[syslog-ng] Internal error, duplicate configuration elements...

[David Hauck]

First of all, thanks for the response. Please see below.

This morning Gergely Nagy, syslog-ng-bounces at lists.balabit.hu wrote:
> David Hauck <davidh at netacquire.com> writes:
> 
>> 20140604 09:54:47.780 err syslog(syslog-ng):Internal error,
>> duplicate configuration elements refer to the same persistent
>> config; name='afsocket_dd_connection(dgram,205.159.216.207:514)'
>> 
>> The UDP configuration references from 'syslog-ng.conf' are as follows:
>> 
>> destination d_NAaudit_Prio { file("/var/log/netacquire/audit_log"
>> template(t_NAFormat_Prio)); udp("205.159.216.207" port(514)
>> template(t_NAFormat_Prio)); }; destination d_NAmessage_Prio {
>> udp("205.159.216.207" port(514) template(t_NAFormat_Prio)); };
>> 
>> Does anyone know what this message is referring too?
> 
> It refers to having an udp("205.159.216.207" port(514)
> template(t_NAFormat_Prio)) destination in the config twice: once in
> d_NAaudit_Prio and once more in d_NAmessage_Prio. This is an error in
> the config, something which can easily confuse syslog-ng. In general,
> you should use a certain target in only one destination, and if you want to send to the same destination from multiple sources, or via different filters, use log{} blocks to tie them together.

Couple things here:
1. If this is an error why doesn't 'syslog-ng -s' indicate it as such?
2. Other than the error, things appear to function correctly. Why is this?
3. Other blocks do not require that their contents contain unique statements. For example, I can create filter blocks that have statements that intersect. Why not destination blocks?
 
Cheers,
-David

> I'd recommend structuring your config differently for the above reasons:
> instead of describing *what* goes to a particular destination, name
> them after *where* they go to, and bind the
> source->filter->destination chain together in a log{} block.
> 
> For example:
> 
> destination d_205 { udp(...); };
> destination d_na_audit { file("/var/log/netacquire/audit_log"
>                               template(t_NAFormat_Prio)); };
> log {
>   source(s_all);
>   destination(d_205);
>   filter(f_na_audit);
>   destination(d_na_audit);
> };
> 
> This will send every message from s_all source to the remote server, then filter some, and put them in a file.
> 
> Hope that helps!
>