syslogd

NAME

syslogd - log systems messages

SYNOPSIS

syslogd [-ds] [-f config_file] [-m mark_interval]

DESCRIPTION

The syslogd(1) utility reads and logs messages to the system console, log files, other computers, and users as specified by its configuration file.

The options are as follows:

-d

Run in debug mode.

-f

Specify the path name of an alternate configuration file; the default is /etc/syslog.conf.

-m

Select the number of minutes between "mark" messages; the default is 20 minutes.

-s

Run as a service (do not fork upon startup). This option is required to run syslogd(1) as a Windows service.

The syslogd(1) utility reads its configuration file when it starts up and when it receives a hangup signal. For information on the format of the configuration file, see syslog.conf(5).

The syslogd(1) utility creates the file /var/run/syslog.pid, and stores its process identifier (ID) there. This can be used to kill or reconfigure syslogd(1).

The message sent to syslogd(1) should consist of a single line. The message can contain a priority code, which should be a preceding decimal number in angle brackets; for example, <5>. This priority code should map into the priorities defined in the include file <sys/syslog.h>.

FILES

/etc/syslog.conf

The configuration file.

/var/run/syslog.pid

The process ID of current syslogd(1).

/var/adm/log/*

The log files. These are typically the files console, daemon, ftp, lpr, mail, messages, news, secure, and uucp. The syslogd(1) utility will not create these files, however; it will only append to them. When setting up syslogd(1), you should create empty files by these names (usually with touch(1)):

cd /var/adm/log
touch console daemon ftp lpr mail messages news secure uucp

SEE ALSO

logger(1)

syslog(3)

syslog.conf(5)