xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/syslog.3 (revision e627b39baccd1ec9129690167cf5e6d860509655)
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32.\"     @(#)syslog.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33.\"
34.Dd June 4, 1993
35.Dt SYSLOG 3
36.Os BSD 4.2
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm syslog ,
39.Nm vsyslog ,
40.Nm openlog ,
41.Nm closelog ,
42.Nm setlogmask
43.Nd control system log
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Fd #include <syslog.h>
46.Fd #include <varargs.h>
47.Ft void
48.Fn syslog "int priority" "const char *message" "..."
49.Ft void
50.Fn vsyslog "int priority" "const char *message" "va_list args"
51.Ft void
52.Fn openlog "const char *ident" "int logopt" "int facility"
53.Ft void
54.Fn closelog void
55.Ft int
56.Fn setlogmask "int maskpri"
57.Sh DESCRIPTION
58The
59.Fn syslog
60function
61writes
62.Fa message
63to the system message logger.
64The message is then written to the system console, log files,
65logged-in users, or forwarded to other machines as appropriate. (See
66.Xr syslogd 8 . )
67.Pp
68The message is identical to a
69.Xr printf 3
70format string, except that
71.Ql %m
72is replaced by the current error
73message. (As denoted by the global variable
74.Va errno ;
75see
76.Xr strerror 3 . )
77A trailing newline is added if none is present.
78.Pp
79The
80.Fn vsyslog
81function
82is an alternate form in which the arguments have already been captured
83using the variable-length argument facilities of
84.Xr varargs 3 .
85.Pp
86The message is tagged with
87.Fa priority .
88Priorities are encoded as a
89.Fa facility
90and a
91.Em level .
92The facility describes the part of the system
93generating the message.
94The level is selected from the following
95.Em ordered
96(high to low) list:
97.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
98.It Dv LOG_EMERG
99A panic condition.
100This is normally broadcast to all users.
101.It Dv LOG_ALERT
102A condition that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted
103system database.
104.It Dv LOG_CRIT
105Critical conditions, e.g., hard device errors.
106.It Dv LOG_ERR
107Errors.
108.It Dv LOG_WARNING
109Warning messages.
110.It Dv LOG_NOTICE
111Conditions that are not error conditions,
112but should possibly be handled specially.
113.It Dv LOG_INFO
114Informational messages.
115.It Dv LOG_DEBUG
116Messages that contain information
117normally of use only when debugging a program.
118.El
119.Pp
120The
121.Fn openlog
122function
123provides for more specialized processing of the messages sent
124by
125.Fn syslog
126and
127.Fn vsyslog .
128The parameter
129.Fa ident
130is a string that will be prepended to every message.
131The
132.Fa logopt
133argument
134is a bit field specifying logging options, which is formed by
135.Tn OR Ns 'ing
136one or more of the following values:
137.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
138.It Dv LOG_CONS
139If
140.Fn syslog
141cannot pass the message to
142.Xr syslogd 8
143it will attempt to write the message to the console
144.Pq Dq Pa /dev/console.
145.It Dv LOG_NDELAY
146Open the connection to
147.Xr syslogd 8
148immediately.
149Normally the open is delayed until the first message is logged.
150Useful for programs that need to manage the order in which file
151descriptors are allocated.
152.It Dv LOG_PERROR
153Write the message to standard error output as well to the system log.
154.It Dv LOG_PID
155Log the process id with each message: useful for identifying
156instantiations of daemons.
157.El
158.Pp
159The
160.Fa facility
161parameter encodes a default facility to be assigned to all messages
162that do not have an explicit facility encoded:
163.Bl -tag -width LOG_AUTHPRIV
164.It Dv LOG_AUTH
165The authorization system:
166.Xr login 1 ,
167.Xr su 1 ,
168.Xr getty 8 ,
169etc.
170.It Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV
171The same as
172.Dv LOG_AUTH ,
173but logged to a file readable only by
174selected individuals.
175.It Dv LOG_CRON
176The cron daemon:
177.Xr cron 8 .
178.It Dv LOG_DAEMON
179System daemons, such as
180.Xr routed 8 ,
181that are not provided for explicitly by other facilities.
182.It Dv LOG_FTP
183The file transfer protocol daemon:
184.Xr ftpd 8 .
185.It Dv LOG_KERN
186Messages generated by the kernel.
187These cannot be generated by any user processes.
188.It Dv LOG_LPR
189The line printer spooling system:
190.Xr lpr 1 ,
191.Xr lpc 8 ,
192.Xr lpd 8 ,
193etc.
194.It Dv LOG_MAIL
195The mail system.
196.It Dv LOG_NEWS
197The network news system.
198.It Dv LOG_SYSLOG
199Messages generated internally by
200.Xr syslogd 8 .
201.It Dv LOG_USER
202Messages generated by random user processes.
203This is the default facility identifier if none is specified.
204.It Dv LOG_UUCP
205The uucp system.
206.It Dv LOG_LOCAL0
207Reserved for local use.
208Similarly for
209.Dv LOG_LOCAL1
210through
211.Dv LOG_LOCAL7 .
212.El
213.Pp
214The
215.Fn closelog
216function
217can be used to close the log file.
218.Pp
219The
220.Fn setlogmask
221function
222sets the log priority mask to
223.Fa maskpri
224and returns the previous mask.
225Calls to
226.Fn syslog
227with a priority not set in
228.Fa maskpri
229are rejected.
230The mask for an individual priority
231.Fa pri
232is calculated by the macro
233.Fn LOG_MASK pri ;
234the mask for all priorities up to and including
235.Fa toppri
236is given by the macro
237.Fn LOG_UPTO toppri ; .
238The default allows all priorities to be logged.
239.Sh RETURN VALUES
240The routines
241.Fn closelog ,
242.Fn openlog ,
243.Fn syslog
244and
245.Fn vsyslog
246return no value.
247.Pp
248The routine
249.Fn setlogmask
250always returns the previous log mask level.
251.Sh EXAMPLES
252.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
253syslog(LOG_ALERT, "who: internal error 23");
254
255openlog("ftpd", LOG_PID | LOG_NDELAY, LOG_FTP);
256
257setlogmask(LOG_UPTO(LOG_ERR));
258
259syslog(LOG_INFO, "Connection from host %d", CallingHost);
260
261syslog(LOG_INFO|LOG_LOCAL2, "foobar error: %m");
262.Ed
263.Sh SEE ALSO
264.Xr logger 1 ,
265.Xr syslogd 8
266.Sh HISTORY
267These
268functions appeared in
269.Bx 4.2 .
270