Chapter 23. Viewing and Managing Log Files
Chapter 23. Viewing and Managing Log Files Log files are files that contain messages about the system, including the kernel, services, and applications running on it. There are different log files for different information. For example, there is a default system log file, a log file just for security messages, and a log file for cron tasks. Log files can be very useful when trying to troubleshoot a problem with the system such as trying to load a kernel driver or when looking for unauthorized login attempts to the system. This chapter discusses where to find log files, how to view log files, and what to look for in log files. Some log files are controlled by a daemon called rsyslogd . The rsyslogd daemon is an enhanced replacement for sysklogd , and provides extended filtering, encryption protected relaying of messages, various configuration options, input and output modules, support for transportation via the TCP or UDP protocols. Note that rsyslog is compatible with sysklogd . Log files can also be managed by the journald daemon - a component of systemd . The journald daemon captures Syslog messages, kernel log messages, initial RAM disk and early boot messages as well as messages written to standard output and standard error output of all services, indexes them and makes this available to the user. The native journal file format, which is a structured and indexed binary file, improves searching and provides faster operation, and it also stores meta data information like time stamps or user IDs. Log files produced by journald are by default not persistent, log files are stored only in memory or a small ring-buffer in the /run/log/journal/ directory. The amount of logged data depends on free memory, when you reach the capacity limit, the oldest entries are deleted. However, this setting can be altered - see Section 23.10.5, "Enabling Persistent Storage" . For more information on Journal see Section 23.10, "Using the Journal" . By default, these two logging tools coexist on your system. The journald daemon is the primary tool for troubleshooting. It also provides additional data necessary for creating structured log messages. Data acquired by journald is forwarded into the /run/systemd/journal/syslog socket that may be used by rsyslogd to process the data further. However, rsyslog does the actual integration by default via the imjournal input module, thus avoiding the aforementioned socket. You can also transfer data in the opposite direction, from rsyslogd to journald with use of omjournal module. See Section 23.7, "Interaction of Rsyslog and Journal" for further information. The integration enables maintaining text-based logs in a consistent format to ensure compatibility with possible applications or configurations dependent on rsyslogd . Also, you can maintain rsyslog messages in a structured format (see Section 23.8, "Structured Logging with Rsyslog" ). 23.1. Locating Log Files A list of log files maintained by rsyslogd can be found in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file. Most log files are located in the /var/log/ directory. Some applications such as httpd and samba have a directory within /var/log/ for their log files. You may notice multiple files in the /var/log/ directory with numbers after them (for example, cron-20100906 ). These numbers represent a time stamp that has been added to a rotated log file. Log files are rotated so their file sizes do not become too large. The logrotate package contains a cron task that automatically rotates log files according to the /etc/logrotate.conf configuration file and the configuration files in the /etc/logrotate.d/ directory. 23.2. Basic Configuration of Rsyslog The main configuration file for rsyslog is /etc/rsyslog.conf . Here, you can specify global directives , modules , and rules that consist of filter and action parts. Also, you can add comments in the form of text following a hash sign ( # ). 23.2.1. Filters A rule is specified by a filter part, which selects a subset of syslog messages, and an action part, which specifies what to do with the selected messages. To define a rule in your /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file, define both, a filter and an action, on one line and separate them with one or more spaces or tabs. rsyslog offers various ways to filter syslog messages according to selected properties. The available filtering methods can be divided into Facility/Priority-based , Property-based , and Expression-based filters. Facility/Priority-based filters The most used and well-known way to filter syslog messages is to use the facility/priority-based filters which filter syslog messages based on two conditions: facility and priority separated by a dot. To create a selector, use the following syntax: where: FACILITY specifies the subsystem that produces a specific syslog message. For example, the mail subsystem handles all mail-related syslog messages. FACILITY can be represented by one of the following keywords (or by a numerical code): kern (0), user (1), mail (2), daemon (3), auth (4), syslog (5), lpr (6), news (7), cron (8), authpriv (9), ftp (10), and local0 through local7 (16 - 23). PRIORITY specifies a priority of a syslog message. PRIORITY can be represented by one of the following keywords (or by a number): debug (7), info (6), notice (5), warning (4), err (3), crit (2), alert (1), and emerg (0). The aforementioned syntax selects syslog messages with the defined or higher priority. By preceding any priority keyword with an equal sign ( = ), you specify that only syslog messages with the specified priority will be selected. All other priorities will be ignored. Conversely, preceding a priority keyword with an exclamation mark ( ! ) selects all syslog messages except those with the defined priority. In addition to the keywords specified above, you may also use an asterisk ( * ) to define all facilities or priorities (depending on where you place the asterisk, before or after the comma). Specifying the priority keyword none serves for facilities with no given priorities. Both facility and priority conditions are case-insensitive. To define multiple facilities and priorities, separate them with a comma ( , ). To define multiple selectors on one line, separate them with a semi-colon ( ; ). Note that each selector in the selector field is capable of overwriting the preceding ones, which can exclude some priorities from the pattern. Example 23.1. Facility/Priority-based Filters The following are a few examples of simple facility/priority-based filters that can be specified in /etc/rsyslog.conf . To select all kernel syslog messages with any priority, add the following text into the configuration file: To select all mail syslog messages with priority crit and higher, use this form: To select all cron syslog messages except those with the info or debug priority, set the configuration in the following form: Property-based filters Property-based filters let you filter syslog messages by any property, such as timegenerated or syslogtag . For more information on properties, see the section called "Properties" . You can compare each of the specified properties to a particular value using one of the compare-operations listed in Table 23.1, "Property-based compare-operations" . Both property names and compare operations are case-sensitive. Property-based filter must start with a colon ( : ). To define the filter, use the following syntax: where: The PROPERTY attribute specifies the desired property. The optional exclamation point ( ! ) negates the output of the compare-operation. Other Boolean operators are currently not supported in property-based filters. The COMPARE_OPERATION attribute specifies one of the compare-operations listed in Table 23.1, "Property-based compare-operations" . The STRING attribute specifies the value that the text provided by the property is compared to. This value must be enclosed in quotation marks. To escape certain character inside the string (for example a quotation mark ( " )), use the backslash character ( \ ). Table 23.1. Property-based compare-operations Compare-operation Description contains Checks whether the provided string matches any part of the text provided by the property. isequal Compares the provided string against all of the text provided by the property. These two values must be exactly equal to match. startswith Checks whether the provided string is found exactly at the beginning of the text provided by the property. regex Compares the provided POSIX BRE (Basic Regular Expression) against the text provided by the property. ereregex Compares the provided POSIX ERE (Extended Regular Expression) regular expression against the text provided by the property. isempty Checks if the property is empty. The value is discarded. This is especially useful when working with normalized data, where some fields may be populated based on normalization result. Example 23.2. Property-based Filters The following are a few examples of property-based filters that can be specified in /etc/rsyslog.conf . To select syslog messages which contain the string error in their message text, use: The following filter selects syslog messages received from the host name host1 : To select syslog messages which do not contain any mention of the words fatal and error with any or no text between them (for example, fatal lib error ), type: Expression-based filters Expression-based filters select syslog messages according to defined arithmetic, Boolean or string operations. Expression-based filters use rsyslog 's own scripting language called RainerScript to build complex filters. The basic syntax of expression-based filter looks as follows: where: The EXPRESSION attribute represents an expression to be evaluated, for example: USDmsg startswith 'DEVNAME' or USDsyslogfacility-text == 'local0' . You can specify more than one expression in a single filter by using and and or operators. Note that rsyslog supports case-insensitive comparisons in expression-based filters. You can use contains_i or startswith_i compare-operations within the EXPRESSION attribute, for example: if USDhostname startswith_i "<HOST_NAME>" then ACTION . The ACTION attribute represents an action to be performed if the expression returns the value true . This can be a single action, or an arbitrary complex script enclosed in curly braces. Expression-based filters are indicated by the keyword if at the start of a new line. The then keyword separates the EXPRESSION from the ACTION . Optionally, you can employ the else keyword to specify what action is to be performed in case the condition is not met. With expression-based filters, you can nest the conditions by using a script enclosed in curly braces as in Example 23.3, "Expression-based Filters" . The script allows you to use facility/priority-based filters inside the expression. On the other hand, property-based filters are not recommended here. RainerScript supports regular expressions with specialized functions re_match() and re_extract() . Example 23.3. Expression-based Filters The following expression contains two nested conditions. The log files created by a program called prog1 are split into two files based on the presence of the "test" string in the message. See the section called "Online Documentation" for more examples of various expression-based filters. RainerScript is the basis for rsyslog 's new configuration format, see Section 23.3, "Using the New Configuration Format" 23.2.2. Actions Actions specify what is to be done with the messages filtered out by an already defined selector. The following are some of the actions you can define in your rule: Saving syslog messages to log files The majority of actions specify to which log file a syslog message is saved. This is done by specifying a file path after your already-defined selector: where FILTER stands for user-specified selector and PATH is a path of a target file. For instance, the following rule is comprised of a selector that selects all cron syslog messages and an action that saves them into the /var/log/cron.log log file: By default, the log file is synchronized every time a syslog message is generated. Use a dash mark ( - ) as a prefix of the file path you specified to omit syncing: Note that you might lose information if the system terminates right after a write attempt. However, this setting can improve performance, especially if you run programs that produce very verbose log messages. Your specified file path can be either static or dynamic . Static files are represented by a fixed file path as shown in the example above. Dynamic file paths can differ according to the received message. Dynamic file paths are represented by a template and a question mark ( ? ) prefix: where DynamicFile is a name of a predefined template that modifies output paths. You can use the dash prefix ( - ) to disable syncing, also you can use multiple templates separated by a colon ( ; ). For more information on templates, see the section called "Generating Dynamic File Names" . If the file you specified is an existing terminal or /dev/console device, syslog messages are sent to standard output (using special terminal -handling) or your console (using special /dev/console -handling) when using the X Window System, respectively. Sending syslog messages over the network rsyslog allows you to send and receive syslog messages over the network. This feature allows you to administer syslog messages of multiple hosts on one machine. To forward syslog messages to a remote machine, use the following syntax: where: The at sign ( @ ) indicates that the syslog messages are forwarded