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Sys::Syslog(3pm) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Sys::Syslog(3pm)
NAME
Sys::Syslog - Perl interface to the UNIX syslog(3) calls
VERSION
Version 0.27
SYNOPSIS
use Sys::Syslog; # all except setlogsock(), or:
use Sys::Syslog qw(:DEFAULT setlogsock); # default set, plus setlogsock()
use Sys::Syslog qw(:standard :macros); # standard functions, plus macros
openlog $ident, $logopt, $facility; # don't forget this
syslog $priority, $format, @args;
$oldmask = setlogmask $mask_priority;
closelog;
DESCRIPTION
"Sys::Syslog" is an interface to the UNIX syslog(3) program. Call "syslog()" with a string priority and a list of
"printf()" args just like syslog(3).
You can find a kind of FAQ in "THE RULES OF SYS::SYSLOG". Please read it before coding, and again before asking
questions.
EXPORTS
"Sys::Syslog" exports the following "Exporter" tags:
o ":standard" exports the standard syslog(3) functions:
openlog closelog setlogmask syslog
o ":extended" exports the Perl specific functions for syslog(3):
setlogsock
o ":macros" exports the symbols corresponding to most of your syslog(3) macros and the "LOG_UPTO()" and "LOG_MASK()"
functions. See "CONSTANTS" for the supported constants and their meaning.
By default, "Sys::Syslog" exports the symbols from the ":standard" tag.
FUNCTIONS
openlog($ident, $logopt, $facility)
Opens the syslog. $ident is prepended to every message. $logopt contains zero or more of the options detailed
below. $facility specifies the part of the system to report about, for example "LOG_USER" or "LOG_LOCAL0": see
"Facilities" for a list of well-known facilities, and your syslog(3) documentation for the facilities available in
your system. Check "SEE ALSO" for useful links. Facility can be given as a string or a numeric macro.
This function will croak if it can't connect to the syslog daemon.
Note that "openlog()" now takes three arguments, just like openlog(3).
You should use "openlog()" before calling "syslog()".
Options
o "cons" - This option is ignored, since the failover mechanism will drop down to the console automatically if all
other media fail.
o "ndelay" - Open the connection immediately (normally, the connection is opened when the first message is logged).
o "nofatal" - When set to true, "openlog()" and "syslog()" will only emit warnings instead of dying if the
connection to the syslog can't be established.
o "nowait" - Don't wait for child processes that may have been created while logging the message. (The GNU C
library does not create a child process, so this option has no effect on Linux.)
o "perror" - Write the message to standard error output as well to the system log.
o "pid" - Include PID with each message.
Examples
Open the syslog with options "ndelay" and "pid", and with facility "LOCAL0":
openlog($name, "ndelay,pid", "local0");
Same thing, but this time using the macro corresponding to "LOCAL0":
openlog($name, "ndelay,pid", LOG_LOCAL0);
syslog($priority, $message)
syslog($priority, $format, @args)
If $priority permits, logs $message or "sprintf($format, @args)" with the addition that %m in $message or $format is
replaced with "$!" (the latest error message).
$priority can specify a level, or a level and a facility. Levels and facilities can be given as strings or as
macros. When using the "eventlog" mechanism, priorities "DEBUG" and "INFO" are mapped to event type "informational",
"NOTICE" and "WARNIN" to "warning" and "ERR" to "EMERG" to "error".
If you didn't use "openlog()" before using "syslog()", "syslog()" will try to guess the $ident by extracting the
shortest prefix of $format that ends in a ":".
Examples
syslog("info", $message); # informational level
syslog(LOG_INFO, $message); # informational level
syslog("info|local0", $message); # information level, Local0 facility
syslog(LOG_INFO|LOG_LOCAL0, $message); # information level, Local0 facility
Note
"Sys::Syslog" version v0.07 and older passed the $message as the formatting string to "sprintf()" even when no
formatting arguments were provided. If the code calling "syslog()" might execute with older versions of this
module, make sure to call the function as "syslog($priority, "%s", $message)" instead of "syslog($priority,
$message)". This protects against hostile formatting sequences that might show up if $message contains tainted
data.
setlogmask($mask_priority)
Sets the log mask for the current process to $mask_priority and returns the old mask. If the mask argument is 0, the
current log mask is not modified. See "Levels" for the list of available levels. You can use the "LOG_UPTO()"
function to allow all levels up to a given priority (but it only accept the numeric macros as arguments).
