syslog-ng Premium Edition 7.0.34 - Administration Guide

The following describes how to upgrade to syslog-ng PE 7.

Notes and warnings about the upgrade

Caution:

Read the entire document thoroughly before starting the upgrade.

Caution:

Hazard of data loss!

Consider the following before upgrading from syslog-ng PE 6.0.x to version 7:

When upgrading a syslog-ng PE installation that is running in server or relay mode, One Identity recommends redirecting the client logs to another syslog server to avoid message loss.
During the upgrade, there will be periods when syslog-ng PE will not be able to receive logs. Make sure to upgrade in a dedicated maintenance window when you can disable receiving logs.

Versions 6.0.x and 7.0.x are significantly different, therefore direct upgrade is not possible. Read the entire document thoroughly before starting the upgrade. For a detailed list about the differences, see Differences in features between syslog-ng PE 6 LTS and 7 in the Release Notes.
The list of supported platforms has changed in version 7.0.x. Verify that your platform is supported on the Supported platforms page. In particular, 32-bit systems are no longer supported, so they can not be upgraded to version 7.0.x.
Version 7.0.x of syslog-ng PE does not support every feature of 6.0.x. For a detailed list about the differences, see Differences in features between syslog-ng PE 6 LTS and 7 in the Release Notes.
Features available in both 7.0.x and 6 LTS may work differently. For a detailed list about the differences, see Differences in features between syslog-ng PE 6 LTS and 7 in the Release Notes.

Prerequisites

You must have a valid software subscription to be able to download the new version of syslog-ng PE.

Complete the following steps before starting the actual upgrade process.

Download the installer package for the latest 7.0.x version of syslog-ng PE from the [[[Undefined variable General.downloads-text]]].
If you are using syslog-ng PE in server mode, download the new license from My License Assets.
Install syslog-ng PE 7 on a test machine.
Replace the syslog-ng PE configuration file on the test machine with your syslog-ng PE version 6.0.x configuration file.
Edit the configuration file: update the version string to @version: 7.0.
Update the configuration file.

Some features and functionalities have changed between version 6 and 7 and require you to change the configuration file, for example, to delete options that have been removed from the product, or change the names of options that have been renamed. For a detailed list about the differences, see Differences in features between syslog-ng PE 6 LTS and 7 in the Release Notes.

Perform the following steps until you have an updated configuration file that properly works with syslog-ng PE 7.
1. Check the configuration for syntax errors using the syslog-ng --syntax-only --cfgfile <your-modified-configuration-file> command. Modify your configuration to correct any errors and warnings.
2. Restart syslog-ng.
3. Verify that message filtering and processing (for example, parsing and rewriting) works properly.
4. Verify that the format and content of the output messages is correct, including the SDATA of RFC-5424-formatted messages if you are using them.

To upgrade from syslog-ng PE 6.0.x to 7 on a production machine

If you use disk buffers, empty your disk-buffer files before starting the upgrade process.

For more information about disk-buffer files and how to get information about them, see How to get information about disk-buffer files.

For more information about emptying your disk-buffer files, see How to empty disk-buffer files.

Caution:

Hazard of data loss!

If you have logs in your disk-buffer files, failing to empty the disk-buffer files before starting the upgrade process may result in log loss. One Identity recommends that you empty your disk-buffer files before starting the upgrade process.

Before upgrading the host to syslog-ng PE 7, upgrade it to the latest available 6.0.x version.
Login to the host you want to upgrade.

Caution:

Hazard of data loss!

This host will not be able to receive or send log messages until the upgrade procedure is complete. Make sure to upgrade in a dedicated maintenance window when you can disable receiving logs.

When upgrading a syslog-ng PE installation that is running in server or relay mode, One Identity recommends redirecting the client logs to another syslog server to avoid message loss.

Stop syslog-ng PE version 6.

Verify that syslog-ng PE has stopped. The output of the following command must be empty: ps axu | grep syslog-ng
Create a backup of the syslog-ng PE installation directory using the following command: cp -a /opt/syslog-ng /opt/syslog-ng-pe6-backup
Uninstall syslog-ng PE version 6. For details, see Uninstalling syslog-ng PE 6.
Delete the installation directory using the following command: rm -rf /opt/syslog-ng
Download the new installer package from the [[[Undefined variable General.downloads-text]]].
Install syslog-ng PE 7. For details, see Installing syslog-ng PE.

NOTE: If you want to run syslog-ng PE under a non-privileged user, see this knowledgebase article for details.
Stop syslog-ng PE version 7 started by the installer.
Copy the syslog-ng PE version 7 configuration file that you created on your test machine into the /opt/syslog-ng/etc directory of the host you are upgrading.
If the host you are upgrading is running syslog-ng PE in server mode, replace the old (version 6) license file with the new one.

Caution:
Hazard of data loss! Without the new license file, syslog-ng PE will run in relay mode, and will not store the incoming messages locally.
Restart syslog-ng PE and verify that it is running and processing logs properly. For details, see Managing and checking syslog-ng service on Linux.
If you experience problems during the upgrade, contact our Support Team.

This scenario is not supported and will fail with the following error messages.