SYSLOG-NG(8)               The syslog-ng manual page              SYSLOG-NG(8)



NAME
       syslog-ng - syslog-ng system logger application

SYNOPSIS
       syslog-ng [options]

DESCRIPTION
       This manual page is only an abstract; for the complete documentation of
       syslog-ng, see The syslog-ng Open Source Edition Administrator Guide[1]
       or the official syslog-ng website[2].

       The syslog-ng OSE application is a flexible and highly scalable system
       logging application. Typically, syslog-ng is used to manage log
       messages and implement centralized logging, where the aim is to collect
       the log messages of several devices on a single, central log server.
       The different devices - called syslog-ng clients - all run syslog-ng,
       and collect the log messages from the various applications, files, and
       other sources. The clients send all important log messages to the
       remote syslog-ng server, where the server sorts and stores them.

OPTIONS
       --cfgfile <file> or -f <file>
           Use the specified configuration file.

       --chroot <dir> or -C <dir>
           Change root to the specified directory. The configuration file is
           read after chrooting so, the configuration file must be available
           within the chroot. That way it is also possible to reload the
           syslog-ng configuration after chrooting. However, note that the
           --user and --group options are resolved before chrooting.

       --debug or -d
           Start syslog-ng in debug mode.

       --default-modules
           A comma-separated list of the modules that are loaded
           automatically. Modules not loaded automatically can be loaded by
           including the @module <modulename> statement in the syslog-ng OSE
           configuration file. The following modules are loaded by default:
           affile,afprog,afsocket,afuser,basicfuncs,csvparser,dbparser,syslogformat,afsql.
           Available only in syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.3 and later.

       --enable-core
           Enable syslog-ng to write core files in case of a crash to help
           support and debugging.

       --fd-limit <number>
           Set the minimal number of required file descriptors (fd-s); this
           sets how many files syslog-ng can keep open simultaneously. Default
           value: 4096. Note that this does not override the global ulimit
           setting of the host.

       --foreground or -F
           Do not daemonize, run in the foreground.

       --group <group> or -g <group>
           Switch to the specified group after initializing the configuration
           file.

       --help or -h
           Display a brief help message.

       --module-registry
           Display the list and description of the available modules. Note
           that not all of these modules are loaded automatically, only the
           ones specified in the --default-modules option. Available only in
           syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.3 and later.

       --no-caps
           Run syslog-ng as root, without capability-support. This is the
           default behavior. On Linux, it is possible to run syslog-ng as
           non-root with capability-support if syslog-ng was compiled with the
           --enable-linux-caps option enabled. (Execute syslog-ng --version to
           display the list of enabled build parameters.)

       --persist-file <persist-file> or -R <persist-file>
           Set the path and name of the syslog-ng.persist file where the
           persistent options and data are stored.

       --pidfile <pidfile> or -p <pidfile>
           Set path to the PID file where the pid of the main process is
           stored.

       --control <ctlpath> or -c <ctlpath>
           Set syslog-ng control socket, default=/var/run/syslog-ng.ctl.

       --preprocess-into <output-file>
           After processing the configuration file and resolving included
           files and variables, write the resulting configuration into the
           specified output file. Available only in syslog-ng Open Source
           Edition 3.3 and later.

       --process-mode <mode>
           Sets how to run syslog-ng: in the foreground (mainly used for
           debugging), in the background as a daemon, or in safe-background
           mode. By default, syslog-ng runs in safe-background mode. This mode
           creates a supervisor process called supervising syslog-ng , that
           restarts syslog-ng if it crashes.

       --stderr or -e
           Log internal messages of syslog-ng to stderr. Mainly used for
           debugging purposes in conjunction with the --foreground option. If
           not specified, syslog-ng will log such messages to its internal
           source.

       --syntax-only or -s
           Verify that the configuration file is syntactically correct and
           exit.

       --user <user> or -u <user>
           Switch to the specified user after initializing the configuration
           file (and optionally chrooting). Note that it is not possible to
           reload the syslog-ng configuration if the specified user has no
           privilege to create the /dev/log file.

       --verbose or -v
           Enable verbose logging used to troubleshoot syslog-ng.

       --version or -V
           Display version number and compilation information, and also the
           list and short description of the available modules. For detailed
           description of the available modules, see the --module-registry
           option. Note that not all of these modules are loaded
           automatically, only the ones specified in the --default-modules
           option.

       --worker-threads
           Sets the number of worker threads syslog-ng OSE can use, including
           the main syslog-ng OSE thread. Note that certain operations in
           syslog-ng OSE can use threads that are not limited by this option.
           This setting has effect only when syslog-ng OSE is running in
           multithreaded mode. Available only in syslog-ng Open Source Edition
           3.3 and later. See The syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.3
           Administrator Guide for details.

FILES
       /usr/local/

       /usr/local/etc/syslog-ng.conf

SEE ALSO
       syslog-ng.conf(5)

       The syslog-ng OSE 3.3 Administrator Guide[1]

       If you experience any problems or need help with syslog-ng, visit visit
       the syslog-ng wiki[3] or the syslog-ng mailing list[4].

       For news and notifications about of syslog-ng, visit the syslog-ng
       Insider Blog[5].

AUTHOR
       This manual page was written by the BalaBit Documentation Team
       <documentation@balabit.com>.

COPYRIGHT

       The authors grant permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this
       manual page under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 2
       or newer (GPL v2+).

NOTES
        1. The syslog-ng Open Source Edition Administrator Guide
           http://www.balabit.com/support/documentation/

        2. the official syslog-ng website
           http://www.balabit.com/network-security/syslog-ng/

        3. visit the syslog-ng wiki
           http://www.balabit.com/wiki/syslog-ng-faq

        4. syslog-ng mailing list
           https://lists.balabit.hu/mailman/listinfo/syslog-ng

        5. syslog-ng Insider Blog
           http://insider.blogs.balabit.com



syslog-ng Open Source Edition     10/27/2015                      SYSLOG-NG(8)
