SYSLOG.CONF(5) BSD Programmer's Manual SYSLOG.CONF(5)NAMEsyslog.conf - syslogd(8) configuration file
DESCRIPTION
The syslog.conf file is the configuration file for the syslogd(8) pro-
gram. It consists of lines with two fields: a selectors field, which
specifies the types of messages and priorities to which the line applies,
and an action field, which specifies the action to be taken if a message
syslogd receives matches the selection criteria. The selectors field is
separated from the action field by one or more white space (blank or tab)
characters.
The selectors are encoded as a comma-separated list of facilities, a pe-
riod (``.''), and a level (occasionally called a priority elsewhere,
though the latter is supposed to refer to a combined facility and level).
Both the facilities and the level are case insensitive.
Each facility describes the part of the system generating the message,
and is one of the following keywords: auth, authpriv, cron, daemon, ftp,
kern, lpr, mail, mark, news, syslog, user, uucp and local0 through lo-
cal7. These keywords (with the exception of mark) correspond to the sim-
ilar ``LOG_'' values specified to the openlog(3) and syslog(3) library
routines.
The level describes the severity of the message, and is a keyword from
the following ordered list (higher to lower): emerg, alert, crit, err,
warning, notice, info and debug. These keywords correspond to the simi-
lar (LOG_) values specified to the syslog library routine.
See syslog(3) for a further descriptions of both the facility and level
keywords and their significance.
If a received message matches the specified facility and is of the speci-
fied level (or a higher level), the action specified in the action field
will be taken.
Multiple selectors may be specified for a single action by separating
them with semicolon (``;'') characters. It is important to note, howev-
er, that each selector can modify the ones preceding it.
An asterisk (``*'') can be used to specify all facilities or all levels.
The special facility ``mark'' receives a message at priority ``info'' ev-
ery 20 minutes (see syslogd(8)). This is not enabled by a facility field
containing an asterisk.
The special level ``none'' disables a particular facility.
The action field of each line specifies the action to be taken when the
selector field selects a message. There are four forms:
o A pathname (beginning with a leading slash). Selected messages are
appended to the file.
o A hostname (preceded by an at (``@'') sign). Selected messages are
forwarded to the syslog port on the named host as defined in
/etc/services.
o A comma separated list of users. Selected messages are written to
those users if they are logged in.
o An asterisk. Selected messages are written to all logged-in users.
Blank lines are ignored. Comments may start anywhere on a line, they
preceeded by a hash (``#'') character and continue to the end of line.
EXAMPLES
A configuration file might appear as follows:
# Log all kernel messages, authentication messages of
# level notice or higher and anything of level err or
# higher to the console.
# Don't log private authentication messages!
*.err;kern.*;auth.notice;authpriv.none /dev/console
# Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
# Don't log private authentication messages!
*.info;mail.none;authpriv.none /var/log/messages
# The authpriv file has restricted access.
authpriv.* /var/log/secure
# Log all the mail messages in one place.
mail.* /var/log/maillog
# Everybody gets emergency messages, plus log them on another
# machine.
*.emerg *
*.emerg @arpa.berkeley.edu
# Root and Eric get alert and higher messages.
*.alert root,eric
# Save mail and news errors of level err and higher in a
# special file.
uucp,news.crit /var/log/spoolerr
FILES
/etc/syslog.conf The syslogd(8) configuration file.
BUGS
The effects of multiple selectors are sometimes not intuitive. For exam-
ple ``mail.crit;*.err'' will select ``mail'' facility messages at the
level of ``err'' or higher, not at the level of ``crit'' or higher.
SEE ALSOsyslog(3), syslogd(8)BSDI BSD/OS June 9, 1993 2