'\" t
.\" Title: syslog-ng
.\" Author: [see the "Author" section]
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.79.1
.\" Date: 02/05/2017
.\" Manual: The syslog-ng manual page
.\" Source: syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.3
.\" Language: English
.\"
.TH "SYSLOG\-NG" "8" "02/05/2017" "syslog\-ng Open Source Edition" "The syslog-ng manual page"
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.SH "NAME"
syslog-ng \- syslog\-ng system logger application
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\fBsyslog\-ng\fR\ 'u
\fBsyslog\-ng\fR [options]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
This manual page is only an abstract; for the complete documentation of syslog\-ng, see
\m[blue]\fB\fBThe syslog\-ng Open Source Edition Administrator Guide\fR\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2
or
\m[blue]\fBthe official syslog\-ng website\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[2]\d\s+2\&.
.PP
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
\fIsources\fR\&. The clients send all important log messages to the remote syslog\-ng server, where the server sorts and stores them\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
\fB\-\-cfgfile \fR or \fB\-f \fR
.RS 4
Use the specified configuration file\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-chroot \fR or \fB\-C \fR
.RS 4
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
\fI\-\-user\fR
and
\fI\-\-group\fR
options are resolved before chrooting\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-debug\fR or \fB\-d\fR
.RS 4
Start syslog\-ng in debug mode\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-default\-modules\fR
.RS 4
A comma\-separated list of the modules that are loaded automatically\&. Modules not loaded automatically can be loaded by including the
\fI@module \fR
statement in the syslog\-ng OSE configuration file\&. The following modules are loaded by default:
\fIaffile, afprog, afsocket, afuser, basicfuncs, csvparser, dbparser, syslogformat, afsql\fR\&. Available only in
syslog\-ng Open Source Edition 3\&.3
and later\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-enable\-core\fR
.RS 4
Enable syslog\-ng to write core files in case of a crash to help support and debugging\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-fd\-limit \fR
.RS 4
Set the minimal number of required file descriptors (fd\-s); this sets how many files syslog\-ng can keep open simultaneously\&. Default value:
\fI4096\fR\&. Note that this does not override the global ulimit setting of the host\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-foreground\fR or \fB\-F\fR
.RS 4
Do not daemonize, run in the foreground\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-group \fR or \fB\-g \fR
.RS 4
Switch to the specified group after initializing the configuration file\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-help\fR or \fB\-h\fR
.RS 4
Display a brief help message\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-module\-registry\fR
.RS 4
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
\fB\-\-default\-modules\fR
option\&. Available only in
syslog\-ng Open Source Edition 3\&.3
and later\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-no\-caps\fR
.RS 4
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
\fI\-\-enable\-linux\-caps\fR
option enabled\&. (Execute
\fBsyslog\-ng \-\-version\fR
to display the list of enabled build parameters\&.)
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-persist\-file \fR or \fB\-R \fR
.RS 4
Set the path and name of the
syslog\-ng\&.persist
file where the persistent options and data are stored\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-pidfile \fR or \fB\-p \fR
.RS 4
Set path to the PID file where the pid of the main process is stored\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-control \fR or \fB\-c \fR
.RS 4
Set syslog\-ng control socket, default=/var/run/syslog\-ng\&.ctl\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-preprocess\-into