to a host using the UDP protocol. To use the TCP protocol, use two at signs with no space between them ( @@ ). The optional z NUMBER setting enables zlib compression for syslog messages. The NUMBER attribute specifies the level of compression (from 1 - lowest to 9 - maximum). Compression gain is automatically checked by rsyslogd , messages are compressed only if there is any compression gain and messages below 60 bytes are never compressed. The HOST attribute specifies the host which receives the selected syslog messages. The PORT attribute specifies the host machine's port. When specifying an IPv6 address as the host, enclose the address in square brackets ( [ , ] ). Example 23.4. Sending syslog Messages over the Network The following are some examples of actions that forward syslog messages over the network (note that all actions are preceded with a selector that selects all messages with any priority). To forward messages to 192.168.0.1 via the UDP protocol, type: To forward messages to "example.com" using port 6514 and the TCP protocol, use: The following compresses messages with zlib (level 9 compression) and forwards them to 2001:db8::1 using the UDP protocol Output channels Output channels are primarily used to specify the maximum size a log file can grow to. This is very useful for log file rotation (for more information see Section 23.2.5, "Log Rotation" ). An output channel is basically a collection of information about the output action. Output channels are defined by the USDoutchannel directive. To define an output channel in /etc/rsyslog.conf , use the following syntax: where: The NAME attribute specifies the name of the output channel. The FILE_NAME attribute specifies the name of the output file. Output channels can write only into files, not pipes, terminal, or other kind of output. The MAX_SIZE attribute represents the maximum size the specified file (in FILE_NAME ) can grow to. This value is specified in bytes . The ACTION attribute specifies the action that is taken when the maximum size, defined in MAX_SIZE , is hit. To use the defined output channel as an action inside a rule, type: Example 23.5. Output channel log rotation The following output shows a simple log rotation through the use of an output channel. First, the output channel is defined via the USDoutchannel directive: and then it is used in a rule that selects every syslog message with any priority and executes the previously-defined output channel on the acquired syslog messages: Once the limit (in the example 100 MB) is hit, the /home/joe/log_rotation_script is executed. This script can contain anything from moving the file into a different folder, editing specific content out of it, or simply removing it. Sending syslog messages to specific users rsyslog can send syslog messages to specific users by specifying a user name of the user you want to send the messages to (as in Example 23.7, "Specifying Multiple Actions" ). To specify more than one user, separate each user name with a comma ( , ). To send messages to every user that is currently logged on, use an asterisk ( * ). Executing a program rsyslog lets you execute a program for selected syslog messages and uses the system() call to execute the program in shell. To specify a program to be executed, prefix it with a caret character ( ^ ). Consequently, specify a template that formats the received message and passes it to the specified executable as a one line parameter (for more information on templates, see Section 23.2.3, "Templates" ). Here an output of the FILTER condition is processed by a program represented by EXECUTABLE . This program can be any valid executable. Replace TEMPLATE with the name of the formatting template. Example 23.6. Executing a Program In the following example, any syslog message with any priority is selected, formatted with the template template and passed as a parameter to the test-program program, which is then executed with the provided parameter: Warning When accepting messages from any host, and using the shell execute action, you may be vulnerable to command injection. An attacker may try to inject and execute commands in the program you specified to be executed in your action. To avoid any possible security threats, thoroughly consider the use of the shell execute action. Storing syslog messages in a database Selected syslog messages can be directly written into a database table using the database writer action. The database writer uses the following syntax: where: The PLUGIN calls the specified plug-in that handles the database writing (for example, the ommysql plug-in). The DB_HOST attribute specifies the database host name. The DB_NAME attribute specifies the name of the database. The DB_USER attribute specifies the database user. The DB_PASSWORD attribute specifies the password used with the aforementioned database user. The TEMPLATE attribute specifies an optional use of a template that modifies the syslog message. For more information on templates, see Section 23.2.3, "Templates" . Important Currently, rsyslog provides support for MySQL and PostgreSQL databases only. In order to use the MySQL and PostgreSQL database writer functionality, install the rsyslog-mysql and rsyslog-pgsql packages, respectively. Also, make sure you load the appropriate modules in your /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file: For more information on rsyslog modules, see Section 23.6, "Using Rsyslog Modules" . Alternatively, you may use a generic database interface provided by the omlibdb module (supports: Firebird/Interbase, MS SQL, Sybase, SQLLite, Ingres, Oracle, mSQL). Discarding syslog messages To discard your selected messages, use stop . The discard action is mostly used to filter out messages before carrying on any further processing. It can be effective if you want to omit some repeating messages that would otherwise fill the log files. The results of discard action depend on where in the configuration file it is specified, for the best results place these actions on top of the actions list. Please note that once a message has been discarded there is no way to retrieve it in later configuration file lines. For instance, the following rule discards all messages that matches the local5.* filter: In the following example, any cron syslog messages are discarded: Note With versions prior to rsyslog 7, the tilde character ( ~ ) was used instead of stop to discard syslog messages. Specifying Multiple Actions For each selector, you are allowed to specify multiple actions. To specify multiple actions for one selector, write each action on a separate line and precede it with an ampersand (&) character: Specifying multiple actions improves the overall performance of the desired outcome since the specified selector has to be evaluated only once. Example 23.7. Specifying Multiple Actions In the following example, all kernel syslog messages with the critical priority ( crit ) are sent to user user1 , processed by the template temp and passed on to the test-program executable, and forwarded to 192.168.0.1 via the UDP protocol. Any action can be followed by a template that formats the message. To specify a template, suffix an action with a semicolon ( ; ) and specify the name of the template. For more information on templates, see Section 23.2.3, "Templates" . Warning A template must be defined before it is used in an action, otherwise it is ignored. In other words, template definitions should always precede rule definitions in /etc/rsyslog.conf . 23.2.3. Templates Any output that is generated by rsyslog can be modified and formatted according to your needs with the use of templates . To create a template use the following syntax in /etc/rsyslog.conf : where: template() is the directive introducing block defining a template. The TEMPLATE_NAME mandatory argument is used to refer to the template. Note that TEMPLATE_NAME should be unique. The type mandatory argument can acquire one of these values: "list", "subtree", "string" or "plugin". The string argument is the actual template text. Within this text, special characters, such as \n for newline or \r for carriage return, can be used. Other characters, such as % or ", have to be escaped if you want to use those characters literally. Within this text, special characters, such as \n for new line or \r for carriage return, can be used. Other characters, such as % or " , have to be escaped if you want to use those characters literally. The text specified between two percent signs ( % ) specifies a property that allows you to access specific contents of a syslog message. For more information on properties, see the section called "Properties" . The OPTION attribute specifies any options that modify the template functionality. The currently supported template options are sql and stdsql , which are used for formatting the text as an SQL query, or json which formats text to be suitable for JSON processing, and casesensitive which sets case sensitiveness of property names. Note Note that the database writer checks whether the sql or stdsql options are specified in the template. If they are not, the database writer does not perform any action. This is to prevent any possible security threats, such as SQL injection. See section Storing syslog messages in a database in Section 23.2.2, "Actions" for more information. Generating Dynamic File Names Templates can be used to generate dynamic file names. By specifying a property as a part of the file path, a new file will be created for each unique property, which is a convenient way to classify syslog messages. For example, use the timegenerated property, which extracts a time stamp from the message, to generate a unique file name for each syslog message: Keep in mind that the USDtemplate directive only specifies the template. You must use it inside a rule for it to take effect. In /etc/rsyslog.conf , use the question mark ( ? ) in an action definition to mark the dynamic file name template: Properties Properties defined inside a template (between two percent signs ( % )) enable access various contents of a syslog message through the use of a property replacer . To define a property inside a template (between the two quotation marks ( "..." )), use the following syntax: where: The PROPERTY_NAME attribute specifies the name of a property. A list of all available properties and their detailed description can be found in the rsyslog.conf(5) manual page under the section Available Properties . FROM_CHAR and TO_CHAR attributes denote a range of characters that the specified property will act upon. Alternatively, regular expressions can be used to specify a range of characters. To do so, set the letter R as the FROM_CHAR attribute and specify your desired regular expression as the TO_CHAR attribute. The OPTION attribute specifies any property options, such as the lowercase option to convert the input to lowercase. A list of all available property options and their detailed description can be found in the rsyslog.conf(5) manual page under the section Property Options . The following are some examples of simple properties: The following property obtains the whole message text of a syslog message: The following property obtains the first two characters of the message text of a syslog message: The following property obtains the whole message text of a syslog message and drops its last line feed character: The following property obtains the first 10 characters of the time stamp that is generated when the syslog message is received and formats it according to the RFC 3999 date standard. Template Examples This section presents a few examples of rsyslog templates. Example 23.8, "A verbose syslog message template" shows a template that formats a syslog message so that it outputs the message's severity, facility, the time stamp of when the message was received, the host name, the message tag, the message text, and ends with a new line. Example 23.8. A verbose syslog message template Example 23.9, "A wall message template" shows a template that resembles a traditional wall message (a message that is send to every user that is logged in and has their mesg(1) permission set to yes ). This template outputs the message text, along with a host name, message tag and a time stamp, on a new line (using \r and \n ) and rings the bell (using \7 ). Example 23.9. A wall message template Example 23.10, "A database formatted message template" shows a template that formats a syslog message so that it can be used as a database query. Notice the use of the sql option at the end of the template specified as the template option. It tells the database writer to format the message as an MySQL SQL query. Example 23.10. A database formatted message template rsyslog also contains a set of predefined templates identified by the RSYSLOG_ prefix. These are reserved for the syslog's use and it is advisable to not create a template using this prefix to avoid conflicts. The following list shows these predefined templates along with their definitions. RSYSLOG_DebugFormat A special format used for troubleshooting property problems. RSYSLOG_SyslogProtocol23Format The format specified in IETF's internet-draft ietf-syslog-protocol-23, which is assumed to become the new syslog standard RFC. RSYSLOG_FileFormat A modern-style logfile format similar to TraditionalFileFormat, but with high-precision time stamps and time zone information. RSYSLOG_TraditionalFileFormat The older default log file format with low-precision time stamps. RSYSLOG_ForwardFormat A forwarding format with high-precision time stamps and time zone information. RSYSLOG_TraditionalForwardFormat The traditional forwarding format with low-precision time stamps. 