Examples
Only log errors:
setlogmask( LOG_MASK(LOG_ERR) );
Log everything except informational messages:
setlogmask( ~(LOG_MASK(LOG_INFO)) );
Log critical messages, errors and warnings:
setlogmask( LOG_MASK(LOG_CRIT) | LOG_MASK(LOG_ERR) | LOG_MASK(LOG_WARNING) );
Log all messages up to debug:
setlogmask( LOG_UPTO(LOG_DEBUG) );
setlogsock($sock_type)
setlogsock($sock_type, $stream_location) (added in Perl 5.004_02)
setlogsock($sock_type, $stream_location, $sock_timeout) (added in 0.25)
Sets the socket type to be used for the next call to "openlog()" or "syslog()" and returns true on success, "undef"
on failure. The available mechanisms are:
o "native" - use the native C functions from your syslog(3) library (added in "Sys::Syslog" 0.15).
o "eventlog" - send messages to the Win32 events logger (Win32 only; added in "Sys::Syslog" 0.19).
o "tcp" - connect to a TCP socket, on the "syslog/tcp" or "syslogng/tcp" service. If defined, the second parameter
is used as a hostname to connect to.
o "udp" - connect to a UDP socket, on the "syslog/udp" service. If defined, the second parameter is used as a
hostname to connect to, and the third parameter as the timeout used to check for UDP response.
o "inet" - connect to an INET socket, either TCP or UDP, tried in that order. If defined, the second parameter is
used as a hostname to connect to.
o "unix" - connect to a UNIX domain socket (in some systems a character special device). The name of that socket
is the second parameter or, if you omit the second parameter, the value returned by the "_PATH_LOG" macro (if
your system defines it), or /dev/log or /dev/conslog, whatever is writable.
o "stream" - connect to the stream indicated by the pathname provided as the optional second parameter, or, if
omitted, to /dev/conslog. For example Solaris and IRIX system may prefer "stream" instead of "unix".
o "pipe" - connect to the named pipe indicated by the pathname provided as the optional second parameter, or, if
omitted, to the value returned by the "_PATH_LOG" macro (if your system defines it), or /dev/log (added in
"Sys::Syslog" 0.21).
o "console" - send messages directly to the console, as for the "cons" option of "openlog()".
A reference to an array can also be passed as the first parameter. When this calling method is used, the array
should contain a list of mechanisms which are attempted in order.
The default is to try "native", "tcp", "udp", "unix", "pipe", "stream", "console". Under systems with the Win32 API,
"eventlog" will be added as the first mechanism to try if "Win32::EventLog" is available.
Giving an invalid value for $sock_type will "croak".
Examples
Select the UDP socket mechanism:
setlogsock("udp");
Select the native, UDP socket then UNIX domain socket mechanisms:
setlogsock(["native", "udp", "unix"]);
Note
Now that the "native" mechanism is supported by "Sys::Syslog" and selected by default, the use of the
"setlogsock()" function is discouraged because other mechanisms are less portable across operating systems.
Authors of modules and programs that use this function, especially its cargo-cult form "setlogsock("unix")", are
advised to remove any occurence of it unless they specifically want to use a given mechanism (like TCP or UDP to
connect to a remote host).
closelog()
Closes the log file and returns true on success.
THE RULES OF SYS::SYSLOG
The First Rule of Sys::Syslog is: You do not call "setlogsock".
The Second Rule of Sys::Syslog is: You do not call "setlogsock".
The Third Rule of Sys::Syslog is: The program crashes, "die"s, calls "closelog", the log is over.
The Fourth Rule of Sys::Syslog is: One facility, one priority.
The Fifth Rule of Sys::Syslog is: One log at a time.
The Sixth Rule of Sys::Syslog is: No "syslog" before "openlog".
The Seventh Rule of Sys::Syslog is: Logs will go on as long as they have to.
The Eighth, and Final Rule of Sys::Syslog is: If this is your first use of Sys::Syslog, you must read the doc.
