xref: /dragonfly/lib/libc/gen/syslog.3 (revision 6e5c5008)
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28.\"     @(#)syslog.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
29.\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/gen/syslog.3,v 1.9.2.9 2001/12/14 18:33:51 ru Exp $
30.\"
31.Dd June 4, 1993
32.Dt SYSLOG 3
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm syslog ,
36.Nm vsyslog ,
37.Nm openlog ,
38.Nm closelog ,
39.Nm setlogmask
40.Nd control system log
41.Sh LIBRARY
42.Lb libc
43.Sh SYNOPSIS
44.In syslog.h
45.In stdarg.h
46.Ft void
47.Fn syslog "int priority" "const char *message" "..."
48.Ft void
49.Fn vsyslog "int priority" "const char *message" "va_list args"
50.Ft void
51.Fn openlog "const char *ident" "int logopt" "int facility"
52.Ft void
53.Fn closelog void
54.Ft int
55.Fn setlogmask "int maskpri"
56.Sh DESCRIPTION
57The
58.Fn syslog
59function
60writes
61.Fa message
62to the system message logger.
63The message is then written to the system console, log files,
64logged-in users, or forwarded to other machines as appropriate.
65(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.
74(As denoted by the global variable
75.Va errno ;
76see
77.Xr strerror 3 . )
78A trailing newline is added if none is present.
79.Pp
80The
81.Fn vsyslog
82function
83is an alternate form in which the arguments have already been captured
84using the variable-length argument facilities of
85.Xr stdarg 3 .
86.Pp
87The message is tagged with
88.Fa priority .
89Priorities are encoded as a
90.Fa facility
91and a
92.Em level .
93The facility describes the part of the system
94generating the message.
95The level is selected from the following
96.Em ordered
97(high to low) list:
98.Bl -tag -width ".Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV"
99.It Dv LOG_EMERG
100A panic condition.
101This is normally broadcast to all users.
102.It Dv LOG_ALERT
103A condition that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted
104system database.
105.It Dv LOG_CRIT
106Critical conditions, e.g., hard device errors.
107.It Dv LOG_ERR
108Errors.
109.It Dv LOG_WARNING
110Warning messages.
111.It Dv LOG_NOTICE
112Conditions that are not error conditions,
113but should possibly be handled specially.
114.It Dv LOG_INFO
115Informational messages.
116.It Dv LOG_DEBUG
117Messages that contain information
118normally of use only when debugging a program.
119.El
120.Pp
121The
122.Fn openlog
123function
124provides for more specialized processing of the messages sent
125by
126.Fn syslog
127and
128.Fn vsyslog .
129The parameter
130.Fa ident
131is a string that will be prepended to every message.
132The
133.Fa logopt
134argument
135is a bit field specifying logging options, which is formed by
136.Tn OR Ns 'ing
137one or more of the following values:
138.Bl -tag -width ".Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV"
139.It Dv LOG_CONS
140If
141.Fn syslog
142cannot pass the message to
143.Xr syslogd 8
144it will attempt to write the message to the console
145.Pq Dq Pa /dev/console .
146.It Dv LOG_NDELAY
147Open the connection to
148.Xr syslogd 8
149immediately.
150Normally the open is delayed until the first message is logged.
151Useful for programs that need to manage the order in which file
152descriptors are allocated.
153.It Dv LOG_PERROR
154Write the message to standard error output as well to the system log.
155.It Dv LOG_PID
156Log the process id with each message: useful for identifying
157instantiations of daemons.
158.El
159.Pp
160The
161.Fa facility
162parameter encodes a default facility to be assigned to all messages
163that do not have an explicit facility encoded:
164.Bl -tag -width ".Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV"
165.It Dv LOG_AUTH
166The authorization system:
167.Xr login 1 ,
168.Xr su 1 ,
169.Xr getty 8 ,
170etc.
171.It Dv LOG_AUTHPRIV
172The same as
173.Dv LOG_AUTH ,
174but logged to a file readable only by
175selected individuals.
176.It Dv LOG_CONSOLE
177Messages written to
178.Pa /dev/console
179by the kernel console output driver.
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.Xr ipfw 4 .
207.It Dv LOG_SYSLOG
208Messages generated internally by
209.Xr syslogd 8 .
210.It Dv LOG_USER
211Messages generated by random user processes.
212This is the default facility identifier if none is specified.
213.It Dv LOG_UUCP
214The uucp system.
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