- syslog-ng - lists.balabit.hu

keep_timestamp() and use_time_recvd() equivalent?
by Craig Bell 09 Dec '10

09 Dec '10

Q: Is option keep_timestamp(no) reasonably equivalent to use_time_recvd(yes)? Background: We recently upgraded from OSE v2.1 to v3.1.2. This went well, but our global options include the deprecated use_time_recvd(). We see this advisory on startup: > Your configuration file uses an obsoleted keyword, please update your configuration; keyword='use_time_recvd', change='Use R_ or S_ prefixed macros in templates' We don't modify the default templates, so adding these for the first time wouldn't be my first choice. Instead, can I simply use global option keep_timestamp(no) as a replacement? I looked around for advice, but didn't see anything obvious. Thanks in advance! -cheers, CSB

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advice/assistance with parsing attempt requested
by syslog-ng2010＠hushmail.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

i've spent the better part of the past week reading and trying to understand both the documentation and list posts trying to sort this out, if anyone can offer some advice as to whether this is possible or not and if so, what i'm doing wrong; i would really appreciate it! … i have a simple enough task, or so i thought! i've got a syslog stream being received by syslog-ng with too much data. what i'd like to do is parse out pieces of the stream and write only those to a file. the tricky part is that the order of the stream is very variable so that sometimes the desired named parser preceding strings and associated values are present and sometimes not. furthermore, the extra data is also quite variable. can this challenge even be addressed with syslog-ng ose? if so, can it be done with patterned without creating a pattern for EVERY variation of possible streams? for clarification, we've tried to leverage an external perl script which does this using regexs but, it seems that it can't keep up with the stream, we only receive 10% of the original events in the output. if this (external parsing script) only way this can be done, we will continue our efforts to enhance the external script but, if this is possible to be done natively within syslog-ng, i'd rather do that. with the following configuration, i am able to generate output log entries which correctly contain the global macros of $DATE $FULLHOST $PROGRAM as well as the strings preceding the named parser variables but, not the named parser macros. my output looks like this: Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser1= namedparser2= namedparser3= namedparser4= namedparser5= *****examples of entries in source stream***** Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser1=namedparser1value extra1=extravalue1 namedparser2=namedparser2value namedparser3=namedparser3value extra2=extravalue2 namedparser4=namedparser4value namedparser5=namedparser5value extra3=extravalue3 Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 extra1=extravalue1 namedparser3=namedparser3value extra2=extravalue2 namedparser4=namedparser4value namedparser5=namedparser5value extra3=extravalue3 extra4=extravalue4 Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser1=namedparser1value extra1=extravalue1 namedparser2=namedparser2value namedparser3=namedparser3value extra2=extravalue2 namedparser4=namedparser4value extra3=extravalue3 *****examples of desired output***** Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser1=namedparser1value namedparser2=namedparser2value namedparser3=namedparser3value namedparser4=namedparser4value namedparser5=namedparser5value Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser3=namedparser3value namedparser4=namedparser4value namedparser5=namedparser5value Dec 2 11:11:11 127.0.0.1 ABC: 0 namedparser1=namedparser1value namedparser2=namedparser2value namedparser3=namedparser3value namedparser4=namedparser4value *****included in conf file***** parser pattern_db { db_parser(file("/opt/syslog-ng/config/patterndb.xml") }; template reduced { template("$DATE $FULLHOST $PROGRAM: 0 namedparser1=$NAMEDPARSER1 namedparser2=$NAMEDPARSER2 namedparser3=$NAMEDPARSER3 namedparser4=$NAMEDPARSER4 namedparser5=$NAMEDPARSER5 \n"); template_escape(no); } destination d_logfile { file("/opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile" template(reduced)); } log { source(source); parser(pattern_db); destination(d_logfile); }; *****patterndb.xml contents***** <patterndb version='3' pub_date=''> <ruleset name='globe' id='1234567890'> <pattern>ABC</pattern> <rules> <rule provider='someone' id='123' class='system'> <patterns> <pattern>ABC namedparser1=@ESTRING:NAMEDPARSER1:\ @ namedparser2=@ESTRING:NAMEDPARSER2:\ @ namedparser3=@ESTRING:NAMEDPARSER3:\ @ namedparser4=@ESTRING:NAMEDPARSER4:\ @ namedparser5=@ESTRING:NAMEDPARSER5:\ @</pattern> <patterns> </rule> <rules> </ruleset> </patterndb> MANY thanks in advance!

