NAME
syslog
, vsyslog
,
openlog
, closelog
,
setlogmask
—
control system log
LIBRARY
library “libc”
SYNOPSIS
#include
<syslog.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
void
syslog
(int
priority, const char
*message, ...);
void
vsyslog
(int
priority, const char
*message, va_list
args);
void
openlog
(const
char *ident, int
logopt, int
facility);
void
closelog
(void);
int
setlogmask
(int
maskpri);
DESCRIPTION
Thesyslog
()
function writes message to the system message logger.
The message is then written to the system console, log files, logged-in users,
or forwarded to other machines as appropriate. (See
syslogd(8).)
The message is identical to a
printf(3) format string, except that
‘%m
’ is replaced by the current error
message. (As denoted by the global variable errno; see
strerror(3).) A trailing newline is added if none is
present.
The
vsyslog
()
function is an alternate form in which the arguments have already been
captured using the variable-length argument facilities of
stdarg(3).
The message is tagged with priority. Priorities are encoded as a facility and a level. The facility describes the part of the system generating the message. The level is selected from the following ordered (high to low) list:
LOG_EMERG
- A panic condition. This is normally broadcast to all users.
LOG_ALERT
- A condition that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted system database.
LOG_CRIT
- Critical conditions, e.g., hard device errors.
LOG_ERR
- Errors.
LOG_WARNING
- Warning messages.
LOG_NOTICE
- Conditions that are not error conditions, but should possibly be handled specially.
LOG_INFO
- Informational messages.
LOG_DEBUG
- Messages that contain information normally of use only when debugging a program.
The
openlog
()
function provides for more specialized processing of the messages sent by
syslog
() and vsyslog
(). The
parameter ident is a string that will be prepended to
every message. The logopt argument is a bit field
specifying logging options, which is formed by OR'ing one or more of the
following values:
LOG_CONS
- If
syslog
() cannot pass the message to syslogd(8) it will attempt to write the message to the console (“/dev/console”). LOG_NDELAY
- Open the connection to syslogd(8) immediately. Normally the open is delayed until the first message is logged. Useful for programs that need to manage the order in which file descriptors are allocated.
LOG_PERROR
- Write the message to standard error output as well to the system log.
LOG_PID
- Log the process id with each message: useful for identifying instantiations of daemons.
The facility parameter encodes a default facility to be assigned to all messages that do not have an explicit facility encoded:
LOG_AUTH
- The authorization system: login(1), su(1), getty(8), etc.
LOG_AUTHPRIV
- The same as
LOG_AUTH
, but logged to a file readable only by selected individuals. LOG_CONSOLE
- Messages written to /dev/console by the kernel console output driver.
LOG_CRON
- The cron daemon: cron(8).
LOG_DAEMON
- System daemons, such as routed(8), that are not provided for explicitly by other facilities.
LOG_FTP
- The file transfer protocol daemons: ftpd(8), tftpd(8).
LOG_KERN
- Messages generated by the kernel. These cannot be generated by any user processes.
LOG_LPR
- The line printer spooling system: lpr(1), lpc(8), lpd(8), etc.
LOG_MAIL
- The mail system.
LOG_NEWS
- The network news system.
LOG_SECURITY
- Security subsystems, such as ipfw(4).
LOG_SYSLOG
- Messages generated internally by syslogd(8).
LOG_USER
- Messages generated by random user processes. This is the default facility identifier if none is specified.
LOG_UUCP
- The uucp system.
LOG_LOCAL0
- Reserved for local use. Similarly for
LOG_LOCAL1
throughLOG_LOCAL7
.
The
closelog
()
function can be used to close the log file.
The
setlogmask
()
function sets the log priority mask to maskpri and
returns the previous mask. Calls to syslog
() with a
priority not set in maskpri are rejected. The mask for
an individual priority pri is calculated by the macro
LOG_MASK
(pri);
the mask for all priorities up to and including toppri
is given by the macro
LOG_UPTO
(toppri);.
The default allows all priorities to be logged.
RETURN VALUES
The routines closelog
(),
openlog
(), syslog
() and
vsyslog
() return no value.
The routine setlogmask
() always returns
the previous log mask level.
EXAMPLES
syslog(LOG_ALERT, "who: internal error 23"); openlog("ftpd", LOG_PID | LOG_NDELAY, LOG_FTP); setlogmask(LOG_UPTO(LOG_ERR)); syslog(LOG_INFO, "Connection from host %d", CallingHost); syslog(LOG_INFO|LOG_LOCAL2, "foobar error: %m");
SEE ALSO
HISTORY
These functions appeared in 4.2BSD.