Modern Snare-Format Parsing Arrives: Introducing the mmsnareparse Module

Last September, Rainer Gerhards revisited a long-standing challenge: normalizing legacy Windows Snare logs for use in modern observability pipelines.
In his article Revisiting old style Windows Log Schema Mapping, he explored heuristic and AI-assisted methods to better handle these still-prevalent formats.

That effort has now resulted in production-ready code: the new mmsnareparse module — already part of the daily stable build and scheduled for inclusion in the 8.2510.0 stable release.

We’re looking for testers right now.
If your systems still forward Windows Security logs in Snare format, please deploy mmsnareparse and let us know how it performs in your environment.
Real-world feedback will directly shape future development.

Symbol Picture for Status Update postings. (Image: Rainer Gerhards via AI)
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CI extended: Debian 13, openEuler 24.03-LTS, Fedora 42, Debian sid

TL;DR: We added Debian 13, openEuler 24.03-LTS, Fedora 42, and Debian sid to rsyslog CI. We retired Ubuntu 18.04. CI runs use GitHub-hosted runners plus self-hosted workers, with infrastructure sponsored by GitHub, DigitalOcean, opencsv, and Adiscon.

(Symbol Image: Rainer Gerhards via AI)
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Rsyslog project update: faster reviews, clearer process

Summary
We are tightening our contribution workflow to improve review speed and predictability. Expect reasonable turnaround times, not instant responses. This is rolling out now.

What changes now

  • Initial PR look: Maintainer aims to glance at each new PR within 3 business days.
  • AI review on PRs: Runs automatically on open. In our experience it is 90%+ correct and provides actionable items.
  • Full review trigger: Deeper maintainer review typically follows when CI is green and AI items are fixed or clearly explained.
  • Old issues policy: No mass closures. We are revisiting older items with AI assist and closing them for the right reasons, often by implementing what is needed.
  • Labels and dashboards: We are formalizing labels (including good first issue) and lightweight dashboards to make navigation and triage easier. Details will follow in a separate post.
  • Responsible AI First: We use AI to speed feedback, but only where it adds real value and the results make sense.
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rsyslog 8.2508.0 (2025.08) – release announcement

Download: https://www.rsyslog.com/files/download/rsyslog/rsyslog-8.2508.0.tar.gz
Project-provided packages are building now and are expected later today. Ubuntu PPAs are already done.

We are excited to ship a large and meaningful rsyslog release. This cycle advances our responsible “AI First” strategy and moves decisively toward cloud native operations. It also delivers major quality, security, and documentation improvements.

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Introducing the rsyslog commit AI assistant

We are adding a new helper to our Responsible AI First toolbox: the rsyslog commit (message) assistant. It is an optional ChatGPT Custom GPT that helps contributors write clear, policy-compliant commit messages faster. You stay in full control. Nothing in your workflow changes unless you want it to.

It follows our responsible “AI First” strategy and is optional, transparent, and keeps the human in full control.

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Backticks in RainerScript just got smarter: ${VAR} and adjacent text now work

TL;DR
Backticks with echo in RainerScript now support brace-style environment variables (${VAR}) and adjacent text (e.g., `echo sasl.password=${KAFKA_PASSWORD}`). This removes a common pitfall when assembling key=value pairs for modules like omkafka. It’s still a limited, intentional subset—not a full shell. The change was motivated by real-world confusion reported in issue #5827. (GitHub)

Symbol picture: rsyslog config snippet being shown on a screen. (Image: Rainer Gerhards via AI)
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