.TH "metalog" "8" "4" "Frank DENIS" "Syslog daemon"
.SH "NAME"
.LP
metalog \- an alternative syslog daemon
.SH "SYNTAX"
.LP
metalog [\fIoptions\fR]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.LP
Metalog is a modern replacement for syslogd and klogd. The logged messages
can be dispatched according to their facility, urgency, program name and/or
Perl\-compatible regular expressions. Log files can be automatically rotated
when they exceed a certain size or age. External shell scripts (ex: mail)
can be launched when specific patterns are found.

Logs are written according to RFC3164, RFC5423 or a minimal format with
optional severity levels.

It can send its logs to remote syslog servers via UDP. It can gather info from
the kernel or /dev/log as well as from several Unix Domain Sockets. This allows
logging from chrooted or containerized applications.

Metalog is easier to configure than syslogd and syslog\-ng, accepts unlimited
number of rules and has (switchable) memory bufferisation for maximal
performance.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.LP
.TP
.BR \-a ", " \-\-async
Improve performance by using buffers (bug log files won't get updated in real time).
Can be overridden for individual logs.
.TP
.BR \-B ", " \-\-daemonize
Have the server start in background (daemonization).
.TP
.BR \-c ", " \-\-consolelevel = \fR\fI0..7\fR
Set the console log level (Linux only).
.TP
.BR \-C ", " \-\-configfile = \fR\fIfile\fR
Use an alternate configuration file.
.TP
.BR \-g ", " \-\-group = \fR\fIgroup\fR
Change the GID of the metalog process.
Created files will be owned by this group.
.TP
.BR \-h ", " \-\-help
Output help information and exit.
.TP
.BR \-N ", " \-\-no\-kernel
Do not attempt to log messages from the kernel.
.TP
.BR \-p ", " \-\-pidfile = \fR\fIfile\fR
Use an alternate file to store the process number.
.TP
.BR \-S ", " \-\-socket = \fR\fIpath\fR
Use an alternate socket path for main syslog listener.
.TP
.BR \-s ", " \-\-sync ", " \-\-synchronous
Start in synchronous mode, with no bufferization.
Can be overridden for individual logs.
.TP
.BR \-t ", " \-\-test-config
Exit after parsing the config file(s).
Returns 0 if config is ok.
.TP
.BR \-v ", " \-\-verbose
Run in verbose mode (useful for debugging behavior).
.TP
.BR \-V ", " \-\-version
Display metalog version information.
.SH "SIGNALS"
.TP
.B SIGUSR1
Enable synchronous mode.
.TP
.B SIGUSR2
Disable synchronous mode.
.fi
.SH "FILES"
.LP
Note that the exact paths depend on the build settings.  These are the standard paths.

.nf
.I /etc/metalog.conf
.I /var/run/metalog.pid
.I /dev/log
.fi
.SH "AUTHORS"
.LP
.nf
Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
Laurent Wandrebeck (low) <wandre.l@free.fr>
Leo Lipelis <aeoo@gentoo.org>
Hendrik Visage <hvisage@users.sourceforge.net>
Frank DENIS (Jedi/Sector One) <j@pureftpd.org>
.fi
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR metalog.conf (5)