Use this documentation with care! It describes the heavily outdated version 5, which was actively developed around 2010 and is considered dead by the rsyslog team for many years now.

This documentation reflects the latest update of the previously existing (now removed) v5-stable branch. It describes the 5.10.2 version, which was never released. As such, it contains some content that does not apply to any released version.

To obtain the doc that properly matches your installed v5 version, obtain the doc set from your distro. Each version of rsyslog contained the version that exactly matches it.

As general advise, it is strongly suggested to upgrade to the current version supported by the rsyslog project. The current version can always be found on the right-hand side info box on the rsyslog web site.

Note that there is no rsyslog community support available for this heavily outdated version. If you need to stick with it, please ask your distribution for support.

Configuration

Rsyslogd is configured via the rsyslog.conf file, typically found in /etc. By default, rsyslogd reads the file /etc/rsyslog.conf. This can be changed by a command line option.

All configuration directives need to be specified on a line by their own and must start with a dollar-sign.

• Basic Structure
  • Quick overview of message flow and objects
  • Processing Principles
  • Configuration File
  • Statements
  • Comments
  • Processing Order
  • Inputs
  • Outputs
  • Rulesets and Rules
• Templates
  • String-based Templates
  • String Generator based Templates
• rsyslog Properties
  • Message Properties
  • System Properties
• The Property Replacer
  • Accessing Properties
  • Further Links
• Filter Conditions
  • Selectors
  • Property-Based Filters
  • Expression-Based Filters
  • BSD-style Blocks
  • Examples
• RainerScript
  • Data Types
  • Expressions
  • Functions
• Actions
  • Regular File
  • Named Pipes
  • Terminal and Console
  • Remote Machine
  • List of Users
  • Everyone logged on
  • Call Plugin
  • Database Table
  • Discard
  • Output Channel
  • Shell Execute
  • Template Name
• Examples
  • Templates
  • Selector lines
• Configuration Directives
  • Configuration Parameter Types
  • Global Configuration Statements
  • Directives affecting Input Modules
  • Action-Specific Configuration Statements
  • Ruleset-Specific Configuration Statements
• Modules
  • Output Modules
  • Input Modules
  • Parser Modules
  • Message Modification Modules
  • String Generator Modules
  • Library Modules
  • Where are the modules integrated into the Message Flow?
• Output Channels
• Dropping privileges in rsyslog
• Notes on IPv6 Handling in Rsyslog

Configuration file examples can be found in the rsyslog wiki. Also keep the rsyslog config snippets on your mind. These are ready-to-use real building blocks for rsyslog configuration.

There is also one sample file provided together with the documentation set. If you do not like to read, be sure to have at least a quick look at rsyslog-example.conf.

While rsyslogd contains enhancements over standard syslogd, efforts have been made to keep the configuration file as compatible as possible. While, for obvious reasons, enhanced features require a different config file syntax, rsyslogd should be able to work with a standard syslog.conf file. This is especially useful while you are migrating from syslogd to rsyslogd.