minor cleanups, clarify -f flag

[unix-history] / usr / src / usr.sbin / syslogd / syslogd.8

.\" Copyright (c) 1983,1986 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)syslogd.8	6.5 (Berkeley) %G%
.TH SYSLOGD 8 ""
.UC 5
.SH NAME
syslogd \- log systems messages
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /etc/syslogd
[
.BI \-f configfile
] [
.BI \-m markinterval
] [
.B \-d
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Syslogd
reads and logs messages into a set of files
described by the configuration file
/etc/syslog.conf.
Each message is one line.
A message can contain a priority code,
marked by a number in angle braces
at the beginning of the line.
Priorities are defined in
.RI < sys/syslog.h >.
.I Syslogd
reads from the UNIX domain socket
.IR /dev/log ,
from an Internet domain socket specified in
.IR /etc/services ,
and from the special device
.I /dev/klog
(to read kernel messages).
.PP
.I Syslogd
configures when it starts up
and whenever it receives a hangup signal.
Lines in the configuration file have a
.I selector
to determine the message priorities to which the line applies
and an
.IR action .
The
.I action
field are separated from the selector by one or more tabs.
.PP
Selectors are semicolon separated lists of priority specifiers.
Each priority has a
.I facility
describing the part of the system that generated the message,
a dot,
and a
.I level
indicating the severity of the message.
Symbolic names may be used.
An asterisk selects all facilities.
All messages of the specified level or higher (greater severity)
are selected.
More than one facility may be selected using commas to separate them.
For example:
.PP
.ti +5
*.emerg;mail,daemon.crit
.PP
Selects all facilities at the
.I emerg
level and the
.I mail
and
.I daemon
facilities at the
.I crit
level.
.PP
Known facilities and levels
recognized by
.I syslogd
are those listed in
.IR syslog (3)
without the leading ``LOG_''.
The additional facility
``mark'' has a message at priority LOG_INFO sent to it every
20 minutes
(this may be changed with the
.B \-m
flag).
The ``mark'' facility is not enabled by a facility field containing an asterisk.
The level ``none'' may be used to disable a particular facility.
For example,
.PP
.ti +5
*.debug;mail.none
.PP
Sends all messages
.I except
mail messages to the selected file.
.PP
The second part of each line describes where the message is to be logged
if this line is selected.
There are four forms:
.IP \(bu 3n
A filename (beginning with a leading slash).
The file will be opened in append mode.
.IP \(bu 3n
A hostname preceeded by an at sign (``@'').
Selected messages are forwarded to the
.I syslogd
on the named host.
.IP \(bu 3n
A comma separated list of users.
Selected messages are written to those users
if they are logged in.
.IP \(bu 3n
An asterisk.
Selected messages are written to all logged-in users.
.PP
Blank lines and lines beginning with `#' are ignored.
.PP
For example, the configuration file:
.PP
.nf
.ta 4m +\w'*.alert,auth.warning'u+3
	kern,mark.debug	/dev/console
	*.notice;mail.info	/usr/spool/adm/syslog
	*.crit	/usr/adm/critical
	kern.err	@ucbarpa
	*.emerg	*
	*.alert	eric,kridle
	*.alert;auth.warning	ralph
.fi
.PP
logs all kernel messages
and 20 minute marks onto the system console,
all notice (or higher) level messages and all mail system messages
except debug messages
into the file /usr/spool/adm/syslog,
and all critical messages
into /usr/adm/critical;
kernel messages of error severity or higher are forwarded
to ucbarpa.
All users will be informed of any emergency messages,
the users ``eric'' and ``kridle''
will be informed of any alert messages,
and the user ``ralph''
will be informed of any alert message,
or any warning message (or higher)
from the authorization system.
.PP
The flags are:
.TP 0.5i
.B \-f
Specify an alternate configuration file.
.TP
.B \-m
Select the number of minutes between mark messages.
.TP
.B \-d
Turn on debugging.
.PP
.I Syslogd
creates the file /etc/syslog.pid, if possible,
containing a single line with its process id.
This can be used to kill or reconfigure
.I syslogd.
.PP
To bring
.I syslogd
down,
it should be sent a terminate signal (e.g. kill \`cat /etc/syslog.pid\`).
.SH FILES
.ta \w'/etc/syslog.conf    'u
.nf
/etc/syslog.conf	the configuration file
/etc/syslog.pid	the process id
/dev/log	Name of the UNIX domain datagram log socket
/dev/klog	The kernel log device
.fi
.SH SEE ALSO
logger(1),
syslog(3)