# imuxsock: Unix Socket Input

Module Name: | imuxsock
Author: | Rainer Gerhards <rgerhards@adiscon.com>

Provides the ability to accept syslog messages via local Unix sockets. Most importantly, this is the mechanism by which the syslog(3) call delivers syslog messages to rsyslogd. So you need to have this module loaded to read the system log socket and be able to process log messages from applications running on the local system.

Application-provided timestamps are ignored by default. This is needed, as some programs (e.g. sshd) log with inconsistent timezone information, what messes up the local logs (which by default don’t even contain time zone information). This seems to be consistent with what sysklogd did for the past four years. Alternate behaviour may be desirable if gateway-like processes send messages via the local log slot - in this case, it can be enabled via the IgnoreTimestamp and SysSock.IgnoreTimestamp config directives

There is input rate limiting available, (since 5.7.1) to guard you against the problems of a wild running logging process. If more than SysSock.RateLimit.Interval * SysSock.RateLimit.Burst log messages are emitted from the same process, those messages with SysSock.RateLimit.Severity or lower will be dropped. It is not possible to recover anything about these messages, but imuxsock will tell you how many it has dropped one the interval has expired AND the next message is logged. Rate-limiting depends on SCM_CREDENTIALS. If the platform does not support this socket option, rate limiting is turned off. If multiple sockets are configured, rate limiting works independently on each of them (that should be what you usually expect). The same functionality is available for additional log sockets, in which case the config statements just use the prefix RateLimit... but otherwise works exactly the same. When working with severities, please keep in mind that higher severity numbers mean lower severity and configure things accordingly. To turn off rate limiting, set the interval to zero.

Unix log sockets can be flow-controlled. That is, if processing queues fill up, the unix socket reader is blocked for a short while. This may be useful to prevent overruning the queues (which may cause excessive disk-io where it actually would not be needed). However, flow-controlling a log socket (and especially the system log socket) can lead to a very unresponsive system. As such, flow control is disabled by default. That means any log records are places as quickly as possible into the processing queues. If you would like to have flow control, you need to enable it via the SysSock.FlowControl and FlowControl config directives. Just make sure you thought about the implications. Note that for many systems, turning on flow control does not hurt.

Starting with rsyslog 5.9.4, trusted syslog properties are available. These require a recent enough Linux Kernel and access to the /proc file system. In other words, this may not work on all platforms and may not work fully when privileges are dropped (depending on how they are dropped). Note that trusted properties can be very useful, but also typically cause the message to grow rather large. Also, the format of log messages is obviously changed by adding the trusted properties at the end. For these reasons, the feature is not enabled by default. If you want to use it, you must turn it on (via SysSock.Annotate and Annotate).

## Configuration Parameters

### Global Parameters

- SysSock.IgnoreTimestamp [on/off] Ignore timestamps included in the messages, applies to messages received via the system log socket.
- SysSock.IgnoreOwnMessages [on/off] (available since 7.3.7) Ignores messages that originated from the same instance of rsyslogd. There usually is no reason to receive messages from ourselves. This setting is vital when writing messages to the Linux journal. See omjournal module documentation for a more in-depth description.
- SysSock.Use (imuxsock) [on/off] - Listen on the local log socket. This is most useful if you run multiple instances of rsyslogd where only one shall handle the system log socket.
- SysSock.Name <name-of-socket>
- SysSock.FlowControl [on/off] - specifies if flow control should be applied to the system log socket.
- SysSock.UsePIDFromSystem [on/off] - specifies if the pid being logged shall be obtained from the log socket itself. If so, the TAG part of the message is rewritten. It is recommended to turn this option on, but the default is “off” to keep compatible with earlier versions of rsyslog.
- SysSock.RateLimit.Interval [number] - specifies the rate-limiting interval in seconds. Default value is 5 seconds. Set it to 0 to turn rate limiting off.
- SysSock.RateLimit.Burst [number] - specifies the rate-limiting burst in number of messages. Default is 200.
- SysSock.RateLimit.Severity [numerical severity] - specifies the severity of messages that shall be rate-limited.
- SysSock.UseSysTimeStamp [on/off] the same as the input parameter UseSysTimeStamp, but for the system log socket. See description there.
- SysSock.Annotate <on/off> turn on annotation/trusted properties for the system log socket.
- SysSock.ParseTrusted <on/off> if Annotation is turned on, create JSON/lumberjack properties out of the trusted properties (which can be accessed via RainerScript JSON Variables, e.g. “$!pid”) instead of adding them to the message.
- SysSock.Unlink <on/off> (available since 7.3.9) if turned on (default), the system socket is unlinked and re-created when opened and also unlinked when finally closed. Note that this setting has no effect when running under systemd control (because systemd handles the socket).
- sysSock.useSpecialParser (available since 8.9.0) The equivalent of the “useSpecialParser” input parameter for the system socket.
- sysSock.parseHostname (available since 8.9.0) The equivalent of the “parseHostname” input parameter for the system socket.

