xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/syslog.3 (revision 817420dc8eac7df799c78f5309b75092b7f7cd40)
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32.\"     @(#)syslog.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd June 4, 1993
36.Dt SYSLOG 3
37.Os BSD 4.2
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm syslog ,
40.Nm vsyslog ,
41.Nm openlog ,
42.Nm closelog ,
43.Nm setlogmask
44.Nd control system log
45.Sh LIBRARY
46.Lb libc
47.Sh SYNOPSIS
48.Fd #include <syslog.h>
49.Fd #include <varargs.h>
50.Ft void
51.Fn syslog "int priority" "const char *message" "..."
52.Ft void
53.Fn vsyslog "int priority" "const char *message" "va_list args"
54.Ft void
55.Fn openlog "const char *ident" "int logopt" "int facility"
56.Ft void
57.Fn closelog void
58.Ft int
59.Fn setlogmask "int maskpri"
60.Sh DESCRIPTION
61The
62.Fn syslog
63function
64writes
65.Fa message
66to the system message logger.
67The message is then written to the system console, log files,
68logged-in users, or forwarded to other machines as appropriate.
69(See
70.Xr syslogd 8 . )
71.Pp
72The message is identical to a
73.Xr printf 3
74format string, except that
75.Ql %m
76is replaced by the current error
77message.
78(As denoted by the global variable
79.Va errno ;
80see
81.Xr strerror 3 . )
82A trailing newline is added if none is present.
83.Pp
84The
85.Fn vsyslog
86function
87is an alternate form in which the arguments have already been captured
88using the variable-length argument facilities of
89.Xr varargs 3 .
90.Pp
91The message is tagged with
92.Fa priority .
93Priorities are encoded as a
94.Fa facility
95and a
96.Em level .
97The facility describes the part of the system
98generating the message.
99The level is selected from the following
100.Em ordered
101(high to low) list:
102.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
103.It Dv LOG_EMERG
104A panic condition.
105This is normally broadcast to all users.
106.It Dv LOG_ALERT
107A condition that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted
108system database.
109.It Dv LOG_CRIT
110Critical conditions, e.g., hard device errors.
111.It Dv LOG_ERR
112Errors.
113.It Dv LOG_WARNING
114Warning messages.
115.It Dv LOG_NOTICE
116Conditions that are not error conditions,
117but should possibly be handled specially.
118.It Dv LOG_INFO
119Informational messages.
120.It Dv LOG_DEBUG
121Messages that contain information
122normally of use only when debugging a program.
123.El
124.Pp
125The
126.Fn openlog
127function
128provides for more specialized processing of the messages sent
129by
130.Fn syslog
131and
132.Fn vsyslog .
133The parameter
134.Fa ident
135is a string that will be prepended to every message.
136The
137.Fa logopt
138argument
139is a bit field specifying logging options, which is formed by
140.Tn OR Ns 'ing
141one or more of the following values:
142.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
143.It Dv LOG_CONS
144If
145.Fn syslog
146cannot pass the message to
147.Xr syslogd 8
148it will attempt to write the message to the console
149.Pq Dq Pa /dev/console.
150.It Dv LOG_NDELAY
151Open the connection to
152.Xr syslogd 8
153immediately.
154Normally the open is delayed until the first message is logged.
155Useful for programs that need to manage the order in which file
156descriptors are allocated.
157.It Dv LOG_PERROR
158Write the message to standard error output as well to the system log.
159.It Dv LOG_PID
160Log the process id with each message: useful for identifying
161instantiations of daemons.
162.El
163.Pp
164The
165.Fa facility
166parameter encodes a default facility to be assigned to all messages
167that do not have an explicit facility encoded:
168.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
169.It Dv LOG_AUTH
170The authorization system:
171.Xr login 1 ,
172.Xr su 1 ,
173.Xr getty 8 ,
174etc.
175.It Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV
176The same as
177.Dv LOG_AUTH ,
178but logged to a file readable only by
179selected individuals.
180.It Dv LOG_CRON
181The cron daemon:
182.Xr cron 8 .
183.It Dv LOG_DAEMON
184System daemons, such as
185.Xr routed 8 ,
186that are not provided for explicitly by other facilities.
187.It Dv LOG_FTP
188The file transfer protocol daemons:
189.Xr ftpd 8 ,
190.Xr tftpd 8 .
191.It Dv LOG_KERN
192Messages generated by the kernel.
193These cannot be generated by any user processes.
194.It Dv LOG_LPR
195The line printer spooling system:
196.Xr lpr 1 ,
197.Xr lpc 8 ,
198.Xr lpd 8 ,
199etc.
200.It Dv LOG_MAIL
201The mail system.
202.It Dv LOG_NEWS
203The network news system.
204.It Dv LOG_SECURITY
205Security subsystems, such as
206.It Dv LOG_SYSLOG
207Messages generated internally by
208.Xr syslogd 8 .
209.It Dv LOG_USER
210Messages generated by random user processes.
211This is the default facility identifier if none is specified.
212.It Dv LOG_UUCP
213The uucp system.
214.Xr ipfw 4 .
215.It Dv LOG_LOCAL0
216Reserved for local use.
217Similarly for
218.Dv LOG_LOCAL1
219through
220.Dv LOG_LOCAL7 .
221.El
222.Pp
223The
224.Fn closelog
225function
226can be used to close the log file.
227.Pp
228The
229.Fn setlogmask
230function
231sets the log priority mask to
232.Fa maskpri
233and returns the previous mask.
234Calls to
235.Fn syslog
236with a priority not set in
237.Fa maskpri
238are rejected.
239The mask for an individual priority
240.Fa pri
241is calculated by the macro
242.Fn LOG_MASK pri ;
243the mask for all priorities up to and including
244.Fa toppri
245is given by the macro
246.Fn LOG_UPTO toppri ; .
247The default allows all priorities to be logged.
248.Sh RETURN VALUES
249The routines
250.Fn closelog ,
251.Fn openlog ,
252.Fn syslog
253and
254.Fn vsyslog
255return no value.
256.Pp
257The routine
258.Fn setlogmask
259always returns the previous log mask level.
260.Sh EXAMPLES
261.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
262syslog(LOG_ALERT, "who: internal error 23");
263
264openlog("ftpd", LOG_PID | LOG_NDELAY, LOG_FTP);
265
266setlogmask(LOG_UPTO(LOG_ERR));
267
268syslog(LOG_INFO, "Connection from host %d", CallingHost);
269
270syslog(LOG_INFO|LOG_LOCAL2, "foobar error: %m");
271.Ed
272.Sh SEE ALSO
273.Xr logger 1 ,
274.Xr syslogd 8
275.Sh HISTORY
276These
277functions appeared in
278.Bx 4.2 .
279