23.2.4. Global Directives Global directives are configuration options that apply to the rsyslogd daemon. They usually specify a value for a specific predefined variable that affects the behavior of the rsyslogd daemon or a rule that follows. All of the global directives are enclosed in a global configuration block. The following is an example of a global directive that specifies overriding local host name for log messages: You can define multiple directives in your /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file. A directive affects the behavior of all configuration options until another occurrence of that same directive is detected. Global directives can be used to configure actions, queues and for debugging. A comprehensive list of all available configuration directives can be found in the section called "Online Documentation" . Currently, a new configuration format has been developed that replaces the USD-based syntax (see Section 23.3, "Using the New Configuration Format" ). However, classic global directives remain supported as a legacy format. 23.2.5. Log Rotation The following is a sample /etc/logrotate.conf configuration file: All of the lines in the sample configuration file define global options that apply to every log file. In our example, log files are rotated weekly, rotated log files are kept for four weeks, and all rotated log files are compressed by gzip into the .gz format. Any lines that begin with a hash sign (#) are comments and are not processed. You may define configuration options for a specific log file and place it under the global options. However, it is advisable to create a separate configuration file for any specific log file in the /etc/logrotate.d/ directory and define any configuration options there. The following is an example of a configuration file placed in the /etc/logrotate.d/ directory: The configuration options in this file are specific for the /var/log/messages log file only. The settings specified here override the global settings where possible. Thus the rotated /var/log/messages log file will be kept for five weeks instead of four weeks as was defined in the global options. The following is a list of some of the directives you can specify in your logrotate configuration file: weekly - Specifies the rotation of log files to be done weekly. Similar directives include: daily monthly yearly compress - Enables compression of rotated log files. Similar directives include: nocompress compresscmd - Specifies the command to be used for compressing. uncompresscmd compressext - Specifies what extension is to be used for compressing. compressoptions - Specifies any options to be passed to the compression program used. delaycompress - Postpones the compression of log files to the rotation of log files. rotate INTEGER - Specifies the number of rotations a log file undergoes before it is removed or mailed to a specific address. If the value 0 is specified, old log files are removed instead of rotated. mail ADDRESS - This option enables mailing of log files that have been rotated as many times as is defined by the rotate directive to the specified address. Similar directives include: nomail mailfirst - Specifies that the just-rotated log files are to be mailed, instead of the about-to-expire log files. maillast - Specifies that the about-to-expire log files are to be mailed, instead of the just-rotated log files. This is the default option when mail is enabled. For the full list of directives and various configuration options, see the logrotate(5) manual page. 23.2.6. Increasing the Limit of Open Files Under certain circumstances the rsyslog exceeds the limit for a maximum number of open files. Consequently, the rsyslog cannot open new files. To increase the limit of open files in the rsyslog : Create the /etc/systemd/system/rsylog.service.d/increase_nofile_limit.conf file with the following content: 23.3. Using the New Configuration Format In rsyslog version 7, installed by default for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 in the rsyslog package, a new configuration syntax is introduced. This new configuration format aims to be more powerful, more intuitive, and to prevent common mistakes by not permitting certain invalid constructs. The syntax enhancement is enabled by the new configuration processor that relies on RainerScript. The legacy format is still fully supported and it is used by default in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file. RainerScript is a scripting language designed for processing network events and configuring event processors such as rsyslog . RainerScript was first used to define expression-based filters, see Example 23.3, "Expression-based Filters" . The version of RainerScript in rsyslog version 7 implements the input() and ruleset() statements, which permit the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file to be written in the new syntax. The new syntax differs mainly in that it is much more structured; parameters are passed as arguments to statements, such as input, action, template, and module load. The scope of options is limited by blocks. This enhances readability and reduces the number of bugs caused by misconfiguration. There is also a significant performance gain. Some functionality is exposed in both syntaxes, some only in the new one. Compare the configuration written with legacy-style parameters: and the same configuration with the use of the new format statement: This significantly reduces the number of parameters used in configuration, improves readability, and also provides higher execution speed. For more information on RainerScript statements and parameters see the section called "Online Documentation" . 23.3.1. Rulesets Leaving special directives aside, rsyslog handles messages as defined by rules that consist of a filter condition and an action to be performed if the condition is true. With a traditionally written /etc/rsyslog.conf file, all rules are evaluated in order of appearance for every input message. This process starts with the first rule and continues until all rules have been processed or until the message is discarded by one of the rules. However, rules can be grouped into sequences called rulesets . With rulesets, you can limit the effect of certain rules only to selected inputs or enhance the performance of rsyslog by defining a distinct set of actions bound to a specific input. In other words, filter conditions that will be inevitably evaluated as false for certain types of messages can be skipped. The legacy ruleset definition in /etc/rsyslog.conf can look as follows: The rule ends when another rule is defined, or the default ruleset is called as follows: With the new configuration format in rsyslog 7, the input() and ruleset() statements are reserved for this operation. The new format ruleset definition in /etc/rsyslog.conf can look as follows: Replace rulesetname with an identifier for your ruleset. The ruleset name cannot start with RSYSLOG_ since this namespace is reserved for use by rsyslog . RSYSLOG_DefaultRuleset then defines the default set of rules to be performed if the message has no other ruleset assigned. With rule and rule2 you can define rules in filter-action format mentioned above. With the call parameter, you can nest rulesets by calling them from inside other ruleset blocks. After creating a ruleset, you need to specify what input it will apply to: Here you can identify an input message by input_type , which is an input module that gathered the message, or by port_num - the port number. Other parameters such as file or tag can be specified for input() . Replace rulesetname with a name of the ruleset to be evaluated against the message. In case an input message is not explicitly bound to a ruleset, the default ruleset is triggered. You can also use the legacy format to define rulesets, for more information see the section called "Online Documentation" . Example 23.11. Using rulesets The following rulesets ensure different handling of remote messages coming from different ports. Add the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : Rulesets shown in the above example define log destinations for the remote input from two ports, in case of port 601 , messages are sorted according to the facility. Then, the TCP input is enabled and bound to rulesets. Note that you must load the required modules (imtcp) for this configuration to work. 23.3.2. Compatibility with sysklogd The compatibility mode specified via the -c option exists in rsyslog version 5 but not in version 7. Also, the sysklogd-style command-line options are deprecated and configuring rsyslog through these command-line options should be avoided. However, you can use several templates and directives to configure rsyslogd to emulate sysklogd-like behavior. For more information on various rsyslogd options, see the rsyslogd(8) manual page. 23.4. Working with Queues in Rsyslog Queues are used to pass content, mostly syslog messages, between components of rsyslog . With queues, rsyslog is capable of processing multiple messages simultaneously and to apply several actions to a single message at once. The data flow inside rsyslog can be illustrated as follows: Figure 23.1. Message Flow in Rsyslog Whenever rsyslog receives a message, it passes this message to the preprocessor and then places it into the main message queue . Messages wait there to be dequeued and passed to the rule processor . The rule processor is a parsing and filtering engine. Here, the rules defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf are applied. Based on these rules, the rule processor evaluates which actions are to be performed. Each action has its own action queue. Messages are passed through this queue to the respective action processor which creates the final output. Note that at this point, several actions can run simultaneously on one message. For this purpose, a message is duplicated and passed to multiple action processors. Only one queue per action is possible. Depending on configuration, the messages can be sent right to the action processor without action queuing. This is the behavior of direct queues (see below). In case the output action fails, the action processor notifies the action queue, which then takes an unprocessed element back and after some time interval, the action is attempted again. To sum up, there are two positions where queues stand in rsyslog : either in front of the rule processor as a single main message queue or in front of various types of output actions as action queues . Queues provide two main advantages that both lead to increased performance of message processing: they serve as buffers that decouple producers and consumers in the structure of rsyslog they allow for parallelization of actions performed on messages Apart from this, queues can be configured with several directives to provide optimal performance for your system. These configuration options are covered in the following sections. Warning If an output plug-in is unable to deliver a message, it is stored in the preceding message queue. If the queue fills, the inputs block until it is no longer full. This will prevent new messages from being logged via the blocked queue. In the absence of separate action queues this can have severe consequences, such as preventing SSH logging, which in turn can prevent SSH access. Therefore it is advised to use dedicated action queues for outputs which are forwarded over a network or to a database. 23.4.1. Defining Queues Based on where the messages are stored, there are several types of queues: direct , in-memory , disk , and disk-assisted in-memory queues that are most widely used. You can choose one of these types for the main message queue and also for action queues. Add the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : By adding this you can apply the setting for: main message queue: replace object with main_queue an action queue: replace object with action ruleset: replace object with ruleset Replace queue_type with one of direct , linkedlist or fixedarray (which are in-memory queues), or disk . The default setting for a main message queue is the FixedArray queue with a limit of 10,000 messages. Action queues are by default set as Direct queues. Direct Queues For many simple operations, such as when writing output to a local file, building a queue in front of an action is not needed. To avoid queuing, use: Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset to use this option to the main message queue, an action queue or for the ruleset respectively. With direct queue, messages are passed directly and immediately from the producer to the consumer. Disk Queues Disk queues store messages strictly on a hard drive, which makes them highly reliable but also the slowest of all possible queuing modes. This mode can be used to prevent the loss of highly important log data. However, disk queues are not recommended in most use cases. To set a disk queue, type the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset to use this option to the main message queue, an action queue or for the ruleset respectively. The default size of a queue can be modified with the following configuration directive: where size represents the specified size of disk queue part. The defined size limit is not restrictive, rsyslog always writes one complete queue entry, even if it violates the size limit. Each part of a disk queue matches with an individual file. The naming directive for these files looks as follows: This sets a name prefix for the file followed by a 7-digit number starting at one and incremented for each file. Disk queues are