[syslog-ng] malformed syslog packets?

[syslogng at feystorm.net]

Sent: Mon Aug 29 2011 17:10:19 GMT-0600 (MST)
From: Matt Zagrabelny <mzagrabe at d.umn.edu>
To: syslogng at feystorm.net "Syslog-ng users' and developers' mailing 
list" <syslog-ng at lists.balabit.hu>
Subject: Re: [syslog-ng] malformed syslog packets?
> On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 5:10 PM,<syslogng at feystorm.net>  wrote:
>>
>> Sent: Mon Aug 29 2011 15:20:51 GMT-0600 (MST)
>> From: Matt Zagrabelny<mzagrabe at d.umn.edu>
>> To: Syslog-ng users' and developers' mailing list
>> <syslog-ng at lists.balabit.hu>
>> Subject: [syslog-ng] malformed syslog packets?
>>
>> Hi!
>>
>> I've got a central log server running the OSE 3.1.3 version of syslog-ng:
>>
>> dpkg -l syslog-ng
>> Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
>> |
>> Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
>> |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
>> ||/ Name                                     Version
>>                 Description
>> +++-========================================-========================================-================================================================================================
>> ii  syslog-ng                                3.1.3-3
>>                 Next generation logging daemon
>>
>> I have dns lookup turned on via:
>>
>> options {
>>    use_dns(yes);
>>    dns_cache(2000);
>>    dns_cache_expire(87600);
>> };
>>
>> And this seems to work just fine...except for a certain type of device
>> on our network.
>>
>> We have a number of UPSes that log to our central log server and it
>> seems that the dns look ups do not work for those (types of devices).
>>
>> % cd /var/log/syslog-ng/remote_clients
>> % ls -d 10.*
>> 10.25.32.4  10.25.5.15  10.25.5.19  10.25.5.26  10.25.5.35  10.25.5.4
>>   10.25.5.44  10.25.5.51  10.25.5.6   10.25.5.65  10.25.5.69
>> 10.25.5.76
>> 10.25.5.1   10.25.5.16  10.25.5.2   10.25.5.27  10.25.5.36  10.25.5.40
>>   10.25.5.49  10.25.5.52  10.25.5.60  10.25.5.66  10.25.5.7
>> 10.25.5.79
>> 10.25.5.10  10.25.5.17  10.25.5.20  10.25.5.28  10.25.5.37  10.25.5.41
>>   10.25.5.5   10.25.5.55  10.25.5.61  10.25.5.67  10.25.5.72
>> 10.25.5.81
>> 10.25.5.14  10.25.5.18  10.25.5.23  10.25.5.3   10.25.5.38  10.25.5.43
>>   10.25.5.50  10.25.5.58  10.25.5.62  10.25.5.68  10.25.5.75  10.25.5.9
>>
>> When I look up those IP addresses, they are *all* APC batteries (UPSes).
>>
>> For instance:
>>
>> % dig -x 10.25.5.43 +short
>> kplz246Abat1.d.umn.edu
>> .
>>
>> Is it possible that they are sending some sort of munged data to the
>> log server and syslog-ng is not able to perform the (reverse) name
>> lookup?
>>
>> Any advice?
>>
>> What macro are you using for the file name?
>>
> I believe $HOST.
>
> destination d_remote_clients {
>    file(
>         "/var/log/syslog-ng/remote_clients/$HOST/$YEAR/$MONTH/$DAY/$FACILITY"
>         owner(root)
>         group(root)
>         perm(0644)
>         dir_perm(0755)
>         create_dirs(yes)
>        );
> };
>
> -mz


That would be the issue. You want $HOST_FROM


 From the user guide:


      HOST

*Description:* The name of the source host where the message originates 
from. If the message traverses several hosts and the 
/|chain_hostnames()|/ 
<http://www.balabit.com/sites/default/files/documents/syslog-ng-ose-v3.1-guide-admin-en.html/index.html-single.html#option_chain_hostnames> 
option is on, the first host in the chain is used. To use this macro, 
make sure that the /|keep_hostname()|/ option is enabled.


      HOST_FROM

*Description:* Name of the host that sent the message to syslog-ng, as 
resolved by syslog-ng using DNS. If the message traverses several hosts, 
this is the last host in the chain. To use this macro, make sure that 
the /|keep_hostname()|/ option is enabled.

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