Forward Syslog Properties
Syslog Server
This is the name or IP address of the system to which Syslog messages should be sent to.
Syslog Port
The remote port on the Syslog server to report to. If in doubt, please leave it at the default value of 514, which is typically the Syslog port. Different values are only required for special setups, for example in security sensitive areas. Set the port to 0 to use the system-supplied default value (which defaults to 514 on allmost all systems).
Instead of the port number, a service name can be used. If so, that name is looked up via the socket service database functions.
Protocol Type
There are various ways to transmit syslog messages. In general,they can be sent via UDP, TCP or RFC 3195 RAW. Typically, syslog messages are received via UDP protocol, which is the default. UDP is understood by almost all servers, but doesn't guarantee transport. In plain words, this means that syslog messages sent via UDP can get lost if there is a network error, the network is congested or a device (like a router or switch) is out of buffer space. Typically, UDP works quite well. However, it should not be used if the loss of a limited number of messages is not acceptable.
TCP and RFC 3195 based syslog messages offer much greater reliabilty. RFC 3195 is a special standardized transfer mode. However, it has not receive any importance in practice. Servers are hard to find. As one of the very few, Adiscon products support RFC 3195 also in the server implementations. Due to limited deployment, however, RFC 3195 is very little prooven in practice. Thus we advise against using RFC 3195 mode if not strictly necessary (e.g. part of your requirement sheet).
TCP mode comes in three flavours. This stems back to the fact that transmission of syslog messages via plain TCP is not yet officially standardized (and it is doubtful if it ever will be). However, it is the most relevant and most widely implemented reliable transmission mode for syslog. It is a kind of unwritten industry standard. We support three different transmission modes offering the greatest compatibility with all existing implementations. The mode "TCP (one message per connection)" is a compatibility mode for Adiscon servers that are older than roughly June 2006. It may also be required for some other vendors. We recommend not to use this setting, except when needed. "TCP (persistent connection)" sends multiple messages over a single connection, which is held open for an extended period of time. This mode is compatible with almost all implementations and offers good performance. Some issues may occur if control characters are present in the syslog message, which typically should not happen. The mode "TCP (octet-count based framing)" implements algorithms of an upcoming (but not yet finalized) IETF standard. It also uses a persistent connection. This mode is reliable and also deals with embedded control characters very well. However, there is only a limited set of receivers known to support it. As of this writing (January 2007), there were no non-Adiscon receivers supporting that mode. We expect progress once the IETF standard is officially out.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to use "TCP (octet-count based framing)" if you are dealing only with (newer) Adiscon products. Otherwise, "TCP (persistent connection)" is probably the best choice. If you select one of these options, you can also select a timeout. The connection is torn down if that timeout expires without a message beeing sent. We recommend to use the default of 30 minutes, which should be more than efficient. If an installation only occasionally sends messages, it could be useful to use a lower timeout value. This will free up connection slots on the server machine.
Use zLib Compression to compress the data
With this option you can set the grade of compression for your syslog messages. For more information please read the note at the bottom of this page.
Process Message while relaying
This setting indicates if the message should be processed while it is being forwarded. Processing is necessary if you need to reformat the message, e.g. by using the property replacer. If you just intend the forward the message "as is" to another syslog server, uncheck this box. That will guarantee the message is not reformatted and it also offers the best possible performance. In many cases, leaving the box unchecked is a good idea.
Message Format
You can change the message format. By default the original message is forwarded.
Please note that the message content of the Message field can be configured. Event properties are described in the property replacer section.
Output Encoding
This setting is most important for Asian languages. A good rule is to leave it at "System Default" unless you definitely know you need a separate encoding. "System Default" works perfect in the far majority of cases, even on Asian (e.g. Japanese) Windows versions.
Add Syslog Source
If this box is checked, information on the original originating system is prepended to the actual message text. This allows the recipient to track where the message originally came from.
Please note: This option is not compatible with RFC 3164. We recommend selecting it primarily when message forwarding to a WinSyslog Interactive Server is intended.
Use XML to Report
If this option is checked, the forwarded Syslog message is a complete XML-formatted information record. It includes additional information like timestamps or originating system in an easy to parse format.
The XML formatted message is especially useful if the receiving system is capable of parsing XML data. However, it might also be useful to a human reader as it includes additional information that cannot be transferred otherwise.
Forward as MW Agent XML Representation Code
MonitorWare supports a specific XML-Representation of the event. If it is checked, that XML representation is used. It provides additional information (like informationunit type, original source system, reception time & many more) but is harder to read by a human. At the same time, it is obviously easier to parse. Please note that this option is only "experimental" and is not an official standard.
Please note you can also make Event ID part of the actual Syslog message while forwarding to a Syslog Server then you have to make some changes in the Forward Syslog Action. Click here to know the settings.
Use Diskqueue if connection to syslog server fails
Diskqueue options
When using TCP-based syslog forwarding, you have the additional option to use the diskqueue. Whenever a connection to a remote syslog server fails, the action starts caching the syslog messages into temporary files. The folder for these files can be configured. The filenames are generated using a unique GUID which is automatically generated for each Action, thus enabling you to use this feature in multiple Actions. Once the syslog server becomes available again, the cached messages are being sent automatically. If you restart the Service while the Syslog Cache was active, it cannot be checked during service startup if the syslog server is available now. Once the action is called again, the check is done and if the syslog server is available, the messages are being sent. The size of this cache is only limited by the disk size. Files are splitted by 10MB by default, but this can also be configured. The maximum supported file size is 2GB.
Please Note: This option is not available for UDP or RFC3195.
Note on Using Syslog Compression
Compressing syslog messages is an experimental feature. There is only a very limited set of receivers who is able to understand that format. Turning on compression can save valuable bandwidth in low-bandwidth environments. Depending on the message, the saving can be anything from no saving at all to about a reduction in half. The best savings ratios have been seen with Windows event log records in XML format. In this case, 50% or even a bit more can be saved. Very small messages do not compress at all. Typical syslog traffic in non-xml format is expected to compress around 10 to 25%.
Please note that compressesion over TCP connections requires a special transfer mode. This mode bases on an upcoming IETF standard (syslog-transport-tls) that is not yet finalized. That transfer mode is highly experimental in itself. As a result, future releases of our product might not be able to work with the current implementation. So there is a chance that you need to exchange all parts of the syslog/TCP system in future releases. Backwards compatibility can not be guaranteed.
Besides the fact that the mechanisms behind compression are experimental, the feature itself is solid.