written in parts, with a default size 1 MB. Specify size to use a different value. In-memory Queues With in-memory queue, the enqueued messages are held in memory which makes the process very fast. The queued data is lost if the computer is power cycled or shut down. However, you can use the action (queue.saveonshutdown="on") setting to save the data before shutdown. There are two types of in-memory queues: FixedArray queue - the default mode for the main message queue, with a limit of 10,000 elements. This type of queue uses a fixed, pre-allocated array that holds pointers to queue elements. Due to these pointers, even if the queue is empty a certain amount of memory is consumed. However, FixedArray offers the best run time performance and is optimal when you expect a relatively low number of queued messages and high performance. LinkedList queue - here, all structures are dynamically allocated in a linked list, thus the memory is allocated only when needed. LinkedList queues handle occasional message bursts very well. In general, use LinkedList queues when in doubt. Compared to FixedArray, it consumes less memory and lowers the processing overhead. Use the following syntax to configure in-memory queues: Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset to use this option to the main message queue, an action queue or for the ruleset respectively. Disk-Assisted In-memory Queues Both disk and in-memory queues have their advantages and rsyslog lets you combine them in disk-assisted in-memory queues . To do so, configure a normal in-memory queue and then add the queue.filename="file_name" directive to its block to define a file name for disk assistance. This queue then becomes disk-assisted , which means it couples an in-memory queue with a disk queue to work in tandem. The disk queue is activated if the in-memory queue is full or needs to persist after shutdown. With a disk-assisted queue, you can set both disk-specific and in-memory specific configuration parameters. This type of queue is probably the most commonly used, it is especially useful for potentially long-running and unreliable actions. To specify the functioning of a disk-assisted in-memory queue, use the so-called watermarks: Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset to use this option to the main message queue, an action queue or for the ruleset respectively. Replace number with a number of enqueued messages. When an in-memory queue reaches the number defined by the high watermark, it starts writing messages to disk and continues until the in-memory queue size drops to the number defined with the low watermark. Correctly set watermarks minimize unnecessary disk writes, but also leave memory space for message bursts since writing to disk files is rather lengthy. Therefore, the high watermark must be lower than the whole queue capacity set with queue.size . The difference between the high watermark and the overall queue size is a spare memory buffer reserved for message bursts. On the other hand, setting the high watermark too low will turn on disk assistance unnecessarily often. Example 23.12. Reliable Forwarding of Log Messages to a Server Rsyslog is often used to maintain a centralized logging system, where log messages are forwarded to a server over the network. To avoid message loss when the server is not available, it is advisable to configure an action queue for the forwarding action. This way, messages that failed to be sent are stored locally until the server is reachable again. Note that such queues are not configurable for connections using the UDP protocol. Forwarding To a Single Server Suppose the task is to forward log messages from the system to a server with host name example.com , and to configure an action queue to buffer the messages in case of a server outage. To do so, perform the following steps: Use the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf or create a file with the following content in the /etc/rsyslog.d/ directory: Where: queue.type enables a LinkedList in-memory queue, queue.filename defines a disk storage, in this case the backup files are created in the /var/lib/rsyslog/ directory with the example_fwd prefix, the action.resumeRetryCount= "-1" setting prevents rsyslog from dropping messages when retrying to connect if server is not responding, enabled queue.saveonshutdown saves in-memory data if rsyslog shuts down, the last line forwards all received messages to the logging server using reliable TCP delivery, port specification is optional. With the above configuration, rsyslog keeps messages in memory if the remote server is not reachable. A file on disk is created only if rsyslog runs out of the configured memory queue space or needs to shut down, which benefits the system performance. Forwarding To Multiple Servers The process of forwarding log messages to multiple servers is similar to the procedure: Each destination server requires a separate forwarding rule, action queue specification, and backup file on disk. For example, use the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf or create a file with the following content in the /etc/rsyslog.d/ directory: 23.4.2. Creating a New Directory for rsyslog Log Files Rsyslog runs as the syslogd daemon and is managed by SELinux. Therefore all files to which rsyslog is required to write to, must have the appropriate SELinux file context. Creating a New Working Directory If required to use a different directory to store working files, create a directory as follows: Install utilities to manage SELinux policy: Set the SELinux directory context type to be the same as the /var/lib/rsyslog/ directory: Apply the SELinux context: If required, check the SELinux context as follows: Create subdirectories as required. For example: The subdirectories will be created with the same SELinux context as the parent directory. Add the following line in /etc/rsyslog.conf immediately before it is required to take effect: This setting will remain in effect until the WorkDirectory directive is encountered while parsing the configuration files. 23.4.3. Managing Queues All types of queues can be further configured to match your requirements. You can use several directives to modify both action queues and the main message queue. Currently, there are more than 20 queue parameters available, see the section called "Online Documentation" . Some of these settings are used commonly, others, such as worker thread management, provide closer control over the queue behavior and are reserved for advanced users. With advanced settings, you can optimize rsyslog 's performance, schedule queuing, or modify the behavior of a queue on system shutdown. Limiting Queue Size You can limit the number of messages that queue can contain with the following setting: Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset to use this option to the main message queue, an action queue or for the ruleset respectively. Replace number with a number of enqueued messages. You can set the queue size only as the number of messages, not as their actual memory size. The default queue size is 10,000 messages for the main message queue and ruleset queues, and 1000 for action queues. Disk assisted queues are unlimited by default and cannot be restricted with this directive, but you can reserve them physical disk space in bytes with the following settings: Replace object with main_queue , action or ruleset . When the size limit specified by number is hit, messages are discarded until sufficient amount of space is freed by dequeued messages. Discarding Messages When a queue reaches a certain number of messages, you can discard less important messages in order to save space in the queue for entries of higher priority. The threshold that launches the discarding process can be set with the so-called discard mark : Replace object with MainMsg or with Action to use this option to the main message queue or for an action queue respectively. Here, number stands for a number of messages that have to be in the queue to start the discarding process. To define which messages to discard, use: Replace number with one of the following numbers for respective priorities: 7 (debug), 6 (info), 5 (notice), 4 (warning), 3 (err), 2 (crit), 1 (alert), or 0 (emerg). With this setting, both newly incoming and already queued messages with lower than defined priority are erased from the queue immediately after the discard mark is reached. Using Timeframes You can configure rsyslog to process queues during a specific time period. With this option you can, for example, transfer some processing into off-peak hours. To define a time frame, use the following syntax: With hour you can specify hours that bound your time frame. Use the 24-hour format without minutes. Configuring Worker Threads A worker thread performs a specified action on the enqueued message. For example, in the main message queue, a worker task is to apply filter logic to each incoming message and enqueue them to the relevant action queues. When a message arrives, a worker thread is started automatically. When the number of messages reaches a certain number, another worker thread is turned on. To specify this number, use: Replace number with a number of messages that will trigger a supplemental worker thread. For example, with number set to 100, a new worker thread is started when more than 100 messages arrive. When more than 200 messages arrive, the third worker thread starts and so on. However, too many working threads running in parallel becomes ineffective, so you can limit the maximum number of them by using: where number stands for a maximum number of working threads that can run in parallel. For the main message queue, the default limit is 1 thread. Once a working thread has been started, it keeps running until an inactivity timeout appears. To set the length of timeout, type: Replace time with the duration set in milliseconds. Specifies time without new messages after which the worker thread will be closed. Default setting is one minute. Batch Dequeuing To increase performance, you can configure rsyslog to dequeue multiple messages at once. To set the upper limit for such dequeueing, use: Replace number with the maximum number of messages that can be dequeued at once. Note that a higher setting combined with a higher number of permitted working threads results in greater memory consumption. Terminating Queues When terminating a queue that still contains messages, you can try to minimize the data loss by specifying a time interval for worker threads to finish the queue processing: Specify time in milliseconds. If after that period there are still some enqueued messages, workers finish the current data element and then terminate. Unprocessed messages are therefore lost. Another time interval can be set for workers to finish the final element: In case this timeout expires, any remaining workers are shut down. To save data at shutdown, use: If set, all queue elements are saved to disk before rsyslog terminates. 23.4.4. Using the New Syntax for rsyslog queues In the new syntax available in rsyslog 7, queues are defined inside the action() object that can be used both separately or inside a ruleset in /etc/rsyslog.conf . The format of an action queue is as follows: Replace action_type with the name of the module that is to perform the action and replace queue_size with a maximum number of messages the queue can contain. For queue_type , choose disk or select from one of the in-memory queues: direct , linkedlist or fixedarray . For file_name specify only a file name, not a path. Note that if creating a new directory to hold log files, the SELinux context must be set. See Section 23.4.2, "Creating a New Directory for rsyslog Log Files" for an example. Example 23.13. Defining an Action Queue To configure the output action with an asynchronous linked-list based action queue which can hold a maximum of 10,000 messages, enter a command as follows: The rsyslog 7 syntax for a direct action queues is as follows: The rsyslog 7 syntax for an action queue with multiple parameters can be written as follows: The default work directory, or the last work directory to be set, will be used. If required to use a different work directory, add a line as follows before the action queue: Example 23.14. Forwarding To a Single Server Using the New Syntax The following example is based on the procedure Forwarding To a Single Server in order to show the difference between the traditional sysntax and the rsyslog 7 syntax. The omfwd plug-in is used to provide forwarding over UDP or TCP . The default is UDP . As the plug-in is built in it does not have to be loaded. Use the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf or create a file with the following content in the /etc/rsyslog.d/ directory: Where: queue.type="linkedlist" enables a LinkedList in-memory queue, queue.filename defines a disk storage. The backup files are created with the example_fwd prefix, in the working directory specified by the preceding global workDirectory directive, the action.resumeRetryCount -1 setting prevents rsyslog from dropping messages when retrying to connect if server is not responding, enabled queue.saveOnShutdown="on" saves in-memory data if rsyslog shuts down, the last line forwards all received messages to the logging server, port specification is optional. 