4. The CentOS platforms corresponding to the supported RHEL versions, and Oracle Linux 7 are supported as well. To use syslog-ng PE on a SELinux-enabled host, complete the following steps.

Prerequisites: 

Steps: 

Expected result: 

The syslog-ng PE application is installed and properly running under SELinux. If syslog-ng PE does not start, or displays permission errors, execute the syslog_ng.sh.

1. Download the syslog-ng PE SELinux policy module from support portal.

2. Uncompress the file and run the ./syslog_ng.sh script to compile and load the SELinux rules for syslog-ng PE.

3. Restart syslog-ng PE using the following command.

   Caution: The SELinux policy works only if syslog-ng PE is started by the init daemon.

   • On RHEL6: service syslog-ng restart

   • On RHEL7: systemctl restart syslog-ng

   If you do not use the service or the systemctl to start syslog-ng PE execute the syslog_ng.sh script again after starting syslog-ng PE. This is required to correct the settings of the files related to syslog-ng PE (most notably /dev/log and the files under /opt/syslog-ng). The settings can become incorrect if the privileges of the process that started syslog-ng PE are different from the privileges of the service or the systemctl process.

4. Optional Step: The syslog-ng PE application can create coredumps, but this is disabled by default. You can enable coredumps with the setsebool -P daemons_dump_core 1 command.

   Note that his command enables every daemons on your system to create core dumps, not just syslog-ng PE. There is no way to enable per-application core dumps in SELinux.

Procedure 3.5. Installing syslog-ng on Debian-based platforms

Purpose: 

To install syslog-ng on operating systems that use the Debian Software Package (deb) format, complete the following steps. The following supported operating systems use this format:

Steps: 

1. Login to MyDownloads and download the syslog-ng PE DEB package for your system.

2. Issue the following command as root:

   dpkg -i syslog-ng-premium-edition-<version>-<OS>-<arch>.deb

3. Answer the configuration questions of syslog-ng PE. These are described in detail in the section called “Installing syslog-ng using the .run installer”.

   For information on configuring syslog-ng PE, see the Chapter 4, The syslog-ng PE quick-start guide.

Procedure 3.9. Installing syslog-ng PE on Windows platforms

Purpose: 

Complete the following steps to install syslog-ng PE in server mode on Microsoft Windows platforms. For details on the different operation modes of syslog-ng PE, see the section called “Modes of operation”.

Steps: 

1. Login to MyDownloads and download the syslog-ng installer package and your syslog-ng Premium Edition license. The license will be required to run syslog-ng in server mode (see the section called “Server mode”) and is needed when you are installing syslog-ng on your central log server.

2. Start the installer. The Welcome screen is displayed. Click Next.

   Figure 3.16. The Welcome screen of the syslog-ng PE installer on Microsoft Windows

   
   
   

3. Accepting the EULA: You can install syslog-ng PE only if you understand and accept the terms of the End-User License Agreement (EULA). The full text of the EULA can be displayed during installation by selecting the Show EULA option, and is also available at Software Transaction, License and End User License Agreements. Select Accept to accept the EULA and continue the installation.

   If you do not accept the terms of the EULA for some reason, select Reject to cancel installing syslog-ng PE.

4. Select Install syslog-ng Premium Edition and click Next.

   NOTE: If you do not want to install syslog-ng PE, just copy its files to a host so that you can start it manually without registering it as a service, select Unpack files without installation.

   Figure 3.17. Select how to install syslog-ng PE on Microsoft Windows

   
   
   

5. Installation path: Enter the path to install syslog-ng PE to. This is useful if you intend to install syslog-ng PE without registering it as a service, or if it cannot be installed to the default location because of policy compliance reasons. If no path is given, syslog-ng PE is installed to the default folder.

   Figure 3.18. Select the installation folder for syslog-ng PE on Microsoft Windows

   
   
   

6. Locating the license: Enter the path to your license file and click Next.

   If you are upgrading an existing configuration that already has a license file, the installer automatically detects it.