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[Bug 99] New: syslog-ng unable to write to files owned by another user and not world writable
by bugzilla＠bugzilla.balabit.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=99 Summary: syslog-ng unable to write to files owned by another user and not world writable Product: syslog-ng Version: 3.1.x Platform: PC OS/Version: Linux Status: NEW Severity: minor Priority: unspecified Component: syslog-ng AssignedTo: bazsi(a)balabit.hu ReportedBy: mimosinnet(a)ningunlugar.org Type of the Report: bug Estimated Hours: 0.0 I used to have a new destination that logged messages into a file owned by a certain user. This worked in syslog-ng-3.0.4: destination problem { file("/var/log/problem.log" owner("o3o") group("users")); }; # ls -lisah problem.log 6268890 920K -rw------- 1 o3o users 915K 7 des 12:52 problem.log After upgrading to syslog-ng-3.1.1, I get the following message: Dec 7 12:52:37 o3o syslog-ng[12594]: Error opening file for writing; filename='/var/log/problem.log', error='Permission denied (13)' Dec 7 12:52:37 o3o syslog-ng[12594]: syslog-ng internal() messages are looping back, preventing loop by suppressing further messages; recurse_count='2' I can write to the file as the o3o user (i.e. echo "test" >> /var/log/problem.log). I have tried to put the file in the home directory with the same result: destination problem { file("/home/o3o/problem.log" owner("o3o") group("users")); }; I had to give world permissions to the file for syslog-ng to be able to write to it: destination problem { file("/var/log/problem.log" owner("o3o") group("users") perm(0622)); }; The file should only be writable for the specific user. This seems similar to this other bug: https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=52 Thanks for the attention! -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.balabit.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are watching all bug changes.

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Creating a "log" block (OSE 3.2.1)
by Eric Berggren 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

Howdy Looking to use the new fancy "block" construct in syslog-ng 3.2.1 (OSE) -- (the example in the documentation [5.3.2] doesn't parse, but figured out needs to include ()'s as well in the block definition). Meanwhile, trying to define a "log" block, that contains other log {} stanza's, but fails to parse: filter f_zort { level(err); }; destination d_weblog_unknown { file("/tmp/foo"); }; block log bl_weblog() { filter(f_zort); log { destination(d_weblog_unknown); }; }; Error parsing main, syntax error, unexpected '}', expecting $end in /usr/local/etc/syslog-ng.d/10-weblog at line 7, column 1: included from /etc/syslog-ng.conf line 15, column 37 >> }; << The idea being I would include this within another "log { }" stanza in the main file. If I remove "log { destination(...); };" from the "bl_weblog()" block, it parses okay. I have another ("destination") block within the config that also parses okay (even parameterized). Strangely, commenting out the entry with a "#" at the start of that line still results in a syntax error. The error is independent of whether bl_weblog() is even referenced anywhere. The main config may include only 'include "10-weblog"' and nothing else to demonstrate. Seems otherwise a valid scenario, no ? thanks, -eric