### Input Parameters

- IgnoreTimestamp [on/off] Ignore timestamps included in the message. Applies to the next socket being added.
- IgnoreOwnMessages [on/off] (available since 7.3.7) Ignore messages that originated from the same instance of rsyslogd. There usually is no reason to receive messages from ourselfs. This setting is vital when writing messages to the Linux journal. See omjournal module documentation for a more in-depth description.
- FlowControl [on/off] - specifies if flow control should be applied to the next socket.
- RateLimit.Interval [number] - specifies the rate-limiting interval in seconds. Default value is 0, which turns off rate limiting. Set it to a number of seconds (5 recommended) to activate rate-limiting. The default of 0 has been chosen as people experienced problems with this feature activated by default. Now it needs an explicit opt-in by setting this parameter.
- RateLimit.Burst [number] - specifies the rate-limiting burst in number of messages. Default is 200.
- RateLimit.Severity [numerical severity] - specifies the severity of messages that shall be rate-limited.
- UsePIDFromSystem [on/off] - specifies if the pid being logged shall be obtained from the log socket itself. If so, the TAG part of the message is rewritten. It is recommended to turn this option on, but the default is “off” to keep compatible with earlier versions of rsyslog.
- UseSysTimeStamp [on/off] instructs imuxsock to obtain message time from the system (via control messages) instead of using time recorded inside the message. This may be most useful in combination with systemd. Note: this option was introduced with version 5.9.1. Due to the usefulness of it, we decided to enable it by default. As such, 5.9.1 and above behave slightly different than previous versions. However, we do not see how this could negatively affect existing environments.
- CreatePath [on/off] - create directories in the socket path if they do not already exist. They are created with 0755 permissions with the owner being the process under which rsyslogd runs. The default is not to create directories. Keep in mind, though, that rsyslogd always creates the socket itself if it does not exist (just not the directories by default). Note that this statement affects the next Socket directive that follows in sequence in the configuration file. It never works on the system log socket (where it is deemed unnecessary). Also note that it is automatically being reset to “off” after the Socket directive, so if you would have it active for two additional listen sockets, you need to specify it in front of each one. This option is primarily considered useful for defining additional sockets that reside on non-permanent file systems. As rsyslogd probably starts up before the daemons that create these sockets, it is a vehicle to enable rsyslogd to listen to those sockets even though their directories do not yet exist.
- Socket <name-of-socket> adds additional unix socket, default none – former -a option
- HostName <hostname> permits to override the hostname that shall be used inside messages taken from the next Socket socket. Note that the hostname must be specified before the $AddUnixListenSocket configuration directive, and it will only affect the next one and then automatically be reset. This functionality is provided so that the local hostname can be overridden in cases where that is desired.
- Annotate <on/off> turn on annotation/trusted properties for the non-system log socket in question.
- ParseTrusted <on/off> equivalent to the SysSock.ParseTrusted module parameter, but applies to the input that is being defined.
- Unlink <on/off> (available since 7.3.9) if turned on (default), the socket is unlinked and re-created when opened and also unlinked when finally closed. Set it to off if you handle socket creation yourself. Note that handling socket creation oneself has the advantage that a limited amount of messages may be queued by the OS if rsyslog is not running.
- useSpecialParser <on/off> (available since 8.9.0) If turned on (the default and the way it was up until 8.8.0) a special parser is used that parses the format that is usually used on the system log socket (the one syslog(3) creates). If set to “off”, the regular parser chain is used, in which case the format on the log socket can be arbitrary. Note that when the special parser is used, rsyslog is able to inject a more precise timestamp into the message (it is obtained from the log socket). If the regular parser chain is used, this is not possible.
- parseHostname <on/off> (available since 8.9.0) Normally, the local log sockets do not contain hostnames. With this directive, the parser chain can be instructed to not expect them (setting “off”, the default). If set to on, parsers will expect hostnames just like in regular formats. Note: this option only has an effect if useSpecialParsers is set to “off”.

## See Also

- What are “trusted properties”?
- Why does imuxsock not work on Solaris?

## Caveats/Known Bugs

- There is a compile-time limit of 50 concurrent sockets. If you need more, you need to change the array size in imuxsock.c.
- This documentation is sparse and incomplete.

## Samples

The following sample is the minimum setup required to accept syslog messages from applications running on the local system.

    module(load="imuxsock" # needs to be done just once
           SysSock.FlowControl="on") # enable flow control (use if needed)

The following sample is similiar to the first one, but enables trusted properties, which are put into JSON/lumberjack variables.

    module(load="imuxsock" SysSock.Annotate="on" SysSock.ParseTrusted="on")

The following sample is a configuration where rsyslogd pulls logs from two jails, and assigns different hostnames to each of the jails:

    module(load="imuxsock") # needs to be done just once
    input(type="imuxsock" HostName="jail1.example.net"
          Socket="/jail/1/dev/log") input(type="imuxsock"
          HostName="jail2.example.net" Socket="/jail/2/dev/log")

The following sample is a configuration where rsyslogd reads the openssh log messages via a separate socket, but this socket is created on a temporary file system. As rsyslogd starts up before the sshd, it needs to create the socket directories, because it otherwise can not open the socket and thus not listen to openssh messages. Note that it is vital not to place any other socket between the CreatePath and the Socket.

    module(load="imuxsock") # needs to be done just once
    input(type="imuxsock" Socket="/var/run/sshd/dev/log" CreatePath="on")

The following sample is used to turn off input rate limiting on the system log socket.

    module(load="imuxsock" # needs to be done just once
           SysSock.RateLimit.Interval="0") # turn off rate limiting

The following sample is used activate message annotation and thus trusted properties on the system log socket. module(load=”imuxsock” # needs to be done just once SysSock.Annotate=”on”)

## Legacy Configuration Directives

Legacy directives should NOT be used when writing new configuration files.

Note that the legacy configuration parameters do not affect new-style definitions via the input() object. This is by design. To set defaults for input() objects, use module parameters in the

    module(load="imuxsock" ...)

object.

Read about the importance of order in legacy configuration to understand how to use these configuration directives.

- $InputUnixListenSocketIgnoreMsgTimestamp [on/off] equivalent to: IgnoreTimestamp.

- $InputUnixListenSocketFlowControl [on/off] - equivalent to: FlowControl .

- $IMUXSockRateLimitInterval [number] - equivalent to: RateLimit.Interval

- $IMUXSockRateLimitBurst [number] - equivalent to: RateLimit.Burst

- $IMUXSockRateLimitSeverity [numerical severity] - equivalent to: RateLimit.Severity

- $IMUXSockLocalIPIF [interface name] - (available since 5.9.6) - if provided, the IP of the specified interface (e.g. “eth0”) shall be used as fromhost-ip for imuxsock-originating messages. If this directive is not given OR the interface cannot be found (or has no IP address), the default of “127.0.0.1” is used.

