SYSLOG.CONF(5)              BSD File Formats Manual             SYSLOG.CONF(5)

NAME
     syslog.conf -- syslogd(8) configuration file

DESCRIPTION
     The syslog.conf file is the configuration file for the syslogd(8) pro-
     gram.  It consists of lines with two fields: the selector field which
     specifies the types of messages and priorities to which the line applies,
     and an action field which specifies the action to be taken if a message
     syslogd receives matches the selection criteria.  The selector field is
     separated from the action field by one or more tab characters.

     The Selectors function are encoded as a facility, a period (``.''), and a
     level, with no intervening white-space.  Both the facility and the level
     are case insensitive.

     The facility describes the part of the system generating the message.
     Legacy facility names are: auth, authpriv, cron, daemon, kern, lpr, mail,
     mark, news, syslog, user, uucp and local0 through local7.  These keywords
     (with the exception of mark) correspond to the similar ``LOG_'' values
     specified to the openlog(3) and syslog(3) library routines.

     Apple System Log (ASL) messages, sent using the asl(3) library routines
     permit the facility name to be an arbitrary string, although users of the
     system are encouraged to use a ``reverse ICANN'' naming convention, for
     example ``com.apple.system.syslog''.  Since these facility names may con-
     tain dot characters, the names may be enclosed in either singe quote or
     double quote characters.

     If facility is terminated by an asterisk (``*''), then facility names are
     matched using the prefix characters preceeding the asterisk.  For exam-
     ple,

     ``'com.apple.abc.*'''

     matches any facility with the prefix ``com.apple.abc.''.  These wildcard
     facility names typically must be enclosed in single or double quotes
     characters.

     The level describes the severity of the message, and is a keyword from
     the following ordered list (higher to lower): emerg, alert, crit, err,
     warning, notice, info and debug.  These keywords correspond to the simi-
     lar (LOG_) values specified to the syslog library routine.

     See syslog(3) for a further descriptions of both the facility and level
     keywords and their significance.

     If a received message matches the specified facility and is of the speci-
     fied level (or a higher level), the action specified in the action field
     will be taken.

     Multiple selectors may be specified for a single action by separating
     them with semicolon (``;'') characters.  It is important to note, how-
     ever, that each selector can modify the ones preceding it.

     Multiple facilities may be specified for a single level by separating
     them with comma (``,'') characters.

     An asterisk (``*'') can be used to specify all facilities or all levels.

     The special facility ``mark'' receives a message at priority ``info''
     every 20 minutes (see syslogd(8)).  This is not enabled by a facility
     field containing an asterisk.

     The special level ``none'' disables a particular facility.

     The action field of each line specifies the action to be taken when the
     selector field selects a message.  There are four forms:

     o   A pathname (beginning with a leading slash).  Selected messages are
         appended to the file.

     o   A hostname (preceded by an at (``@'') sign).  Selected messages are
         forwarded to the syslogd program on the named host.

     o   A comma separated list of users.  Selected messages are written to
         those users if they are logged in.

     o   An asterisk.  Selected messages are written to all logged-in users.

     Blank lines and lines whose first non-blank character is a hash (``#'')
     character are ignored.

EXAMPLES
     A configuration file might appear as follows:

     # Log all kernel messages, authentication messages of
     # level notice or higher and anything of level err or
     # higher to the console.
     # Don't log private authentication messages!
     *.err;kern.*;auth.notice;authpriv.none  /dev/console

     # Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
     # Don't log private authentication messages!
     *.info;mail.none;authpriv.none          /var/log/messages

     # The authpriv file has restricted access.
     authpriv.*                                              /var/log/secure

     # Log all the mail messages in one place.
     mail.*                                                  /var/log/maillog

     # Everybody gets emergency messages, plus log them on another
     # machine.
     *.emerg                                                 *
     *.emerg                                                 @arpa.berkeley.edu

     # Root and Eric get alert and higher messages.
     *.alert                                                 root,eric

     # Save mail and news errors of level err and higher in a
     # special file.
     uucp,news.crit                                          /var/log/spoolerr

FILES
     /etc/syslog.conf  The syslogd(8) configuration file.

BUGS
     The effects of multiple selectors are sometimes not intuitive.  For exam-
     ple ``mail.crit,*.err'' will select ``mail'' facility messages at the
     level of ``err'' or higher, not at the level of ``crit'' or higher.

SEE ALSO
     asl(3), syslog(3), syslogd(8)

HISTORY
     The syslog.conf file appeared in 4.3BSD, along with syslogd(8).

BSD                              June 9, 1993                              BSD