syslogd.tproj/syslog.conf.5

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  32 .\"     from: @(#)syslog.conf.5 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/9/93
  33 .\"     $NetBSD: syslog.conf.5,v 1.4 1996/01/02 17:41:46 perry Exp $
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  35 .Dd June 9, 1993
  36 .Dt SYSLOG.CONF 5
  37 .Os
  38 .Sh NAME
  39 .Nm syslog.conf
  40 .Nd
  41 .Xr syslogd 8
  42 configuration file
  43 .Sh DESCRIPTION
  44 The
  45 .Nm syslog.conf
  46 file is the configuration file for the
  47 .Xr syslogd 8
  48 program.
  49 It consists of lines with two fields: the
  50 .Em selector
  51 field which specifies the types of messages and priorities to which the
  52 line applies, and an
  53 .Em action
  54 field which specifies the action to be taken if a message
  55 .Xr syslogd
  56 receives matches the selection criteria.
  57 The
  58 .Em selector
  59 field is separated from the
  60 .Em action
  61 field by one or more tab characters.
  62 .Pp
  63 The
  64 .Em Selectors
  65 function
  66 are encoded as a
  67 .Em facility ,
  68 a period (``.''), and a
  69 .Em level ,
  70 with no intervening white-space.
  71 Both the
  72 .Em facility
  73 and the
  74 .Em level
  75 are case insensitive.
  76 .Pp
  77 The
  78 .Em facility
  79 describes the part of the system generating the message, and is one of
  80 the following keywords: auth, authpriv, cron, daemon, kern, lpr, mail,
  81 mark, news, syslog, user, uucp and local0 through local7.
  82 These keywords (with the exception of mark) correspond to the
  83 similar
  84 .Dq Dv LOG_
  85 values specified to the
  86 .Xr openlog 3
  87 and
  88 .Xr syslog 3
  89 library routines.
  90 .Pp
  91 The
  92 .Em level
  93 describes the severity of the message, and is a keyword from the
  94 following ordered list (higher to lower): emerg, alert, crit, err,
  95 warning, notice, info and debug.
  96 These keywords correspond to the
  97 similar
  98 .Pq Dv LOG_
  99 values specified to the
 100 .Xr syslog
 101 library routine.
 102 .Pp
 103 See
 104 .Xr syslog 3
 105 for a further descriptions of both the
 106 .Em facility
 107 and
 108 .Em level
 109 keywords and their significance.
 110 .Pp
 111 If a received message matches the specified
 112 .Em facility
 113 and is of the specified
 114 .Em level
 115 .Em (or a higher level) ,
 116 the action specified in the
 117 .Em action
 118 field will be taken.
 119 .Pp
 120 Multiple
 121 .Em selectors
 122 may be specified for a single
 123 .Em action
 124 by separating them with semicolon (``;'') characters.
 125 It is important to note, however, that each
 126 .Em selector
 127 can modify the ones preceding it.
 128 .Pp
 129 Multiple
 130 .Em facilities
 131 may be specified for a single
 132 .Em level
 133 by separating them with comma (``,'') characters.
 134 .Pp
 135 An asterisk (``*'') can be used to specify all
 136 .Em facilities
 137 or all
 138 .Em levels .
 139 .Pp
 140 The special
 141 .Em facility
 142 ``mark'' receives a message at priority ``info'' every 20 minutes
 143 (see
 144 .Xr syslogd 8 ) .
 145 This is not enabled by a
 146 .Em facility
 147 field containing an asterisk.
 148 .Pp
 149 The special
 150 .Em level
 151 ``none'' disables a particular
 152 .Em facility .
 153 .Pp
 154 The
 155 .Em action
 156 field of each line specifies the action to be taken when the
 157 .Em selector
 158 field selects a message.
 159 There are four forms:
 160 .Bl -bullet
 161 .It
 162 A pathname (beginning with a leading slash).
 163 Selected messages are appended to the file.
 164 .It
 165 A hostname (preceded by an at (``@'') sign).
 166 Selected messages are forwarded to the
 167 .Xr syslogd
 168 program on the named host.
 169 .It
 170 A comma separated list of users.
 171 Selected messages are written to those users
 172 if they are logged in.
 173 .It
 174 An asterisk.
 175 Selected messages are written to all logged-in users.
 176 .El
 177 .Pp
 178 Blank lines and lines whose first non-blank character is a hash (``#'')
 179 character are ignored.
 180 .Sh EXAMPLES
 181 .Pp
 182 A configuration file might appear as follows:
 183 .Bd -literal
 184 # Log all kernel messages, authentication messages of
 185 # level notice or higher and anything of level err or
 186 # higher to the console.
 187 # Don't log private authentication messages!
 188 *.err;kern.*;auth.notice;authpriv.none  /dev/console
 189
 190 # Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
 191 # Don't log private authentication messages!
 192 *.info;mail.none;authpriv.none          /var/log/messages
 193
 194 # The authpriv file has restricted access.
 195 authpriv.*                                              /var/log/secure
 196
 197 # Log all the mail messages in one place.
 198 mail.*                                                  /var/log/maillog
 199
 200 # Everybody gets emergency messages, plus log them on another
 201 # machine.
 202 *.emerg                                                 *
 203 *.emerg                                                 @arpa.berkeley.edu
 204
 205 # Root and Eric get alert and higher messages.
 206 *.alert                                                 root,eric
 207
 208 # Save mail and news errors of level err and higher in a
 209 # special file.
 210 uucp,news.crit                                          /var/log/spoolerr
 211 .Ed
 212 .Sh FILES
 213 .Bl -tag -width /etc/syslog.conf -compact
 214 .It Pa /etc/syslog.conf
 215 The
 216 .Xr syslogd 8
 217 configuration file.
 218 .El
 219 .Sh BUGS
 220 The effects of multiple selectors are sometimes not intuitive.
 221 For example ``mail.crit,*.err'' will select ``mail'' facility messages at
 222 the level of ``err'' or higher, not at the level of ``crit'' or higher.
 223 .Sh SEE ALSO
 224 .Xr syslog 3 ,
 225 .Xr syslogd 8
 226 .Sh HISTORY
 227 The
 228 .Nm
 229 file appeared in
 230 .Bx 4.3 ,
 231 along with
 232 .Xr syslogd 8 .