1SYSLOG-NG(8) The syslog-ng manual page SYSLOG-NG(8)
2
6 syslog-ng - syslog-ng system logger application
7
9 syslog-ng [options]
10
12 NOTE: This manual page covers both editions of syslog-ng: syslog-ng
13 Open Source Edition and the commercial syslog-ng Premium Edition.
14 Features that are only included in the Premium Edition are marked with
15 an asterisk (*). For details, see the official syslog-ng website:
16 http://www.balabit.com/network-security/syslog-ng/.
17 This manual page is only an abstract; for the complete documentation of
19 syslog-ng, see
20 The syslog-ng Administrator Guide [1].
21 The syslog-ng application is a flexible and highly scalable system
23 logging application. Typically, syslog-ng is used to manage log
24 messages and implement centralized logging, where the aim is to collect
25 the log messages of several devices on a single, central log server.
26 The different devices - called syslog-ng clients - all run syslog-ng,
27 and collect the log messages from the various applications, files, and
28 other sources. The clients send all important log messages to the
29 remote syslog-ng server, where the server sorts and stores them.
30
32 --cfgfile <file> or -f <file>
33 Use the specified configuration file.
34 --chroot <dir> or -C <dir>
36 Change root to the specified directory after reading the
37 configuration file. The directory must be set up accordingly. Note
38 that it is not possible to reload the syslog-ng configuration after
39 chrooting.
40 --debug or -d
42 Start syslog-ng in debug mode.
43 --enable-core
45 Enable syslog-ng to write core files in case of a crash to help
46 support and debugging.
47 --fd-limit
49 Set the minimal number of required file descriptors (fd-s); this
50 sets how many files syslog-ng can keep open simultaneously. Default
51 value: 4096. Note that this does not override the global ulimit
52 setting of the host.
53 --foreground or -F
55 Do not daemonize, run in the foreground.
56 --group <group> or -g <group>
58 Switch to the specified group after initializing the configuration
59 file.
60 --help or -h
62 Display a brief help message.
63 --no-caps
65 Run syslog-ng as root, without capability-support. This is the
66 default behavior. On Linux, it is possible to run syslog-ng as
67 non-root with capability-support if syslog-ng was compiled with the
68 --enable-linux-caps option enabled. (Execute syslog-ng --version to
69 display the list of enabled build parameters.)
70 --persist-file <persist-file> or -R <persist-file>
72 Set the path and name of the syslog-ng.persist file where the
73 persistent options and data are stored.
74 --pidfile <pidfile> or -p <pidfile>
76 Set path to the PID file where the pid of the main process is
77 stored.
78 --process-mode <pidfile>
80 Sets how to run syslog-ng: in the foreground (mainly used for
81 debugging), in the background as a daemon, or in safe-background
82 mode, when syslog-ng restarts itself if it crashes. By default,
83 syslog-ng runs in safe-background mode.
84 --qdisk-dir <path> or -Q <path>
86 Specify the location of the file used for disk-based buffering. By
87 default, this file is located at /var/lib/syslog-ng/.
88 --stderr or -e
90 Log internal messages of syslog-ng to stderr. Mainly used for
91 debugging purposes in conjunction with the --foreground option.
92 --syntax-only or -s
94 Verify that the configuration file is syntactically correct and
95 exit.
96 --user <user> or -u <user>
98 Switch to the specified user after initializing the configuration
99 file (and optionally chrooting). Note that it is not possible to
100 reload the syslog-ng configuration if the specified user has no
101 privilege to create the /dev/log file.
102 --verbose or -v
104 Enable verbose logging used to troubleshoot syslog-ng.
105 --version or -V
107 Display version number and compilation information.
108
110 /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/
111 /opt/syslog-ng/etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf
113
115 syslog-ng.conf(5)
116 The syslog-ng Administrator Guide [1]
118 If you experience any problems or need help with syslog-ng, visit the
120 syslog-ng mailing list [2]
121 For news and notifications about the documentation of syslog-ng, visit
123 the BalaBit Documentation Blog[3].
124
126 This manual page was written by the BalaBit Documentation Team
127 <documentation@balabit.com>.
128
130 Copyright © 2000-2009 BalaBit IT Security Ltd. Published under the
131 Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works
132 (by-nc-nd) 3.0 license. See http://creativecommons.org/ for details.
133 The latest version is always available at
134 http://www.balabit.com/support/documentation.
135
137 1.
138 The syslog-ng Administrator Guide
140 http://www.balabit.com/support/documentation/
142 2.
144 syslog-ng mailing list
146 https://lists.balabit.hu/mailman/listinfo/syslog-ng
148 3. BalaBit Documentation Blog
150 http://robert.blogs.balabit.com
151 11/30/2009 SYSLOG-NG(8)