23.5. Configuring rsyslog on a Logging Server The rsyslog service provides facilities both for running a logging server and for configuring individual systems to send their log files to the logging server. See Example 23.12, "Reliable Forwarding of Log Messages to a Server" for information on client rsyslog configuration. The rsyslog service must be installed on the system that you intend to use as a logging server and all systems that will be configured to send logs to it. Rsyslog is installed by default in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. If required, to ensure that it is, enter the following command as root : The default protocol and port for syslog traffic is UDP and 514 , as listed in the /etc/services file. However, rsyslog defaults to using TCP on port 514 . In the configuration file, /etc/rsyslog.conf , TCP is indicated by @@ . Other ports are sometimes used in examples, however SELinux is only configured to allow sending and receiving on the following ports by default: The semanage utility is provided as part of the policycoreutils-python package. If required, install the package as follows: In addition, by default the SELinux type for rsyslog , rsyslogd_t , is configured to permit sending and receiving to the remote shell ( rsh ) port with SELinux type rsh_port_t , which defaults to TCP on port 514 . Therefore it is not necessary to use semanage to explicitly permit TCP on port 514 . For example, to check what SELinux is set to permit on port 514 , enter a command as follows: For more information on SELinux, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 SELinux User's and Administrator's Guide . Perform the steps in the following procedures on the system that you intend to use as your logging server. All steps in these procedure must be made as the root user. Configure SELinux to Permit rsyslog Traffic on a Port If required to use a new port for rsyslog traffic, follow this procedure on the logging server and the clients. For example, to send and receive TCP traffic on port 10514 , proceed with the following sequence of commands: Run the semanage port command with the following parameters: Review the SELinux ports by entering the following command: If the new port was already configured in /etc/rsyslog.conf , restart rsyslog now for the change to take effect: Verify which ports rsyslog is now listening to: See the semanage-port(8) manual page for more information on the semanage port command. Configuring firewalld Configure firewalld to allow incoming rsyslog traffic. For example, to allow TCP traffic on port 10514 , proceed as follows: Where zone is the zone of the interface to use. Note that these changes will not persist after the system start. To make permanent changes to the firewall, repeat the commands adding the --permanent option. For more information on opening and closing ports in firewalld , see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide . To verify the above settings, use a command as follows: Configuring rsyslog to Receive and Sort Remote Log Messages Open the /etc/rsyslog.conf file in a text editor and proceed as follows: Add these lines below the modules section but above the Provides UDP syslog reception section: Replace the default Provides TCP syslog reception section with the following: Save the changes to the /etc/rsyslog.conf file. The rsyslog service must be running on both the logging server and the systems attempting to log to it. Use the systemctl command to start the rsyslog service. To ensure the rsyslog service starts automatically in future, enter the following command as root: Your log server is now configured to receive and store log files from the other systems in your environment. 23.5.1. Using The New Template Syntax on a Logging Server Rsyslog 7 has a number of different templates styles. The string template most closely resembles the legacy format. Reproducing the templates from the example above using the string format would look as follows: These templates can also be written in the list format as follows: This template text format might be easier to read for those new to rsyslog and therefore can be easier to adapt as requirements change. To complete the change to the new syntax, we need to reproduce the module load command, add a rule set, and then bind the rule set to the protocol, port, and ruleset: 23.6. Using Rsyslog Modules Due to its modular design, rsyslog offers a variety of modules which provide additional functionality. Note that modules can be written by third parties. Most modules provide additional inputs (see Input Modules below) or outputs (see Output Modules below). Other modules provide special functionality specific to each module. The modules may provide additional configuration directives that become available after a module is loaded. To load a module, use the following syntax: where MODULE represents your desired module. For example, if you want to load the Text File Input Module ( imfile ) that enables rsyslog to convert any standard text files into syslog messages, specify the following line in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file: rsyslog offers a number of modules which are split into the following main categories: Input Modules - Input modules gather messages from various sources. The name of an input module always starts with the im prefix, such as imfile and imjournal . Output Modules - Output modules provide a facility to issue message to various targets such as sending across a network, storing in a database, or encrypting. The name of an output module always starts with the om prefix, such as omsnmp , omrelp , and so on. Parser Modules - These modules are useful in creating custom parsing rules or to parse malformed messages. With moderate knowledge of the C programming language, you can create your own message parser. The name of a parser module always starts with the pm prefix, such as pmrfc5424 , pmrfc3164 , and so on. Message Modification Modules - Message modification modules change content of syslog messages. Names of these modules start with the mm prefix. Message Modification Modules such as mmanon , mmnormalize , or mmjsonparse are used for anonymization or normalization of messages. String Generator Modules - String generator modules generate strings based on the message content and strongly cooperate with the template feature provided by rsyslog . For more information on templates, see Section 23.2.3, "Templates" . The name of a string generator module always starts with the sm prefix, such as smfile or smtradfile . Library Modules - Library modules provide functionality for other loadable modules. These modules are loaded automatically by rsyslog when needed and cannot be configured by the user. A comprehensive list of all available modules and their detailed description can be found at http://www.rsyslog.com/doc/rsyslog_conf_modules.html . Warning Note that when rsyslog loads any modules, it provides them with access to some of its functions and data. This poses a possible security threat. To minimize security risks, use trustworthy modules only. 23.6.1. Importing Text Files The Text File Input Module, abbreviated as imfile , enables rsyslog to convert any text file into a stream of syslog messages. You can use imfile to import log messages from applications that create their own text file logs. To load imfile , add the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : It is sufficient to load imfile once, even when importing multiple files. The PollingInterval module argument specifies how often rsyslog checks for changes in connected text files. The default interval is 10 seconds, to change it, replace int with a time interval specified in seconds. To identify the text files to import, use the following syntax in /etc/rsyslog.conf : Settings required to specify an input text file: replace path_to_file with a path to the text file. replace tag: with a tag name for this message. Apart from the required directives, there are several other settings that can be applied on the text input. Set the severity of imported messages by replacing severity with an appropriate keyword. Replace facility with a keyword to define the subsystem that produced the message. The keywords for severity and facility are the same as those used in facility/priority-based filters, see Section 23.2.1, "Filters" . Example 23.15. Importing Text Files The Apache HTTP server creates log files in text format. To apply the processing capabilities of rsyslog to apache error messages, first use the imfile module to import the messages. Add the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : 23.6.2. Exporting Messages to a Database Processing of log data can be faster and more convenient when performed in a database rather than with text files. Based on the type of DBMS used, choose from various output modules such as ommysql , ompgsql , omoracle , or ommongodb . As an alternative, use the generic omlibdbi output module that relies on the libdbi library. The omlibdbi module supports database systems Firebird/Interbase, MS SQL, Sybase, SQLite, Ingres, Oracle, mSQL, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. Example 23.16. Exporting Rsyslog Messages to a Database To store the rsyslog messages in a MySQL database, add the following into /etc/rsyslog.conf : First, the output module is loaded, then the communication port is specified. Additional information, such as name of the server and the database, and authentication data, is specified on the last line of the above example. 23.6.3. Enabling Encrypted Transport Confidentiality and integrity in network transmissions can be provided by either the TLS or GSSAPI encryption protocol. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communication security over the network. When using TLS, rsyslog messages are encrypted before sending, and mutual authentication exists between the sender and receiver. For configuring TLS, see the section called "Configuring Encrypted Message Transfer with TLS" . Generic Security Service API (GSSAPI) is an application programming interface for programs to access security services. To use it in connection with rsyslog you must have a functioning Kerberos environment. For configuring GSSAPI, see the section called "Configuring Encrypted Message Transfer with GSSAPI" . Configuring Encrypted Message Transfer with TLS To use encrypted transport through TLS, you need to configure both the server and the client. Create public key, private key and certificate file, see Section 14.1.11, "Generating a New Key and Certificate" . On the server side, configure the following in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file: Set the gtls netstream driver as the default driver: Provide paths to certificate files: You can merge all global directives into single block if you prefer a less cluttered configuration file. Replace: path_ca.pem with a path to your public key path_cert.pem with a path to the certificate file path_key.pem with a path to the private key Load the imtcp moduleand set driver options: Start a server: Replace: number to specify the driver mode. To enable TCP-only mode, use 1 port with the port number at which to start a listener, for example 10514 The anon setting means that the client is not authenticated. On the client side, configure the following in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file: Load the public key: Replace path_ca.pem with a path to the public key. Set the gtls netstream driver as the default driver: Configure the driver and specify what action will be performed: Replace number , anon , and port with the same values as on the server. On the last line in the above listing, an example action forwards messages from the server to the specified TCP port. Configuring Encrypted Message Transfer with GSSAPI In rsyslog , interaction with GSSAPI is provided by the imgssapi module. To turn on the GSSAPI transfer mode: Put the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf : This directive loads the imgssapi module. Specify the input as follows: Replace name with the name of the GSS server. Replace number to set the maximum number of sessions supported. This number is not limited by default. Replace port with a selected port on which you want to start a GSS server. The USDInputGSSServerPermitPlainTCP on setting permits the server to receive also plain TCP messages on the same port. This is off by default. Note The imgssapi module is initialized as soon as the configuration file reader encounters the USDInputGSSServerRun directive in the /etc/rsyslog.conf configuration file. The supplementary options configured after USDInputGSSServerRun are therefore ignored. For configuration to take effect, all imgssapi configuration options must be placed before USDInputGSSServerRun. Example 23.17. Using GSSAPI The following configuration enables a GSS server on the port 1514 that also permits to receive plain tcp syslog messages on the same port. 23.6.4. Using RELP Reliable Event Logging Protocol (RELP) is a networking protocol for data logging in computer networks. It is designed to provide reliable delivery of event messages, which makes it useful in environments where message loss is not acceptable. Configuring RELP To configure RELP, you need to configure both the server and the client using the /etc/rsyslog.conf file. To configure the client: Load the required modules: Configure the TCP input as follows: Replace port to start a listener at the required port. Configure the transport settings: Replace target_IP and target_port with the IP address and port that identify the target server. To configure the server: Configure loading the module: Configure the TCP input similarly to the client configuration: Replace target_port with the same value as on the clients. Configure the rules and choose an action to be performed. In the following example, log_path specifies the path for storing messages: Configuring RELP with TLS To configure RELP with TLS, you need