syslogd(ADMN) 19 June 1992 syslogd(ADMN) Name syslogd - log system messages Syntax /etc/syslogd [ -fconfigfile ] [ -mmarkinterval ] [ -d ] Description syslogd reads and logs messages into a set of files described by the con- figuration file /etc/syslog.conf. Each message is one line. A message can contain a priority code, marked by a number in angle braces at the beginning of the line. Priorities are defined in <sys/syslog.h>. sys- logd reads from an Internet domain socket specified in /etc/services. syslogd configures when it starts up and whenever it receives a hangup signal. Lines in the configuration file have a ``selector'' to determine the message priorities to which the line applies and an ``action''. The ``action'' field is separated from the selector by one or more tabs. Selectors are semicolon separated lists of priority specifiers. Each priority has a ``facility'' describing the part of the system that generated the message, a dot, and a ``level'' indicating the severity of the message. Symbolic names may be used. An asterisk selects all facil- ities. All messages of the specified level or higher (greater severity) are selected. More than one facility may be selected using commas to separate them. For example: *.emerg;mail,daemon.crit Selects all facilities at the ``emerg'' level and the ``mail'' and ``dae- mon'' facilities at the crit level. Known facilities and levels recognized by syslogd are those listed in syslog(SLIB) without the leading LOG. The additional facility ``mark'' has a message at priority LOGINFO sent to it every 20 minutes (this may be changed with the -m flag). The ``mark'' facility is not enabled by a facility field containing an asterisk. The level ``none'' may be used to disable a particular facility. For example, *.debug;mail.none Sends all messages except mail messages to the selected file. The second part of each line describes where the message is to be logged if this line is selected. There are four forms: ⊕ A filename (beginning with a leading slash). The file will be opened in append mode. ⊕ A hostname preceded by an at sign ``@''. Selected messages are for- warded to the syslogd on the named host. ⊕ A comma separated list of users. Selected messages are written to those users if they are logged in. ⊕ An asterisk. Selected messages are written to all logged-in users. Blank lines and lines beginning with ``#'' are ignored. For example, the configuration file: kern,mark.debug /dev/console *.notice;mail.info /usr/spool/adm/syslog *.crit /usr/adm/critical kern.err @laidbak *.emerg * *.alert wmv, stevea *.alert;auth.warning maf logs all kernel messages and 20 minute marks onto the system console, all notice (or higher) level messages and all mail system messages except debug messages into the file /usr/spool/adm/syslog, and all critical mes- sages into /usr/adm/critical; kernel messages of error severity or higher are forwarded to ucbarpa. All users will be informed of any emergency messages, the users ``wmv'' and ``stevea'' will be informed of any alert messages, and the user ``maf'' will be informed of any alert message, or any warning message (or higher) from the authorization system. The flags are: -f Specify an alternate configuration file. -m Select the number of minutes between mark messages. -d Turn on debugging. syslogd creates the file /etc/syslog.pid, if possible, containing a sin- gle line with its process ID. This can be used to kill or reconfigure syslogd. To bring syslogd down, it should be sent a terminate signal (for example, kill `cat /etc/syslog.pid`). Files /etc/syslog.conf the configuration file /etc/syslog.pid the process ID /dev/osm the kernel log device See also logger(TC), syslog(SLIB)