Syslog/iX for HP 3000 MPE

A true syslog() and syslogd for MPE
Last updated September 18, 1999 @ 0406 UTC

What's New
Welcome
System Requirements
What is syslog and why should I care?
How to Obtain
Distribution Highlights
How to Compile
How to Run
How to Test
MPE/iX Implementation Considerations
Known Bugs Under Investigation
To-Do List
Change History

What's New

September 17, 1999

Migrated from cccd.edu to bixby.org.

March 17, 1998

Minor web page documentation changes.

March 12, 1998

Fixed a bug in the INSTALL script where it was unconditionally using /TELESUP/PRVXL/MOVER to extract the archive. Now INSTALL will first try to use /tmp/mover55, and if that doesn't exist as an executable, then /TELESUP/PRVXL/MOVER will be used.

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

MPE/iX 5.0 or later.

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

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

Download Syslog/iX

Get syslog.tar.Z (Original Mover package syslog.mover.Z)
Upload to your HP3000 as /tmp/syslog.tar.Z

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

make

How to Run

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).
Examine syslog.conf and customize for your own environment.
:STREAM JSYSLOGD.PUB.SYSLOG
Stop Syslog either by :ABORTJOB or kill `cat /SYSLOG/PUB/syslog.pid`

How to Test

: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:

Syslog/UX must be run as root to bind to UDP ports 514. Syslog/iX must call GETPRIVMODE() to bind to UDP port 514, and thus requires PM capability on SYSLOGD.
Syslog/iX does not attempt to open /dev/console as a file. Rather, GENMSG() or PRINTOP() calls are used instead. SYSLOGD requires PM capability for GENMSG().
Syslog/iX does not support reading logging data from a named pipe (/dev/log) like Syslog/UX does. If you just gotta have this functionality, let me know.
Syslog/iX reads from the AF_UNIX socket /dev/log.un. I don't know of any MPE tool that lists active AF_UNIX socket names for debugging purposes.
Syslog/iX recognizes the following destinations in syslog.conf:

* - all logged on users - implemented as :TELL @.@
@.account - all users logged on to account "account" - implemented as :TELL @.account (this would be illegal syntax for Syslog/UX)
@some.host.name - forwards the message via UDP to another syslog host
/some/file/name - writes the message to a file (NOTE: "tty" device files have NOT been tested)
everything else - assumed to be a logged on userid - implemented as :TELL userid

Known Bugs Under Investigation

None.

To-Do List

Nothing.

Change History

March 6, 1998

Repackaged the distribution using my new standard installer script.
Improved web page documentation.

October 3, 1997

Updated the Syslog/iX home page link to the gcc compiler to point to the Interex Freeware tape. Added the System Requirements section.

May 28, 1997

Maximum syslogd MPE console buffer size increased to 512 bytes to not truncate hourly BIND statistics messages that only an ISP would care about.

May 23, 1997

Enhanced disk log file integrity to better survive system crashes.

Disk log files now attached to XM at open time.
Buffers flushed and EOF written after every write.

Internal writev() substitute renamed to syslog_writev().
PID file changed to /SYSLOG/PUB/syslog.pid.
Syslog is no longer a suspect in my recent system crashes. All of those crashes have now been explained, with causes other than syslog.
I consider this to be the production release of syslog, suitable for inclusion into and use with other packages.

May 20, 1997

Initial public release.

May 19, 1997

Loaner system arrives, porting resumes.

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