to configure authentication. Then, you need to configure both the server and the client using the /etc/rsyslog.conf file. Create public key, private key and certificate file. For instructions, see Section 14.1.11, "Generating a New Key and Certificate" . To configure the client: Load the required modules: Configure the TCP input as follows: Replace port to start a listener at the required port. Configure the transport settings: Replace: target_IP and target_port with the IP address and port that identify the target server. path_ca.pem , path_cert.pem , and path_key.pem with paths to the certification files mode with the authentication mode for the transaction. Use either "name" or "fingerprint" peer_name with a certificate fingerprint of the permitted peer. If you specify this, tls.permittedpeer restricts connection to the selected group of peers. The tls="on" setting enables the TLS protocol. To configure the server: Configure loading the module: Configure the TCP input similarly to the client configuration: Replace the highlighted values with the same as on the client. Configure the rules and choose an action to be performed. In the following example, log_path specifies the path for storing messages: 23.7. Interaction of Rsyslog and Journal As mentioned above, Rsyslog and Journal , the two logging applications present on your system, have several distinctive features that make them suitable for specific use cases. In many situations it is useful to combine their capabilities, for example to create structured messages and store them in a file database (see Section 23.8, "Structured Logging with Rsyslog" ). A communication interface needed for this cooperation is provided by input and output modules on the side of Rsyslog and by the Journal 's communication socket. By default, rsyslogd uses the imjournal module as a default input mode for journal files. With this module, you import not only the messages but also the structured data provided by journald . Also, older data can be imported from journald (unless forbidden with the IgnorePreviousMessages option). See Section 23.8.1, "Importing Data from Journal" for basic configuration of imjournal . As an alternative, configure rsyslogd to read from the socket provided by journal as an output for syslog-based applications. The path to the socket is /run/systemd/journal/syslog . Use this option when you want to maintain plain rsyslog messages. Compared to imjournal the socket input currently offers more features, such as ruleset binding or filtering. To import Journal data trough the socket, use the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf : You can also output messages from Rsyslog to Journal with the omjournal module. Configure the output in /etc/rsyslog.conf as follows: For instance, the following configuration forwards all received messages on tcp port 10514 to the Journal: 23.8. Structured Logging with Rsyslog On systems that produce large amounts of log data, it can be convenient to maintain log messages in a structured format . With structured messages, it is easier to search for particular information, to produce statistics and to cope with changes and inconsistencies in message structure. Rsyslog uses the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format to provide structure for log messages. Compare the following unstructured log message: with a structured one: Searching structured data with use of key-value pairs is faster and more precise than searching text files with regular expressions. The structure also lets you to search for the same entry in messages produced by various applications. Also, JSON files can be stored in a document database such as MongoDB, which provides additional performance and analysis capabilities. On the other hand, a structured message requires more disk space than the unstructured one. In rsyslog , log messages with meta data are pulled from Journal with use of the imjournal module. With the mmjsonparse module, you can parse data imported from Journal and from other sources and process them further, for example as a database output. For parsing to be successful, mmjsonparse requires input messages to be structured in a way that is defined by the Lumberjack project. The Lumberjack project aims to add structured logging to rsyslog in a backward-compatible way. To identify a structured message, Lumberjack specifies the @cee: string that prepends the actual JSON structure. Also, Lumberjack defines the list of standard field names that should be used for entities in the JSON string. For more information on Lumberjack , see the section called "Online Documentation" . The following is an example of a lumberjack-formatted message: To build this structure inside Rsyslog , a template is used, see Section 23.8.2, "Filtering Structured Messages" . Applications and servers can employ the libumberlog library to generate messages in the lumberjack-compliant form. For more information on libumberlog , see the section called "Online Documentation" . 23.8.1. Importing Data from Journal The imjournal module is Rsyslog 's input module to natively read the journal files (see Section 23.7, "Interaction of Rsyslog and Journal" ). Journal messages are then logged in text format as other rsyslog messages. However, with further processing, it is possible to translate meta data provided by Journal into a structured message. To import data from Journal to Rsyslog , use the following configuration in /etc/rsyslog.conf : With number_of_messages , you can specify how often the journal data must be saved. This will happen each time the specified number of messages is reached. Replace path with a path to the state file. This file tracks the journal entry that was the last one processed. With seconds , you set the length of the rate limit interval. The number of messages processed during this interval cannot exceed the value specified in burst_number . The default setting is 20,000 messages per 600 seconds. Rsyslog discards messages that come after the maximum burst within the time frame specified. With IgnorePreviousMessages you can ignore messages that are currently in Journal and import only new messages, which is used when there is no state file specified. The default setting is off . Please note that if this setting is off and there is no state file, all messages in the Journal are processed, even if they were already processed in a rsyslog session. Note You can use imjournal simultaneously with imuxsock module that is the traditional system log input. However, to avoid message duplication, you must prevent imuxsock from reading the Journal's system socket. To do so, use the SysSock.Use directive: You can translate all data and meta data stored by Journal into structured messages. Some of these meta data entries are listed in Example 23.19, "Verbose journalctl Output" , for a complete list of journal fields see the systemd.journal-fields(7) manual page. For example, it is possible to focus on kernel journal fields , that are used by messages originating in the kernel. 23.8.2. Filtering Structured Messages To create a lumberjack-formatted message that is required by rsyslog 's parsing module, use the following template: This template prepends the @cee: string to the JSON string and can be applied, for example, when creating an output file with omfile module. To access JSON field names, use the USD! prefix. For example, the following filter condition searches for messages with specific hostname and UID : 23.8.3. Parsing JSON The mmjsonparse module is used for parsing structured messages. These messages can come from Journal or from other input sources, and must be formatted in a way defined by the Lumberjack project. These messages are identified by the presence of the @cee: string. Then, mmjsonparse checks if the JSON structure is valid and then the message is parsed. To parse lumberjack-formatted JSON messages with mmjsonparse , use the following configuration in the /etc/rsyslog.conf : In this example, the mmjsonparse module is loaded on the first line, then all messages are forwarded to it. Currently, there are no configuration parameters available for mmjsonparse . 23.8.4. Storing Messages in the MongoDB Rsyslog supports storing JSON logs in the MongoDB document database through the ommongodb output module. To forward log messages into MongoDB, use the following syntax in the /etc/rsyslog.conf (configuration parameters for ommongodb are available only in the new configuration format; see Section 23.3, "Using the New Configuration Format" ): Replace DB_server with the name or address of the MongoDB server. Specify port to select a non-standard port from the MongoDB server. The default port value is 0 and usually there is no need to change this parameter. With DB_name , you identify to which database on the MongoDB server you want to direct the output. Replace collection_name with the name of a collection in this database. In MongoDB, collection is a group of documents, the equivalent of an RDBMS table. You can set your login details by replacing UID and password . You can shape the form of the final database output with use of templates. By default, rsyslog uses a template based on standard lumberjack field names. 23.9. Debugging Rsyslog To run rsyslogd in debugging mode, use the following command: With this command, rsyslogd produces debugging information and prints it to the standard output. The -n stands for "no fork". You can modify debugging with environmental variables, for example, you can store the debug output in a log file. Before starting rsyslogd , type the following on the command line: Replace path with a desired location for the file where the debugging information will be logged. For a complete list of options available for the RSYSLOG_DEBUG variable, see the related section in the rsyslogd(8) manual page. To check if syntax used in the /etc/rsyslog.conf file is valid use: Where 1 represents level of verbosity of the output message. This is a forward compatibility option because currently, only one level is provided. However, you must add this argument to run the validation. 23.10. Using the Journal The Journal is a component of systemd that is responsible for viewing and management of log files. It can be used in parallel, or in place of a traditional syslog daemon, such as rsyslogd . The Journal was developed to address problems connected with traditional logging. It is closely integrated with the rest of the system, supports various logging technologies and access management for the log files. Logging data is collected, stored, and processed by the Journal's journald service. It creates and maintains binary files called journals based on logging information that is received from the kernel, from user processes, from standard output, and standard error output of system services or via its native API. These journals are structured and indexed, which provides relatively fast seek times. Journal entries can carry a unique identifier. The journald service collects numerous meta data fields for each log message. The actual journal files are secured, and therefore cannot be manually edited. 23.10.1. Viewing Log Files To access the journal logs, use the journalctl tool. For a basic view of the logs type as root : An output of this command is a list of all log files generated on the system including messages generated by system components and by users. The structure of this output is similar to one used in /var/log/messages/ but with certain improvements: the priority of entries is marked visually. Lines of error priority and higher are highlighted with red color and a bold font is used for lines with notice and warning priority the time stamps are converted for the local time zone of your system all logged data is shown, including rotated logs the beginning of a boot is tagged with a special line Example 23.18. Example Output of journalctl The following is an example output provided by the journalctl tool. When called without parameters, the listed entries begin with a time stamp, then the host name and application that performed the operation is mentioned followed by the actual message. This example shows the first three entries in the journal log: In many cases, only the latest entries in the journal log are relevant. The simplest way to reduce journalctl output is to use the -n option that lists only the specified number of most recent log entries: Replace Number with the number of lines to be shown. When no number is specified, journalctl displays the ten most recent entries. The journalctl command allows controlling the form of the output with the following syntax: Replace form with a keyword specifying a desired form of output. There are several options, such as verbose , which returns full-structured entry items with all fields, export , which creates a binary stream suitable for backups and network transfer, and json , which formats entries as JSON data structures. For the full list of keywords, see the journalctl(1) manual page. Example 23.19. Verbose journalctl Output To view full meta data about all entries, type: This example lists fields that identify a single log entry. These meta data can be used for message filtering as shown in the section called "Advanced Filtering" . For a complete description of all possible fields see the systemd.journal-fields(7) manual page. 23.10.2. Access Control By default, Journal users without root privileges can only see log files generated by them. The system administrator can add selected users to the adm group, which grants them access to complete log files. To do so, type as root : Here, replace username with a name of the user to be added to the adm group. This user then receives the same output of the journalctl command as the root user. Note that access control only works when persistent storage is enabled for Journal . 