title: Parsing syslogs with Perl using a named pipe?
body: <p>I'm trying to write a script that will grab logs across a network and parse them for relevant information and perform some action (email if there's a critical issue, simply write to a log file if its a warning). I am using an AIX machine with syslogd to process the logs. Right now it is performing like usual, writing all logs to files ... a lot of files.</p>
  
  <p>I was advised to use Perl and Named Pipes to implement the script. I've just spent some time reading up on named pipes and I find them quite fascinating. However, I'm stumped as to how the "flow" of information should work in this situation and how to make perl handle it.</p>
  
  <p>For example, should I create a fifo outside of the script and tell syslogd to write to it by default and have my script on the other end parsing it? Can Perl do that and (for you sysadmins) is this a smart/possible option?</p>
  
  <p>This is my first encounter with Perl and with named pipes.</p>