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the heavily outdated version 5, which was actively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for this heavily outdated version.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.
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.