EXAMPLES
An example:
openlog($program, 'cons,pid', 'user');
syslog('info', '%s', 'this is another test');
syslog('mail|warning', 'this is a better test: %d', time);
closelog();
syslog('debug', 'this is the last test');
Another example:
openlog("$program $$", 'ndelay', 'user');
syslog('notice', 'fooprogram: this is really done');
Example of use of %m:
$! = 55;
syslog('info', 'problem was %m'); # %m == $! in syslog(3)
Log to UDP port on $remotehost instead of logging locally:
setlogsock("udp", $remotehost);
openlog($program, 'ndelay', 'user');
syslog('info', 'something happened over here');
CONSTANTS
Facilities
o "LOG_AUDIT" - audit daemon (IRIX); falls back to "LOG_AUTH"
o "LOG_AUTH" - security/authorization messages
o "LOG_AUTHPRIV" - security/authorization messages (private)
o "LOG_CONSOLE" - "/dev/console" output (FreeBSD); falls back to "LOG_USER"
o "LOG_CRON" - clock daemons (cron and at)
o "LOG_DAEMON" - system daemons without separate facility value
o "LOG_FTP" - FTP daemon
o "LOG_KERN" - kernel messages
o "LOG_INSTALL" - installer subsystem (Mac OS X); falls back to "LOG_USER"
o "LOG_LAUNCHD" - launchd - general bootstrap daemon (Mac OS X); falls back to "LOG_DAEMON"
o "LOG_LFMT" - logalert facility; falls back to "LOG_USER"
o "LOG_LOCAL0" through "LOG_LOCAL7" - reserved for local use
o "LOG_LPR" - line printer subsystem
o "LOG_MAIL" - mail subsystem
o "LOG_NETINFO" - NetInfo subsystem (Mac OS X); falls back to "LOG_DAEMON"
o "LOG_NEWS" - USENET news subsystem
o "LOG_NTP" - NTP subsystem (FreeBSD, NetBSD); falls back to "LOG_DAEMON"
o "LOG_RAS" - Remote Access Service (VPN / PPP) (Mac OS X); falls back to "LOG_AUTH"
o "LOG_REMOTEAUTH" - remote authentication/authorization (Mac OS X); falls back to "LOG_AUTH"
o "LOG_SECURITY" - security subsystems (firewalling, etc.) (FreeBSD); falls back to "LOG_AUTH"
o "LOG_SYSLOG" - messages generated internally by syslogd
o "LOG_USER" (default) - generic user-level messages
o "LOG_UUCP" - UUCP subsystem
Levels
o "LOG_EMERG" - system is unusable
o "LOG_ALERT" - action must be taken immediately
o "LOG_CRIT" - critical conditions
o "LOG_ERR" - error conditions
o "LOG_WARNING" - warning conditions
o "LOG_NOTICE" - normal, but significant, condition
o "LOG_INFO" - informational message
o "LOG_DEBUG" - debug-level message
DIAGNOSTICS
"Invalid argument passed to setlogsock"
(F) You gave "setlogsock()" an invalid value for $sock_type.
"eventlog passed to setlogsock, but no Win32 API available"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use the Win32 event logger but the operating system running the program isn't Win32
or does not provides Win32 compatible facilities.
"no connection to syslog available"
(F) "syslog()" failed to connect to the specified socket.
"stream passed to setlogsock, but %s is not writable"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use a stream socket, but the given path is not writable.
"stream passed to setlogsock, but could not find any device"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use a stream socket, but didn't provide a path, and "Sys::Syslog" was unable to find
an appropriate one.
"tcp passed to setlogsock, but tcp service unavailable"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use a TCP socket, but the service is not available on the system.
"syslog: expecting argument %s"
(F) You forgot to give "syslog()" the indicated argument.
"syslog: invalid level/facility: %s"
(F) You specified an invalid level or facility.
"syslog: too many levels given: %s"
(F) You specified too many levels.
"syslog: too many facilities given: %s"
(F) You specified too many facilities.
"syslog: level must be given"
(F) You forgot to specify a level.
"udp passed to setlogsock, but udp service unavailable"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use a UDP socket, but the service is not available on the system.