   Caution: The syslog-ng PE application will not use the specified file directly, but copy it under the %INSTALLDIR%\etc\ folder.

   Figure 3.19. Selecting the license file on Microsoft Windows

   
   
   

7. Locating the configuration file: Enter the path to your configuration file and click Next.

   If you are upgrading an existing configuration that already has a configuration file, the installer automatically detects it.

   Caution: The syslog-ng PE application will not use the specified file directly, but copy it to %INSTALLDIR%\etc\syslog-ng.conf. To modify the configuration of syslog-ng PE, edit the %INSTALLDIR%\etc\syslog-ng.conf file. By default, syslog-ng PE is installed into the C:\Program Files\syslog-ng directory.

   Figure 3.20. Selecting the configuration file on Microsoft Windows

   
   
   

8. Select Register as a service.

   Figure 3.21. Registering and starting the syslog-ng PE service

   
   
   

9. Select Start the syslog-ng PE service and click Install.

   Expected result: 

   The syslog-ng PE application is installed and the service is started.

Procedure 3.10. Managing syslog-ng PE from Puppet

Purpose: 

To simplify the management of large-scale syslog-ng PE deployments, you can centrally manage your syslog-ng PE hosts from Puppet. The syslog-ng Premium Edition Puppet module (syslog_ng) allows you to perform the following tasks.

The Puppet module supports the following platforms: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Oracle Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Debian. Other Linux platforms based on .deb and .rpm packages might also work, but are not tested.

To manage your syslog-ng PE clients from Puppet, complete the following steps.

Prerequisites: 

To use the syslog_ng Puppet module, the following prerequisites must be met.

Steps: 

1. Login to MyDownloads and download the syslog-ng PE installer package for your platform.

2. Add the syslog-ng PE installer package to your local package repositories.

3. Download the syslog_ng Puppet module from support portal.

4. Copy the module to your Puppet master, then build and install it. For details, see the Readme.md file of the module.

Procedure 3.12. Configuring Microsoft SQL Server to accept logs from syslog-ng

Purpose: 

Complete the following steps to configure your Microsoft SQL Server to enable remote logins and accept log messages from syslog-ng.

Steps: 

1. Start the SQL Server Management Studio application. Select Start > Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Create a new database.

   1. Figure 3.22. Creating a new MSSQL database 1.

      
      
      

      In the Object Explorer, right-click on the Databases entry and select New Database.

   2. Figure 3.23. Creating a new MSSQL database 2.

      
      
      

      Enter the name of the new database (for example syslogng) into the Database name field and click OK.

3. Create a new database user and associate it with the new database.

   1. Figure 3.24. Creating a new MSSQL user 1.

      
      
      

      In the Object Explorer, select Security, right-click on the Logins entry, then select New Login.

   2. Figure 3.25. Creating a new MSSQL user 2.

      
      
      

      Enter a name (for example syslog-ng) for the user into the Login name field.

   3. Select the SQL Server Authentication option and enter a password for the user.

   4. In the Default database field, select the database created in Step 2 (for example syslogng).

   5. In the Default language field, select the language of log messages that you want to store in the database, then click OK.

      Caution: Incorrect language settings may result in the database converting the messages to a different character-encoding format. That way the log messages may become unreadable, causing information loss.

   6. In the Object Explorer, select Security > Logins, then right-click on the new login created in the previous step, and select Properties.

   7. Figure 3.26. Associating database with the new user

      
      
      

      Select User Mapping. In the Users mapped to this login option, check the line corresponding to the new login (for example syslogng). In the Database role membership field, check the db_owner and public options.

4. Figure 3.27. Associating database with the new user

   
   
   

   Enable remote logins for SQL users.

   In the Object Explorer right-click on your database server, and select Properties > Security, and set the Server Authentication option to SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode.