Syslog Commands

Syslog originated in the Unix world, and provides a means of logging significant information to a remote server for processing. In the NetNAT, this allows the collection of useful information without the need for masses of local storage or local processing. Computers that have more time on their hands are better at distilling and graphing statistical information.

Checking Syslog Configuration

The syslog command by itself will display the current status of this facility. Information displayed includes the IP Address of the configured syslog host, and the state of the message reject logging variable, if it is non-zero. This will be discussed later.

Command Syntax

  syslog

Possible responses are:

"No syslog server" when no server has been specified.
"Syslog server is xx.xx.xx.xx" when server xx.xx.xx.xx is in use.
"Syslog server is xx.xx.xx.xx, Reject logging enabled" when server xx.xx.xx.xx is in use, and message reject logging is on.

Setting the Syslog Server Address

This command sets or changes the designated syslog server to the value that you specify. This value may be an IP Address in dotted-decimal notation, or may be a host name, if you have enabled DNS lookup by setting the domain name and name server facilities. Setting the server address to zero disables the syslog subsystem. In any event, the resulting status is displayed.

Command Syntax

Clear Syslog Server

This stops the transmission of syslog records to the current server.

  syslog 0

Response will be "Syslog server now disabled"

Set or Change Syslog Server

This sets the syslog server or changes it if it is already set. The server parameter may be an IP Address in dotted-decimal notation or a host name if DNS is available to the NAT.

  syslog [IP Address|Hostname]

Possible responses are:

"Syslog server now disabled" if the address or name you specified resolved to a zero value.
"Syslog server is xx.xx.xx.xx" where xx.xx.xx.xx is the new server.
"Syslog server is xx.xx.xx.xx, Reject logging enabled" when xx.xx.xx.xx is the new server, and message reject logging is on.

Enabling Message Reject Logging

Rejection of messages is a global feature of the NAT, and logging control is centered in the syslog facility. This command enables or disables the logging via syslog of the rejections. This can produce a substantial amount of log data, so careful thought should be given to its use.

Command Syntax

Disable Reject Monitoring

This stops the transmission of reject syslog records to the current server.

  syslog reject 0

Response will be "Reject logging disabled."

Enable Reject Monitoring

This enables the transmission of reject syslog records to the current server.

  syslog reject 1

Response will be "Reject logging enabled."

The format of the reject syslog records may be found here.

This page was last modified on 20 April, 1997.

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