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[Bug 101] New: Typo in modules/afsocket/Makefile.am
by bugzilla＠bugzilla.balabit.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=101 Summary: Typo in modules/afsocket/Makefile.am Product: syslog-ng Version: 3.2.x Platform: PC OS/Version: All Status: NEW Severity: normal Priority: unspecified Component: syslog-ng AssignedTo: bazsi(a)balabit.hu ReportedBy: vinschen(a)redhat.com Type of the Report: --- Estimated Hours: 0.0 Created an attachment (id=27) --> (https://bugzilla.balabit.com/attachment.cgi?id=27) Patch to fix issue "Typo in modules/afsocket/Makefile.am" Usually $DESTDIR is used without a trailing slash, for instance: $(DESTDIR)$(prefix) In modules/afsocket/Makefile.am, it's erroneously used with a trailing slash in the rules creating the libafsocket.so symlink: $(DESTDIR)/$(moduledir) Assuming $(DESTDIR) is empty, this may result in an erroneous double slash at the beginning of the resulting path: moduledir=/usr/lib/syslog-ng ==> $(DESTDIR)/$(moduledir) == //usr/lib/syslog-ng Per POSIX, a double slash at the start of the path is allowed to have a system-dependent meaning, so this shouldn't happen. I've attached a patch to fix this issue. Corinna -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.balabit.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are watching all bug changes.

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[Bug 102] New: Add system type "CYGWIN" to system() plugin
by bugzilla＠bugzilla.balabit.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=102 Summary: Add system type "CYGWIN" to system() plugin Product: syslog-ng Version: 3.2.x Platform: PC OS/Version: Other Status: NEW Severity: normal Priority: unspecified Component: syslog-ng AssignedTo: bazsi(a)balabit.hu ReportedBy: vinschen(a)redhat.com Type of the Report: enhancement Estimated Hours: 0.0 The scl/system/generate-system-source.sh script driving the system() plugin does not recognize Cygwin. The attached patch adds Cygwin to the script so the system() plugin does the right thing. Corinna -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.balabit.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are watching all bug changes.

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Re: [syslog-ng] advice/assistance with parsing attempt requested
by syslog-ng2010＠hushmail.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

thanks for all the help ... in parser.py, i was using sys.stdin.readlines() which, i wound up changing to sys.stdin.xreadlines() to get the desired results. many thanks again! On Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:50:37 +0100 Lars Kellogg-Stedman <lars(a)oddbit.com> wrote: >> >> the issue has me really stumped. how/why would the output from >perl >> make it to /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile in "real-time" yet, the >> output from python only make it to /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile >as a >> batch upon stopping the service!?!? >> > >This sort of thing typically happens because the program is using >buffered >IO, and output is only flushed when the buffer is full. If you >were to >leave things running for a while and generate a lot of log >traffic, you >would probably see the output show up periodically in large >chunks. > > This thread on Stackoverflow discusses a variety of solutions to >the >problem: > > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/107705/python-output- >buffering > >The simplest is probably to run Python with the "-u" flag (or >output to >stderr instead of stdout).

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Re: [syslog-ng] advice/assistance with parsing attempt requested
by syslog-ng2010＠hushmail.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

