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syslog-ng Premium Edition 7.0.29 - Administration Guide

Preface Introduction to syslog-ng The concepts of syslog-ng Installing syslog-ng PE The syslog-ng PE quick-start guide The syslog-ng PE configuration file Collecting log messages — sources and source drivers
How sources work default-network-drivers: Receive and parse common syslog messages internal: Collecting internal messages file: Collecting messages from text files google-pubsub: collecting messages from the Google Pub/Sub messaging service wildcard-file: Collecting messages from multiple text files linux-audit: Collecting messages from Linux audit logs mssql, oracle, sql: collecting messages from an SQL database network: Collecting messages using the RFC3164 protocol (network() driver) office365: Fetching logs from Office 365 osquery: Collect and parse osquery result logs pipe: Collecting messages from named pipes program: Receiving messages from external applications python: writing server-style Python sources python-fetcher: writing fetcher-style Python sources snmptrap: Read Net-SNMP traps 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 udp-balancer: Receiving UDP messages at very high rate unix-stream, unix-dgram: Collecting messages from UNIX domain sockets windowsevent: Collecting Windows event logs
Sending and storing log messages — destinations and destination drivers
elasticsearch2: Sending messages directly to Elasticsearch version 2.0 or higher (DEPRECATED) elasticsearch-http: Sending messages to Elasticsearch HTTP Event Collector file: Storing messages in plain-text files google_pubsub(): Sending logs to the Google Cloud Pub/Sub messaging service hdfs: Storing messages on the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) http: Posting messages over HTTP without Java kafka(): Publishing messages to Apache Kafka (Java implementation) (DEPRECATED) kafka-c(): Publishing messages to Apache Kafka using the librdkafka client (C implementation) logstore: Storing messages in encrypted files mongodb: Storing messages in a MongoDB database network: Sending messages to a remote log server using the RFC3164 protocol (network() driver) pipe: Sending messages to named pipes program: Sending messages to external applications python: writing custom Python destinations sentinel(): Sending logs to the Microsoft Azure Sentinel cloud snmp: Sending SNMP traps smtp: Generating SMTP messages (email) from logs splunk-hec: Sending messages to Splunk HTTP Event Collector sql(): Storing messages in an SQL database stackdriver: Sending logs to the Google Stackdriver cloud 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) unix-stream, unix-dgram: Sending messages to UNIX domain sockets usertty: Sending messages to a user terminal — usertty() destination Client-side failover
Routing messages: log paths, flags, and filters Global options of syslog-ng PE TLS-encrypted message transfer Advanced Log Transfer Protocol Reliability and minimizing the loss of log messages Manipulating messages parser: Parse and segment structured messages Processing message content with a pattern database Correlating log messages Enriching log messages with external data Monitoring statistics and metrics of syslog-ng Multithreading and scaling in syslog-ng PE Troubleshooting syslog-ng Best practices and examples The syslog-ng manual pages Glossary

Preface

Welcome to the syslog-ng Premium Edition 7 Administration Guide.

This document describes how to configure and manage syslog-ng Premium Edition (syslog-ng PE). Background information for the technology and concepts used by the product is also discussed.

Summary of contents

Introduction to syslog-ng describes the main functionality and purpose of syslog-ng PE.

The concepts of syslog-ng discusses the technical concepts and philosophies behind syslog-ng PE.

Installing syslog-ng PE describes how to install syslog-ng PE on various UNIX-based platforms using the precompiled binaries.

The syslog-ng PE quick-start guide provides a briefly explains how to perform the most common log collecting tasks with syslog-ng PE.

The syslog-ng PE configuration file discusses the configuration file format and syntax in detail, and explains how to manage large-scale configurations using included files and reusable configuration snippets.

Collecting log messages — sources and source drivers explains how to collect and receive log messages from various sources.

Sending and storing log messages — destinations and destination drivers describes the different methods to store and forward log messages.

Routing messages: log paths, flags, and filters explains how to route and sort log messages, and how to use filters to select specific messages.

Global options of syslog-ng PE lists the global options of syslog-ng PE and explains how to use them.

TLS-encrypted message transfer shows how to secure and authenticate log transport using TLS encryption.

Advanced Log Transfer Protocol shows how to log using the Advanced Log Transfer Protocol protocol.

Manipulating messages describes how to customize message format using templates and macros, how to rewrite and modify messages, and how to use regular expressions.

parser: Parse and segment structured messages describes how to segment and process structured messages like comma-separated values.

Processing message content with a pattern database explains how to identify and process log messages using a pattern database.

Correlating log messages details how to correlate log messages.

Enriching log messages with external data details how to import data from external sources to include in the log messages, thus extending, enriching, and complementing the data found in the log message.

Monitoring statistics and metrics of syslog-ng details the available statistics that syslog-ng PE collects about the processed log messages.

Multithreading and scaling in syslog-ng PE describes how to configure syslog-ng PE to use multiple processors, and how to optimize its performance.

Troubleshooting syslog-ng offers tips to solving problems.

Best practices and examples gives recommendations to configure special features of syslog-ng PE.

The syslog-ng manual pages contains the manual pages of the syslog-ng PE application.

Target audience and prerequisites

This guide is intended for system administrators and consultants responsible for designing and maintaining logging solutions and log centers. It is also useful for IT decision makers looking for a tool to implement centralized logging in heterogeneous environments.

The following skills and knowledge are necessary for a successful syslog-ng administrator:

  • At least basic system administration knowledge.

  • An understanding of networks, TCP/IP protocols, and general network terminology.

  • Working knowledge of the UNIX or Linux operating system.

  • In-depth knowledge of the logging process of various platforms and applications.

  • An understanding of the legacy syslog (BSD-syslog) protocol and the new syslog (IETF-syslog) protocol standard.

Acknowledgments

One Identity would like to express its gratitude to the syslog-ng users and the syslog-ng community for their invaluable help and support.

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