23.10.3. Using The Live View When called without parameters, journalctl shows the full list of entries, starting with the oldest entry collected. With the live view, you can supervise the log messages in real time as new entries are continuously printed as they appear. To start journalctl in live view mode, type: This command returns a list of the ten most current log lines. The journalctl utility then stays running and waits for new changes to show them immediately. 23.10.4. Filtering Messages The output of the journalctl command executed without parameters is often extensive, therefore you can use various filtering methods to extract information to meet your needs. Filtering by Priority Log messages are often used to track erroneous behavior on the system. To view only entries with a selected or higher priority, use the following syntax: Here, replace priority with one of the following keywords (or with a number): debug (7), info (6), notice (5), warning (4), err (3), crit (2), alert (1), and emerg (0). Example 23.20. Filtering by Priority To view only entries with error or higher priority, use: Filtering by Time To view log entries only from the current boot, type: If you reboot your system just occasionally, the -b will not significantly reduce the output of journalctl . In such cases, time-based filtering is more helpful: With --since and --until , you can view only log messages created within a specified time range. You can pass values to these options in form of date or time or both as shown in the following example. Example 23.21. Filtering by Time and Priority Filtering options can be combined to reduce the set of results according to specific requests. For example, to view the warning or higher priority messages from a certain point in time, type: Advanced Filtering Example 23.19, "Verbose journalctl Output" lists a set of fields that specify a log entry and can all be used for filtering. For a complete description of meta data that systemd can store, see the systemd.journal-fields(7) manual page. This meta data is collected for each log message, without user intervention. Values are usually text-based, but can take binary and large values; fields can have multiple values assigned though it is not very common. To view a list of unique values that occur in a specified field, use the following syntax: Replace fieldname with a name of a field you are interested in. To show only log entries that fit a specific condition, use the following syntax: Replace fieldname with a name of a field and value with a specific value contained in that field. As a result, only lines that match this condition are returned. Note As the number of meta data fields stored by systemd is quite large, it is easy to forget the exact name of the field of interest. When unsure, type: and press the Tab key two times. This shows a list of available field names. Tab completion based on context works on field names, so you can type a distinctive set of letters from a field name and then press Tab to complete the name automatically. Similarly, you can list unique values from a field. Type: and press Tab two times. This serves as an alternative to journalctl -F fieldname . You can specify multiple values for one field: Specifying two matches for the same field results in a logical OR combination of the matches. Entries matching value1 or value2 are displayed. Also, you can specify multiple field-value pairs to further reduce the output set: If two matches for different field names are specified, they will be combined with a logical AND . Entries have to match both conditions to be shown. With use of the + symbol, you can set a logical OR combination of matches for multiple fields: This command returns entries that match at least one of the conditions, not only those that match both of them. Example 23.22. Advanced filtering To display entries created by avahi-daemon.service or crond.service under user with UID 70, use the following command: Since there are two values set for the _SYSTEMD_UNIT field, both results will be displayed, but only when matching the _UID=70 condition. This can be expressed simply as: (UID=70 and (avahi or cron)). You can apply the aforementioned filtering also in the live-view mode to keep track of the latest changes in the selected group of log entries: 23.10.5. Enabling Persistent Storage By default, Journal stores log files only in memory or a small ring-buffer in the /run/log/journal/ directory. This is sufficient to show recent log history with journalctl . This directory is volatile, log data is not saved permanently. With the default configuration, syslog reads the journal logs and stores them in the /var/log/ directory. With persistent logging enabled, journal files are stored in /var/log/journal which means they persist after reboot. Journal can then replace rsyslog for some users (but see the chapter introduction). Enabled persistent storage has the following advantages Richer data is recorded for troubleshooting in a longer period of time For immediate troubleshooting, richer data is available after a reboot Server console currently reads data from journal, not log files Persistent storage has also certain disadvantages: Even with persistent storage the amount of data stored depends on free memory, there is no guarantee to cover a specific time span More disk space is needed for logs To enable persistent storage for Journal, create the journal directory manually as shown in the following example. As root type: Then, restart journald to apply the change: 23.11. Managing Log Files in a Graphical Environment As an alternative to the aforementioned command-line utilities, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 provides an accessible GUI for managing log messages. 23.11.1. Viewing Log Files Most log files are stored in plain text format. You can view them with any text editor such as Vi or Emacs . Some log files are readable by all users on the system; however, root privileges are required to read most log files. To view system log files in an interactive, real-time application, use the System Log . Note In order to use the System Log , first ensure the gnome-system-log package is installed on your system by running, as root : For more information on installing packages with Yum, see Section 9.2.4, "Installing Packages" . After you have installed the gnome-system-log package, open the System Log by clicking Applications System Tools System Log , or type the following command at a shell prompt: The application only displays log files that exist; thus, the list might differ from the one shown in Figure 23.2, "System Log" . Figure 23.2. System Log The System Log application lets you filter any existing log file. Click on the button marked with the gear symbol to view the menu, select menu:[ Filters > > Manage Filters ] to define or edit the desired filter. Figure 23.3. System Log - Filters Adding or editing a filter lets you define its parameters as is shown in Figure 23.4, "System Log - defining a filter" . Figure 23.4. System Log - defining a filter When defining a filter, the following parameters can be edited: Name - Specifies the name of the filter. Regular Expression - Specifies the regular expression that will be applied to the log file and will attempt to match any possible strings of text in it. Effect Highlight - If checked, the found results will be highlighted with the selected color. You may select whether to highlight the background or the foreground of the text. Hide - If checked, the found results will be hidden from the log file you are viewing. When you have at least one filter defined, it can be selected from the Filters menu and it will automatically search for the strings you have defined in the filter and highlight or hide every successful match in the log file you are currently viewing. Figure 23.5. System Log - enabling a filter When you select the Show matches only option, only the matched strings will be shown in the log file you are currently viewing. 23.11.2. Adding a Log File To add a log file you want to view in the list, select File Open . This will display the Open Log window where you can select the directory and file name of the log file you want to view. Figure 23.6, "System Log - adding a log file" illustrates the Open Log window. Figure 23.6. System Log - adding a log file Click on the Open button to open the file. The file is immediately added to the viewing list where you can select it and view its contents. Note The System Log also allows you to open log files zipped in the .gz format. 23.11.3. Monitoring Log Files System Log monitors all opened logs by default. If a new line is added to a monitored log file, the log name appears in bold in the log list. If the log file is selected or displayed, the new lines appear in bold at the bottom of the log file. Figure 23.7, "System Log - new log alert" illustrates a new alert in the cron log file and in the messages log file. Clicking on the messages log file displays the logs in the file with the new lines in bold. Figure 23.7. System Log - new log alert 23.12. Additional Resources For more information on how to configure the rsyslog daemon and how to locate, view, and monitor log files, see the resources listed below. Installed Documentation rsyslogd (8) - The manual page for the rsyslogd daemon documents its usage. rsyslog.conf (5) - The manual page named rsyslog.conf documents available configuration options. logrotate (8) - The manual page for the logrotate utility explains in greater detail how to configure and use it. journalctl (1) - The manual page for the journalctl daemon documents its usage. journald.conf (5) - This manual page documents available configuration options. systemd.journal-fields (7) - This manual page lists special Journal fields. Installable Documentation /usr/share/doc/rsyslog version /html/index.html - This file, which is provided by the rsyslog-doc package from the Optional channel, contains information on rsyslog . See Section 9.5.7, "Adding the Optional and Supplementary Repositories" for more information on Red Hat additional channels. Before accessing the documentation, you must run the following command as root : Online Documentation The rsyslog home page offers additional documentation, configuration examples, and video tutorials. Make sure to consult the documents relevant to the version you are using: RainerScript documentation on the rsyslog Home Page - Commented summary of data types, expressions, and functions available in RainerScript . rsyslog version 7 documentation on the rsyslog home page - Version 7 of rsyslog is available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 in the rsyslog package. Description of queues on the rsyslog Home Page - General information on various types of message queues and their usage. See Also Chapter 6, Gaining Privileges documents how to gain administrative privileges by using the su and sudo commands. Chapter 10, Managing Services with systemd provides more information on systemd and documents how to use the systemctl command to manage system services.
FACILITY . PRIORITY kern.* mail.crit cron.!info,!debug : PROPERTY , [!] COMPARE_OPERATION , " STRING " :msg, contains, "error" :hostname, isequal, "host1" :msg, !regex, "fatal .* error" if EXPRESSION then ACTION else ACTION if USDprogramname == 'prog1' then { action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/prog1.log") if USDmsg contains 'test' then action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/prog1test.log") else action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/prog1notest.log") } FILTER PATH cron.* /var/log/cron.log FILTER - PATH FILTER ? DynamicFile @( z NUMBER ) HOST : PORT . @192.168.0.1 . @@example.com:6514 . @(z9)[2001:db8::1] USDoutchannel NAME , FILE_NAME , MAX_SIZE , ACTION FILTER :omfile:USD NAME USDoutchannel log_rotation, /var/log/test_log.log, 104857600, /home/joe/log_rotation_script . :omfile:USDlog_rotation FILTER ^ EXECUTABLE ; TEMPLATE . ^test-program;template : PLUGIN : DB_HOST , DB_NAME , DB_USER , DB_PASSWORD ; TEMPLATE module(load="ommysql") # Output module for MySQL support module(load="ompgsql") # Output module for PostgreSQL support local5.* stop cron.* stop FILTER ACTION & ACTION & ACTION kern.=crit user1 & ^test-program;temp & @192.168.0.1 template(name="TEMPLATE_NAME" type="string" string="text %PROPERTY% more text" [option.OPTION="on"]) template(name="DynamicFile" type="list") { constant(value="/var/log/test_logs/") property(name="timegenerated") constant(value"-test.log") } . ?DynamicFile % PROPERTY_NAME : FROM_CHAR : TO_CHAR : OPTION % %msg% %msg:1:2% %msg:::drop-last-lf% %timegenerated:1:10:date-rfc3339% template(name="verbose" type="list") { property(name="syslogseverity") property(name="syslogfacility") property(name="timegenerated") property(name="HOSTNAME") property(name="syslogtag") property(name="msg") constant(value="\n") } template(name="wallmsg" type="list") { constant(value="\r\n\7Message from syslogd@") property(name="HOSTNAME") constant(value=" at ") property(name="timegenerated") constant(value=" ...