sysklogd

Announcement for version 1.3

Releasedate: 1996-02-27

Version 1.3 of the package is the culmination of about two years of experience and bug reports on the 1.2 version from both the INTERNET and our corporate Linux networks. The utilities in this package should provide VERY reliable system logging. Klogd and syslogd have both been stress tested in kernel development environments where literally hundreds of megabytes of kernel messages have been blasted through them. If either utility should fail the development team would appreciate debug information so that the bug can be reproduced and squashed.

Both utilities (syslogd, klogd) can be either run from init or started as part of the rc.* sequence. Caution should be used when starting these utilities from init since the default configuration is for both of these utilities to auto-background themselves. Depending on the version of init being used this could either result in the process table being filled or at least 10 copies of the daemon being started. If auto-backgrounding is NOT desired the command line option -n should be used to disable the auto-fork feature.

I have found work on the sysklogd package to be an interesting example of the powers of the INTERNET. Stephen, Juha, Shane, Joey and myself have successfully collaborated on the development of this package without ever having met each other, in fact we could pass on the street without realizing it. What I have developed is a profound respect for the personal capabilities of each one of these individuals. Perhaps the greatest `Linux Legacy' will be that its development/enhancement is truly an example of the powers of international cooperation through the worldwide INTERNET.

We would be interested in keeping track of any and all bug fixes/changes that are made. At the time that work was started on the sysklogd package the syslog(d) sources seemed to have fallen into neglect. This work started with and continues the believe that it is important to maintain consistent standardized system utilities sources. Hopefully the Linux community will find these sources to be a useful addition to the software gene pool.

On behalf of the beta-testers and other members of the Linux INTERNET community who have helped shape and debug this package I am pleased to announce version 1.3-pl3 of the sysklogd package.

This package implements two system log daemons. The syslogd daemon is an enhanced version of the standard Berkeley utility program. This daemon is responsible for providing logging of messages received from programs and facilities on the local host as well as from remote hosts. The klogd daemon listens to kernel message sources and is responsible for prioritizing and processing operating system messages. The klogd daemon can run as a client of syslogd or optionally as a standalone program.

This package is the culmination of about two years of experience and bug reports on the 1.2 version from both the INTERNET and our corporate Linux networks. The utilities in this package should provide VERY reliable system logging. Klogd and syslogd have both been stress tested in kernel development environments where literally hundreds of megabytes of kernel messages have been blasted through them. If either utility should fail I would appreciate a report and debug information so that the bug can be reproduced and squashed.

This package includes some major improvements. Some of them are listed here:

• klogd supports on-the-fly kernel address to symbol translations. This requires that a valid kernel symbol map be found at execution.
• klogd also supports debugging of protection faults which occur in kernel loadable modules.
• syslogd has better handling of remote logging capabilities.
• Default behavior of sysklogd is not to accept any message that is sent via syslog/udp. To allow remote reception add -r to the command-line arguments.
• both klogd and syslogd can be controlled through commandline options and signals.
• both daemons are now FSSTND conform.
• a syslog.conf(5) manpage is now available.
• Spaces are now accepted in the syslog configuration file. This should be a real crowd pleaser.
• Syslogd now uses dynamic allocation of logging output descriptors. There is no longer a static limit on the number of log destinations that can be defined.
• Numerous bug fixes and code cleanups.

The new release can be obtained from either tsx-11.mit.edu or sunsite.unc.edu.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed ideas, patches and bug reports. Linux has a superior set of logging utilities thanks to contributions from the entire community.