Syslog/iX for HP 3000 MPE

A true syslog() and syslogd for MPE
Last updated September 18, 1999 @ 0406 UTC
  1. What's New
  2. Welcome
  3. System Requirements
  4. What is syslog and why should I care?
  5. How to Obtain
  6. Distribution Highlights
  7. How to Compile
  8. How to Run
  9. How to Test
  10. MPE/iX Implementation Considerations
  11. Known Bugs Under Investigation
  12. To-Do List
  13. Change History


What's New


Welcome

This is the official home page for the HP 3000 MPE port of syslog() and syslogd. Check here for the latest news, implemented functionality, known bugs, to-do list, etc. Status reports about major milestones will also be posted to the HP3000-L mailing list and its associated gatewayed newsgroup comp.sys.hp.mpe.

I did this port because it is the foundation for other important packages such as BIND and sendmail.

Please send your comments, questions, and bug reports directly to me, Mark Bixby, by e-mailing to mark@bixby.org. Or just post them to HP3000-L.

The platform I used to do this port is an HP 3000 957RX running MPE/iX 6.0 and using the GNU gcc C compiler.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to HP CSY for providing me with the resources and encouragement to do this port.

The combined porting wisdom from all of my ports can be found in my MPE/iX Porting Guide.

HP began shipping an official supported Syslog/iX bundled with MPE FOS as of 6.0. HP will properly disavow any knowledge of the unsupported freeware version of Syslog/iX that you're reading about on this page.


System Requirements


What is syslog and why should I care?

Syslog is the standard event logging subsystem for Unix and consists of a server daemon, a client function library, and a client command line utility. You can log to files, terminal devices, logged on users, or even forward to other syslog systems. Syslog can accept data from the local system via an AF_UNIX socket or from any system on the network via an AF_INET UDP socket on port 514. It's pretty cool.

Log messages are prioritized by a combination of facility and urgency level. The various facilities are listed below:

Facility name Description
kern kernel messages
user random user-level messages
mail mail subsystem
daemon system daemons
auth security/authorization messages
syslog internally generated syslogd messages
lpr line printer subsystem, including HP JetDirect interfaces
news Usenet news subsystem
uucp Unix-Unix Copy Program subsystem
cron clock daemon
local0 reserved for local use
local1 reserved for local use
local2 reserved for local use
local3 reserved for local use
local4 reserved for local use
local5 reserved for local use
local6 reserved for local use
local7 reserved for local use

The various urgency levels are listed below (note: this is an ordered list; when you specify a level in syslog.conf, you are selecting that level and all levels above it):

Level name Description
emerg system is unusable
alert action must be taken immediately
crit critical conditions
err error conditions
warning warning conditions
notice normal but significant conditions
info informational
debug debugging messages

The configuration file syslog.conf consists of a selector (one or more priority specifiers of the format facility.level) and an action. Action syntax supported on MPE:

Action Description
* :TELL @.@
@.account :TELL @.account
@some.host.name forwards via UDP to another syslogd running on some.host.name
/some/file/name appends the message to /some/file/name
everything else assumed to be a userspec as in :TELL userspec

Many major Internet packages such as the BIND DNS server, the sendmail mail transport, and the INN Usenet server all log to syslog.

Many hardware devices like routers and HP JetDirect interfaces can be configured to log useful data to syslog.


How to Obtain

  1. Download Syslog using either FTP.ARPA.SYS or some other client
  2. Extract the installation script
  3. Edit the installation script
  4. Run the installation script

Download Syslog/iX

ftp> bin
200 Type set to I.
ftp> quote site posix on
200 POSIX command ok.
ftp> put syslog.tar.Z /tmp/syslog.tar.Z
200 PORT command ok.
150 File: /tmp/syslog.tar.Z opened; data connection will be opened
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 356774 bytes sent in 0.44Seconds 816.42Kbytes/sec.
ftp>

Then extract the installation script

:CHDIR /tmp
:XEQ TAR.HPBIN.SYS '-xvzopf syslog.tar.Z INSTALL'
x INSTALL, 4919 bytes, 10 tape blocks     

Edit the installation script

Examine the accounting structure creation commands and modify if necessary (adding additional capabilities, choosing a non-system volume set, etc).
:XEQ VI.HPBIN.SYS /tmp/INSTALL     

Run the installation script

The SYSLOG accounting structure will be created and then all files will be extracted from the archive.
:XEQ SH.HPBIN.SYS /tmp/INSTALL     


Distribution Highlights

README
what you're reading now
INSTALL
the one-time installation script you ran above
JSYSLOGD
the :STREAM job used to run SYSLOGD
SYSLOGD
the syslog server program
libsyslog.a
object code library expected by syslog()-using packages like BIND and sendmail
logger
client test command line program for generating syslog() calls
logger.1
man page for logger
syslog.3
man page for syslog() (not customized for MPE)
syslog.conf
configuration file for SYSLOGD
syslog.h
header include file expected by syslog()-using packages like BIND and sendmail
syslog.pid
Run-time process identifier (PID) of syslogd. For use with the kill(1) command.
syslogd.8
man page for SYSLOGD (not customized for MPE)


How to Compile

  1. make


How to Run

  1. Add a 'syslog 514/udp' entry to the file SERVICES.NET.SYS (you can also refer to this file as /etc/services, which is a symbolic link (i.e. alias) to /SYS/NET/SERVICES).
  2. Examine syslog.conf and customize for your own environment.
  3. :STREAM JSYSLOGD.PUB.SYSLOG
  4. Stop Syslog either by :ABORTJOB or kill `cat /SYSLOG/PUB/syslog.pid`


How to Test

  1. :XEQ /SYSLOG/PUB/logger '-p lpr.info testing 1 2 3' (this will tell syslogd to print 'testing 1 2 3' on your system console)


MPE/iX Implementation Considerations

There some minor functionality issues to be aware of when comparing Syslog for Unix (Syslog/UX) to Syslog/iX:


Known Bugs Under Investigation


To-Do List


Change History


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