\r\n ") property(name="syslogtag") constant(value=" ") property(name="msg") constant(value="\r\n") } template(name="dbFormat" type="list" option.sql="on") { constant(value="insert into SystemEvents (Message, Facility, FromHost, Priority, DeviceReportedTime, ReceivedAt, InfoUnitID, SysLogTag)") constant(value=" values ('") property(name="msg") constant(value="', ") property(name="syslogfacility") constant(value=", '") property(name="hostname") constant(value="', ") property(name="syslogpriority") constant(value=", '") property(name="timereported" dateFormat="mysql") constant(value="', '") property(name="timegenerated" dateFormat="mysql") constant(value="', ") property(name="iut") constant(value=", '") property(name="syslogtag") constant(value="')") } template(name="RSYSLOG_DebugFormat" type="string" string="Debug line with all properties:\nFROMHOST: '%FROMHOST%', fromhost-ip: '%fromhost-ip%', HOSTNAME: '%HOSTNAME%', PRI: %PRI%,\nsyslogtag '%syslogtag%', programname: '%programname%', APP-NAME: '%APP-NAME%', PROCID: '%PROCID%', MSGID: '%MSGID%',\nTIMESTAMP: '%TIMESTAMP%', STRUCTURED-DATA: '%STRUCTURED-DATA%',\nmsg: '%msg%'\nescaped msg: '%msg:::drop-cc%'\nrawmsg: '%rawmsg%'\n\n") template(name="RSYSLOG_SyslogProtocol23Format" type="string" string="%PRI%1 %TIMESTAMP:::date-rfc3339% %HOSTNAME% %APP-NAME% %PROCID% %MSGID% %STRUCTURED-DATA% %msg%\n ") template(name="RSYSLOG_FileFormat" type="list") { property(name="timestamp" dateFormat="rfc3339") constant(value=" ") property(name="hostname") constant(value=" ") property(name="syslogtag") property(name="msg" spifno1stsp="on" ) property(name="msg" droplastlf="on" ) constant(value="\n") } template(name="RSYSLOG_TraditionalFileFormat" type="list") { property(name="timestamp") constant(value=" ") property(name="hostname") constant(value=" ") property(name="syslogtag") property(name="msg" spifno1stsp="on" ) property(name="msg" droplastlf="on" ) constant(value="\n") } template(name="ForwardFormat" type="list") { constant(value="<") property(name="pri") constant(value=">") property(name="timestamp" dateFormat="rfc3339") constant(value=" ") property(name="hostname") constant(value=" ") property(name="syslogtag" position.from="1" position.to="32") property(name="msg" spifno1stsp="on" ) property(name="msg") } template(name="TraditionalForwardFormat" type="list") { constant(value="<") property(name="pri") constant(value=">") property(name="timestamp") constant(value=" ") property(name="hostname") constant(value=" ") property(name="syslogtag" position.from="1" position.to="32") property(name="msg" spifno1stsp="on" ) property(name="msg") } global(localHostname="machineXY") rotate log files weekly weekly keep 4 weeks worth of backlogs rotate 4 uncomment this if you want your log files compressed compress /var/log/messages { rotate 5 weekly postrotate /usr/bin/killall -HUP syslogd endscript } [Service] LimitNOFILE=16384 USDInputFileName /tmp/inputfile USDInputFileTag tag1: USDInputFileStateFile inputfile-state USDInputRunFileMonitor input(type="imfile" file="/tmp/inputfile" tag="tag1:" statefile="inputfile-state") USDRuleSet rulesetname rule rule2 USDRuleSet RSYSLOG_DefaultRuleset ruleset(name=" rulesetname ") { rule rule2 call rulesetname2 &hellip; } input(type=" input_type " port=" port_num " ruleset=" rulesetname "); ruleset(name="remote-6514") { action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/remote-6514") } ruleset(name="remote-601") { cron.* action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/remote-601-cron") mail.* action(type="omfile" file="/var/log/remote-601-mail") } input(type="imtcp" port="6514" ruleset="remote-6514"); input(type="imtcp" port="601" ruleset="remote-601"); object (queue.type= "queue_type" ) object (queue.type= "Direct" ) object (queue.type= "Disk" ) object (queue.size= "size" ) object (queue.filename= "name" ) object (queue.maxfilesize= "size" ) object (queue.type= "LinkedList" ) object (queue.type= "FixedArray" ) object (queue.highwatermark= "number" ) object (queue.lowwatermark= "number" ) . action(type="omfwd" queue.type="LinkedList" queue.filename="example_fwd" action.resumeRetryCount="-1" queue.saveonshutdown="on" Target="example.com" Port="6514" Protocol="tcp") . action(type="omfwd" queue.type="LinkedList" queue.filename="example_fwd1" action.resumeRetryCount="-1" queue.saveonshutdown="on" Target="example1.com" Protocol="tcp") . action(type="omfwd" queue.type="LinkedList" queue.filename="example_fwd2" action.resumeRetryCount="-1" queue.saveonshutdown="on" Target="example2.com" Protocol="tcp") ~]# mkdir /rsyslog ~]# yum install policycoreutils-python ~]# semanage fcontext -a -t syslogd_var_lib_t /rsyslog ~]# restorecon -R -v /rsyslog restorecon reset /rsyslog context unconfined_u:object_r:default_t:s0->unconfined_u:object_r:syslogd_var_lib_t:s0 ~]# ls -Zd /rsyslog drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:syslogd_var_lib_t:s0 /rsyslog ~]# mkdir /rsyslog/work/ global(workDirectory="/rsyslog/work") object (queue.highwatermark= "number" ) object (queue.maxdiskspace= "number" ) object (queue.discardmark= "number" ) object (queue.discardseverity= "number" ) object (queue.dequeuetimebegin= "hour" ) object (queue.dequeuetimeend= "hour" ) object (queue.workerthreadminimummessages= "number" ) object (queue.workerthreads= "number" ) object (queue.timeoutworkerthreadshutdown= "time" ) object (queue.DequeueBatchSize= "number" ) object (queue.timeoutshutdown= "time" ) object (queue.timeoutactioncompletion= "time" ) object (queue.saveonshutdown= "on" ) action(type=" action_type "queue.size=" queue_size " queue.type=" queue_type " queue.filename=" file_name " action(type="omfile" queue.size="10000" queue.type="linkedlist" queue.filename="logfile") . action(type="omfile" file="/var/lib/rsyslog/ log_file ) . action(type="omfile" queue.filename=" log_file " queue.type="linkedlist" queue.size="10000" ) global(workDirectory=" /directory ") . action(type="omfwd" queue.type="linkedlist" queue.filename="example_fwd" action.resumeRetryCount="-1" queue.saveOnShutdown="on" target="example.com" port="6514" protocol="tcp" ) ~]# yum install rsyslog ~]# semanage port -l | grep syslog syslog_tls_port_t tcp 6514, 10514 syslog_tls_port_t udp 6514, 10514 syslogd_port_t tcp 601, 20514 syslogd_port_t udp 514, 601, 20514 ~]# yum install policycoreutils-python ~]# semanage port -l | grep 514 output omitted rsh_port_t tcp 514 syslogd_port_t tcp 6514, 601 syslogd_port_t udp 514, 6514, 601 ~]# semanage port -a -t syslogd_port_t -p tcp 10514 ~]# semanage port -l | grep syslog ~]# service rsyslog restart ~]# netstat -tnlp | grep rsyslog tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0: 10514 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2528/rsyslogd tcp 0 0 :::10514 :::* LISTEN 2528/rsyslogd ~]# firewall-cmd --zone=zone --add-port=10514/tcp success ~]# firewall-cmd --list-all public (default, active) interfaces: eth0 sources: services: dhcpv6-client ssh ports: 10514/tcp masquerade: no forward-ports: icmp-blocks: rich rules: Define templates before the rules that use them # Per-Host Templates for Remote Systems # USDtemplate TmplAuthpriv, "/var/log/remote/auth/%HOSTNAME%/%PROGRAMNAME:::secpath-replace%.log" USDtemplate TmplMsg, "/var/log/remote/msg/%HOSTNAME%/%PROGRAMNAME:::secpath-replace%.log" Provides TCP syslog reception USDModLoad imtcp Adding this ruleset to process remote messages USDRuleSet remote1 authpriv.* ?TmplAuthpriv *.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none ?TmplMsg USDRuleSet RSYSLOG_DefaultRuleset #End the rule set by switching back to the default rule set USDInputTCPServerBindRuleset remote1 #Define a new input and bind it to the "remote1" rule set USDInputTCPServerRun 10514 ~]# systemctl start rsyslog ~]# systemctl enable rsyslog template(name="TmplAuthpriv" type="string" string="/var/log/remote/auth/%HOSTNAME%/%PROGRAMNAME:::secpath-replace%.log" ) template(name="TmplMsg" type="string" string="/var/log/remote/msg/%HOSTNAME%/%PROGRAMNAME:::secpath-replace%.log" ) template(name="TmplAuthpriv" type="list") { constant(value="/var/log/remote/auth/") property(name="hostname") constant(value="/") property(name="programname" SecurePath="replace") constant(value=".log") } template(name="TmplMsg" type="list") { constant(value="/var/log/remote/msg/") property(name="hostname") constant(value="/") property(name="programname" SecurePath="replace") constant(value=".log") } module(load="imtcp") ruleset(name="remote1"){ authpriv.* action(type="omfile" DynaFile="TmplAuthpriv") *.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none action(type="omfile" DynaFile="TmplMsg") } input(type="imtcp" port="10514" ruleset="remote1") module(load=" MODULE ") module(load="imfile") module(load="imfile" PollingInterval="int") File 1 input(type="imfile" File="path_to_file" Tag="tag:" Severity="severity" Facility="facility") File 2 input(type="imfile" File="path_to_file2") module(load="imfile") input(type="imfile" File="/var/log/httpd/error_log" Tag="apache-error:") module(load="ommysql") . action(type"ommysql" server="database-server" db="database-name" uid="database-userid" pwd="database-password" serverport="1234") global(defaultnetstreamdriver="gtls") global(defaultnetstreamdrivercafile="path_ca.pem" defaultnetstreamdrivercertfile="path_cert.pem" defaultnetstreamdriverkeyfile="path_key.pem") module(load="imtcp" StreamDriver.Mode="number" StreamDriver.AuthMode="anon") input(type="imtcp" port="port′′) global(defaultnetstreamdrivercafile="path_ca.pem") global(defaultnetstreamdriver="gtls") module(load="imtcp" streamdrivermode="number" streamdriverauthmode="anon") input(type="imtcp" address="server.net" port="port") USDModLoad imgssapi USDInputGSSServerServiceName name USDInputGSSServerPermitPlainTCP on USDInputGSSServerMaxSessions number USDInputGSSServerRun port USDModLoad imgssapi USDInputGSSServerPermitPlainTCP on USDInputGSSServerRun 1514 module(load="imuxsock") module(load="omrelp") module(load="imtcp") input(type="imtcp" port=" port ′′) action(type="omrelp" target=" target_IP ′′ port=" target_port ′′) module(load="imuxsock") module(load="imrelp" ruleset="relp") input(type="imrelp" port=" target_port ′′) ruleset (name="relp") { action(type="omfile" file=" log_path ") } module(load="imuxsock") module(load="omrelp") module(load="imtcp") input(type="imtcp" port=" port ′′) action(type="omrelp" target=" target_IP ′′ port=" target_port ′′ tls="on" tls.caCert=" path_ca.pem " tls.myCert=" path_cert.pem " tls.myPrivKey=" path_key.pem " tls.authmode=" mode " tls.permittedpeer=[" peer_name "] ) module(load="imuxsock") module(load="imrelp" ruleset="relp") input(type="imrelp" port=" target_port ′′ tls="on" tls.caCert=" path_ca.pem " tls.myCert=" path_cert.pem " tls.myPrivKey=" path_key.pem " tls.authmode=" name " tls.permittedpeer=[" peer_name "," peer_name1 "," peer_name2 "] ) ruleset (name="relp") { action(type="omfile" file=" log_path ") } module(load="imuxsock" SysSock.Use="on" SysSock.Name="/run/systemd/journal/syslog") module(load="omjournal") action(type="omjournal") module(load="imtcp") module(load="omjournal") ruleset(name="remote") { action(type="omjournal") } input(type="imtcp" port="10514" ruleset="remote") Oct 25 10:20:37 localhost anacron[1395]: Jobs will be executed sequentially {"timestamp":"2013-10-25T10:20:37", "host":"localhost", "program":"anacron", "pid":"1395", "msg":"Jobs will be executed sequentially"} @cee: {"pid":17055, "uid":1000, "gid":1000, "appname":"logger", "msg":"Message text."} module(load="imjournal" PersistStateInterval="number_of_messages" StateFile="path" ratelimit.interval="seconds" ratelimit.burst="burst_number" IgnorePreviousMessages="off/on") module(load"imjournal") module(load"imuxsock" SysSock.Use="off" Socket="/run/systemd/journal/syslog") template(name="CEETemplate" type="string" string="%TIMESTAMP% %HOSTNAME% %syslogtag% @cee: %USD!all-json%\n") (USD!hostname == " hostname " && USD!UID== " UID ") module(load"mmjsonparse") . :mmjsonparse: module(load"ommongodb") . action(type="ommongodb" server="DB_server" serverport="port" db="DB_name" collection="collection_name" uid="UID" pwd="password") rsyslogd -dn export RSYSLOG_DEBUGLOG=" path " export RSYSLOG_DEBUG="Debug" rsyslogd -N 1 journalctl journalctl -- Logs begin at Thu 2013-08-01 15:42:12 CEST, end at Thu 2013-08-01 15:48:48 CEST. -- Aug 01 15:42:12 localhost systemd-journal[54]: Allowing runtime journal files to grow to 49.7M. Aug 01 15:42:12 localhost kernel: Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset Aug 01 15:42:12 localhost kernel: Initializing cgroup subsys cpu [...] journalctl -n Number journalctl -o form journalctl -o verbose [...] Fri 2013-08-02 14:41:22 CEST [s=e1021ca1b81e4fc688fad6a3ea21d35b;i=55c;b=78c81449c920439da57da7bd5c56a770;m=27cc _BOOT_ID=78c81449c920439da57da7bd5c56a770 PRIORITY=5 SYSLOG_FACILITY=3 _TRANSPORT=syslog _MACHINE_ID=69d27b356a94476da859461d3a3bc6fd _HOSTNAME=localhost.localdomain _PID=562 _COMM=dbus-daemon _EXE=/usr/bin/dbus-daemon _CMDLINE=/bin/dbus-daemon --system --address=systemd: --nofork --nopidfile --systemd-activation _SYSTEMD_CGROUP=/system/dbus.service _SYSTEMD_UNIT=dbus.service SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER=dbus SYSLOG_PID=562 _UID=81 _GID=81 _SELINUX_CONTEXT=system_u:system_r:system_dbusd_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 MESSAGE=[system] Successfully activated service 'net.reactivated.Fprint' _SOURCE_REALTIME_TIMESTAMP=1375447282839181 [...] usermod -a -G adm username journalctl -f journalctl -p priority journalctl -p err journalctl -b journalctl --since = value --until = value journalctl -p warning --since="2013-3-16 23:59:59" journalctl -F fieldname journalctl fieldname = value journalctl journalctl fieldname = journalctl fieldname = value1 fieldname = value2 journalctl fieldname1 = value fieldname2 = value journalctl fieldname1 = value + fieldname2 = value journalctl _UID=70 _SYSTEMD_UNIT=avahi-daemon.service _SYSTEMD_UNIT=crond.service journalctl -f fieldname = value mkdir -p /var/log/journal/ systemctl restart systemd-journald ~]# yum install gnome-system-log ~]USD gnome-system-log ~]# yum install rsyslog-doc