MANY thanks for all of the great answers guys! as the pattern permutations would be less than desirable to maintain, i've gone ahead and given the program destination another attempt. this time leveraging python as opposed to perl (even though i too believe perl ought be able to handle the volume (roughly 300k per 5 minutes). i didn't write the original non- functional script and happen to favor python. by setting two destinations (one writing the raw stream to file and the other sending to a program which does parsing) i can see that this external parsing does indeed keep a one to one ratio! now, i'm now faced with a new challenge which for the life of me can't begin to get my head around ... original script had: destination d_parser { program("/opt/bin/perl /opt/syslog-ng/config/parser.pl >> /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile"); }; and, for what it was able to output (albeit anemic), worked fine. however ... current script has: destination d_parser { program("/opt/bin/python /opt/syslog-ng/config/parser.py >> /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile"); }; when i run "/opt/bin/python /opt/syslog-ng/config/parser.py" from the cmd line, and pipe input into it (i'm reading stdin); it runs as expected and the desired output is sent to screen/stdout when i start the syslog-ng service (which uses the conf file which in turn calls the python program in destination d_parser), unlike the perl script which does the same thing (print to screen/stdout) and does in fact add entries to /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile; no output is ever sent to the /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile ... UNTIL, i stop the syslog service and then, all the expected output comes flushing into /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile the issue has me really stumped. how/why would the output from perl make it to /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile in "real-time" yet, the output from python only make it to /opt/syslog-ng/logs/logfile as a batch upon stopping the service!?!? to clarify, i'm only sending to file currently to test, eventually this will be handed off to another syslog server via: destination d_logdevice { tcp("10.0.0.1" port(11235)); }; i hope this is something simple because as soon as i can get the output from the python like the perl, this project is almost done! lastly, this all being done with syslog-ng ose 3.1.1 thanks in advance! On Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:01:37 +0100 Bill Anderson <Bill.Anderson(a)bodybuilding.com> wrote: >On Dec 6, 2010, at 12:37 PM, Martin Holste wrote: > >>> Agreed, Perl is plenty quick, hence my wondering about the >actual volume. If it is too much for Perl I'd go w/C++. >> >> From what I can tell, PCRE in Perl (or Python or whatever) is >really >> close to C/C++ speeds because they're essentially using the same >> library and therefore mostly the same syscalls. I'd be really >> interested if anyone has benchmarks. I'd expect something like >10% >> better performance in C, but not much more, assuming that the >vast >> majority of CPU time is spent on PCRE. > >Yeah I was thinking the overhead might be in what is done, as >opposed to just the RE portion. Of course, the OP script might be >implemented rather differently. ;) > > >> >>> Personally, I'd make the last step routing back into syslog-ng >with a source on a custom port and letting syslog handle the >writing to disk. That way you can still use macros such as >timestamps, etc.. Then again, that may be because I do that all >the time. ;) A log statement that takes everything from the custom >source and logs to a file should work beautifully; no need for >filters though you could still do additional processing if needed. >That said I'd also consider running a daemon that accepted all the >input, formatted it, and then sent it to syslog-ng, pointing the >clients at the custom daemon if that was possible. >>> >>> One advantage to the daemon route is that it wouldn't *have* to >reside on the same system. >> >> Yep, you could definitely let Syslog-NG handle the last mile as >well. >> I was trying to keep the scope as narrow as possible in my >example. >> >> I wonder if you could build an NFA state machine by >conditionally >> looping output from a pattern-db parsed message into a source in >> Syslog-NG with a different pattern-db, depending on the previous >> output. Something like a token parser pdb that does an ESTRING >up >> until " " and another one that only expects the key/val pair to >be >> sent to it as the message. So it comes in as k1=v1 k2=v2 and >the >> first kv gets gobbled up and then sent to another pdb source >with a >> pdb which only matches if the message starts with certain terms. > Then >> the rest of the original message is looped back to itself using >> @ANYSTRING@ to capture the remainder, that is, minus the kv >which was >> sent to the kv pdb. It would keep recursively looping like that >until >> there's no message left. If that all worked, your pattern db >would be >> extremely simple as it would just be a pattern per key you were >> looking for, and order would no longer be an issue. > >Maybe I'm nuts, but that sounds awesome to me. :D > >> Of course there's >> still the problem of demuxing the whole thing back into a >coherent >> message, but I think that could be done a number of ways by >passing >> the MSGID token with each part and using the new conditionals >present >> in OSE 3.2. > >Well, there is message correlation in 3.2.1 right? muahahaha > >> If OSE 3.3 can really do close to 1 million msgs/sec, >> then the overhead of resubmitting the same log many times may be >> bearable, especially with the threading. > >True the rate might be the downside to that mechanism. However, >the terseness of the messages might make up for some of it. > > >___________________________________________________________________ >___________ >Member info: https://lists.balabit.hu/mailman/listinfo/syslog-ng >Documentation: >http://www.balabit.com/support/documentation/?product=syslog-ng >FAQ: http://www.campin.net/syslog-ng/faq.html

