[syslog-ng] Logging with db-parser issue

7 May 2009

      Hey everyone,

Sorry to ask what is probably an easy question.

I'm attempting to use the new db-parser feature in syslog-ng to parse
Windows events generated by Snare.  What I've attempted to do is write
a simple XML file that will match one simple rule.  This way I can
test that everything is functioning properly and I can move on from
there.  Unfortunately, it's not working, so I'm unsure as to whether
it is my rule or my installation.  So I have a few basic questions
that will hopefully clear up my confusion!

- I did not install syslog-ng from source.  I downloaded the .deb for
version 3.01 and used that.  Does this even include db-parser? (I'm
assuming yes because it does not cause an error from the config file
alone.)

- My installation is in /opt/syslog-ng, so I've put the example XML
files (http://www.balabit.com/downloads/files/patterndb/) in
/opt/syslog-ng/var.  Is this the right location?

Other than that, here is my syslog-ng.conf file:

@version: 3.0
#Default configuration file for syslog-ng.
#
# For a description of syslog-ng configuration file directives, please read
# the syslog-ng Administrator's guide at:
#
# http://www.balabit.com/dl/html/syslog-ng-admin-guide_en.html/bk01-toc.html
#

options {
};

######
# sources
source s_local {
        # message generated by Syslog-NG
        internal();
        # standard Linux log source (this is the default place for the syslog()
        # function to send logs to)
        unix-stream("/dev/log");
        # messages from the kernel
        file("/proc/kmsg" program_override("kernel: "));
};

source s_net {
        udp();
        tcp();
};

parser p_db { db-parser(); };

######
# destinations
destination d_messages { file("/var/log/messages"); };
destination d_parsed { file("/var/log/remote/parsed.log"); };

log {
        source(s_local);
        destination(d_messages);
};

log {
        source(s_net);
        destination(d_parsed);
        parser(p_db);
};

And here is my windows.xml file:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<patterndb version='2' pub_date='2009-05-07'>
  <ruleset name='windows'>
    <pattern>MSWinEventLog</pattern>
    <rules>
      <rule provider='nate' id='1' class='system'>
        <patterns>
          <pattern>540</pattern>
        </patterns>
        <description>This is a terrible terrible message to receive.
Game over man!  Game over!</description>
      </rule>
    </rules>
  </ruleset>
</patterndb>

As you see, to test I just want to match on the number '540' and put
that log message in /var/log/remote/parsed.log.  I have verified that
messages that should match this are arriving at the machine when I
send them.  If i turn off the db-parser, the messages appear in the
parsed.log file.

If there is any documentation that explains the basics of this, sorry
that I missed it.  I've only been able to find some of the other
messages on this mailing list and the blog entries on balabit.

Thanks for any help!
Nate

[syslog-ng] Logging with db-parser issue

Nate Hausrath