"unix passed to setlogsock, but path not available"
(W) You asked "setlogsock()" to use a UNIX socket, but "Sys::Syslog" was unable to find an appropriate an appropriate
device.
SEE ALSO
Manual Pages
syslog(3)
SUSv3 issue 6, IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 edition, <http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/000095399/basedefs/syslog.h.html>;
GNU C Library documentation on syslog, <http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Syslog.html>;
Solaris 10 documentation on syslog, http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/816-5168/syslog-3c?a=view
<http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/816-5168/syslog-3c?a=view>;
Mac OS X documentation on syslog, <http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man3/syslog.3.html>;
IRIX 6.5 documentation on syslog, http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?coll=0650&db=man&fname=3c+syslog
<http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?coll=0650&db=man&fname=3c+syslog>
AIX 5L 5.3 documentation on syslog,
<http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.basetechref/doc/basetrf2/syslog.htm>;
HP-UX 11i documentation on syslog, http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-60130/syslog.3C.html
<http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-60130/syslog.3C.html>;
Tru64 5.1 documentation on syslog, http://h30097.www3.hp.com/docs/base_doc/DOCUMENTATION/V51_HTML/MAN/MAN3/0193____.HTM
<http://h30097.www3.hp.com/docs/base_doc/DOCUMENTATION/V51_HTML/MAN/MAN3/0193____.HTM>;
Stratus VOS 15.1,
http://stratadoc.stratus.com/vos/15.1.1/r502-01/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm?context=r502-01&file=ch5r502-01bi.html
<http://stratadoc.stratus.com/vos/15.1.1/r502-01/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm?context=r502-01&file=ch5r502-01bi.html>;
RFCs
RFC 3164 - The BSD syslog Protocol, <http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3164.html>; -- Please note that this is an informational
RFC, and therefore does not specify a standard of any kind.
RFC 3195 - Reliable Delivery for syslog, <http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3195.html>;
Articles
Syslogging with Perl, <http://lexington.pm.org/meetings/022001.html>;
Event Log
Windows Event Log, http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wes/wes/windows_event_log.asp
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wes/wes/windows_event_log.asp>;
AUTHORS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Tom Christiansen <tchrist (at) perl.com> and Larry Wall <larry (at) wall.org>.
UNIX domain sockets added by Sean Robinson <robinson_s (at) sc.maricopa.edu> with support from Tim Bunce <Tim.Bunce (at)
ig.co.uk> and the "perl5-porters" mailing list.
Dependency on syslog.ph replaced with XS code by Tom Hughes <tom (at) compton.nu>.
Code for "constant()"s regenerated by Nicholas Clark <nick (at) ccl4.org>.
Failover to different communication modes by Nick Williams <Nick.Williams (at) morganstanley.com>.
Extracted from core distribution for publishing on the CPAN by Sebastien Aperghis-Tramoni <sebastien (at) aperghis.net>.
XS code for using native C functions borrowed from "Unix::Syslog", written by Marcus Harnisch <marcus.harnisch (at)
gmx.net>.
Yves Orton suggested and helped for making "Sys::Syslog" use the native event logger under Win32 systems.
Jerry D. Hedden and Reini Urban provided greatly appreciated help to debug and polish "Sys::Syslog" under Cygwin.
BUGS
Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-sys-syslog (at) rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Sys-Syslog <http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Sys-
Syslog>. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
SUPPORT
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
perldoc Sys::Syslog
You can also look for information at:
o AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
http://annocpan.org/dist/Sys-Syslog <http://annocpan.org/dist/Sys-Syslog>;
o CPAN Ratings
http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Sys-Syslog <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Sys-Syslog>;
o RT: CPAN's request tracker
http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Sys-Syslog <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Sys-Syslog>;
o Search CPAN
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Sys-Syslog/ <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Sys-Syslog/>;
o Kobes' CPAN Search
http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/dist/Sys-Syslog <http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/dist/Sys-Syslog>;
o Perl Documentation
<http://perldoc.perl.org/Sys/Syslog.html>;
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1990-2008 by Larry Wall and others.
LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.12.4 2011-06-01 Sys::Syslog(3pm)