- $InputUnixListenSocketUsePIDFromSystem [on/off] - equivalent to: UsePIDFromSystem. This option was introduced in 5.7.0.

- $InputUnixListenSocketUseSysTimeStamp [on/off] equivalent to: UseSysTimeStamp .

- $SystemLogSocketIgnoreMsgTimestamp [on/off]

    equivalent to: SysSock.IgnoreTimestamp.

- $OmitLocalLogging (imuxsock) [on/off] - The inverse of SysSock.Use.

- $SystemLogSocketName <name-of-socket> equivalent to: SysSock.Name

- $SystemLogFlowControl [on/off] - equivalent to: SysSock.FlowControl.

- $SystemLogUsePIDFromSystem [on/off] - equivalent to: SysSock.UsePIDFromSystem. This option was introduced in 5.7.0.

- $SystemLogRateLimitInterval [number] - equivalent to: SysSock.RateLimit.Interval.

- $SystemLogRateLimitBurst [number] - equivalent to: SysSock.RateLimit.Burst

- $SystemLogRateLimitSeverity [numerical severity] - equivalent to: SysSock.RateLimit.Severity

- $SystemLogUseSysTimeStamp [on/off] equivalent to: SysSock.UseSysTimeStamp.

- $InputUnixListenSocketCreatePath [on/off] - equivalent to: CreatePath [available since 4.7.0 and 5.3.0]

- $AddUnixListenSocket <name-of-socket> equivalent to: Socket

- $InputUnixListenSocketHostName <hostname> equivalent to: HostName.

- $InputUnixListenSocketAnnotate <on/off> equivalent to: Annotate.

- $SystemLogSocketAnnotate <on/off> equivalent to: SysSock.Annotate.

- $SystemLogSocketParseTrusted <on/off> equivalent to: SysSock.ParseTrusted.

Caveats/Known Bugs:

- There is a compile-time limit of 50 concurrent sockets. If you need more, you need to change the array size in imuxsock.c.
- This documentation is sparse and incomplete.

Sample:

The following sample is the minimum setup required to accept syslog messages from applications running on the local system.

    $ModLoad imuxsock # needs to be done just once
    $SystemLogSocketFlowControl on # enable flow control (use if needed)

The following sample is a configuration where rsyslogd pulls logs from two jails, and assigns different hostnames to each of the jails:

    $ModLoad imuxsock # needs to be done just once
    $InputUnixListenSocketHostName jail1.example.net
    $AddUnixListenSocket /jail/1/dev/log
    $InputUnixListenSocketHostName jail2.example.net
    $AddUnixListenSocket /jail/2/dev/log

The following sample is a configuration where rsyslogd reads the openssh log messages via a separate socket, but this socket is created on a temporary file system. As rsyslogd starts up before the sshd, it needs to create the socket directories, because it otherwise can not open the socket and thus not listen to openssh messages. Note that it is vital not to place any other socket between the $InputUnixListenSocketCreatePath and the $InputUnixListenSocketHostName.

    $ModLoad imuxsock # needs to be done just once
    $InputUnixListenSocketCreatePath on # turn on for *next* socket
    $InputUnixListenSocket /var/run/sshd/dev/log

The following sample is used to turn off input rate limiting on the system log socket.

    $ModLoad imuxsock # needs to be done just once
    $SystemLogRateLimitInterval 0 # turn off rate limiting

The following sample is used to activate message annotation and thus trusted properties on the system log socket.

    $ModLoad imuxsock # needs to be done just once
    $SystemLogSocketAnnotate on

This documentation is part of the rsyslog project. Copyright © 2008-2014 by Rainer Gerhards and Adiscon. Released under the GNU GPL version 3 or higher.