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[Bug 100] New: Hostnames that start with 4+ digits mess up the time system
by bugzilla＠bugzilla.balabit.com 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=100 Summary: Hostnames that start with 4+ digits mess up the time system Product: syslog-ng Version: 2.0.x Platform: PC OS/Version: Linux Status: NEW Severity: normal Priority: unspecified Component: syslog-ng AssignedTo: bazsi(a)balabit.hu ReportedBy: D.Ojalvo(a)f5.com Type of the Report: --- Estimated Hours: 0.0 Created an attachment (id=26) --> (https://bugzilla.balabit.com/attachment.cgi?id=26) My patch proposal If syslog is handling a message with an rfc 3164-type timestamp then a hostname that begins with 4 digits, the time parser will mess up because it thinks that it is dealing with a linksys-style timestamp that includes the year, when the rfc3164 timestamp does not. I wrote a patch that adds a strict rfc3164 parsing option to the syslog startup. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.balabit.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are watching all bug changes.

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Re: [syslog-ng] [Bug 100] New: Hostnames that start with 4+ digits mess up the time system
by Patrick H. 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

Ahh, didnt know that was overridden. Thanks :-) -Patrick Sent: Tue Dec 07 2010 17:17:42 GMT-0700 (Mountain Standard Time) From: Daniel Ojalvo <D.Ojalvo(a)F5.com> To: Patrick H. <syslogng(a)feystorm.net>, Syslog-ng users' and developers' mailing list <syslog-ng(a)lists.balabit.hu> Subject: Re: [syslog-ng] [Bug 100] New: Hostnames that start with 4+ digits mess up the time system > > Yes, but that is superseded by rfc 1123. > http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1123#page-13 > > > > It's definitely an edge case though. I googled around for a while and > I found no other mentions of a bug like this. > > > > Daniel > > > > *From:* feystorm(a)q.com [mailto:feystorm@q.com] *On Behalf Of *Patrick H. > *Sent:* Tuesday, December 07, 2010 4:07 PM > *To:* Syslog-ng users' and developers' mailing list; Daniel Ojalvo > *Subject:* Re: [syslog-ng] [Bug 100] New: Hostnames that start with 4+ > digits mess up the time system > > > > Well to be fair, hostnames that start with a number are a violation of > RFC 952. > http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc952.txt > "The first character must be an alpha character" > > -Patrick > > > Sent: Tue Dec 07 2010 16:49:03 GMT-0700 (Mountain Standard Time) > From: bugzilla(a)bugzilla.balabit.com <mailto:bugzilla@bugzilla.balabit.com> > To: syslog-ng(a)lists.balabit.hu <mailto:syslog-ng@lists.balabit.hu> > Subject: [syslog-ng] [Bug 100] New: Hostnames that start with 4+ > digits mess up the time system > > https://bugzilla.balabit.com/show_bug.cgi?id=100 > > Summary: Hostnames that start with 4+ digits mess up the time > system > Product: syslog-ng > Version: 2.0.x > Platform: PC > OS/Version: Linux > Status: NEW > Severity: normal > Priority: unspecified > Component: syslog-ng > AssignedTo: bazsi(a)balabit.hu <mailto:bazsi@balabit.hu> > ReportedBy: D.Ojalvo(a)f5.com <mailto:D.Ojalvo@f5.com> > Type of the Report: --- > Estimated Hours: 0.0 > > > Created an attachment (id=26) > --> (https://bugzilla.balabit.com/attachment.cgi?id=26) > My patch proposal > > If syslog is handling a message with an rfc 3164-type timestamp then a hostname that begins with 4 digits, > the time parser will mess up because it thinks that it is dealing with a linksys-style timestamp that includes the year, > when the rfc3164 timestamp does not. I wrote a patch that adds a strict rfc3164 parsing option to the syslog startup. > > >

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