Softpanorama (slightly skeptical) Open Source Software Educational Society

May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)

Installing Syslog-ng on Solaris 9

Those notes were created based on my experience in integration of syslg-ng in the Tivoli environment. Although I tried to clean them to make the how-to more universally applicable, some details might still be relevant only to this particular purpose.

1. Download two required packages from Sunfreeware

   libol 0.3.13

   syslog-ng1.6.4 or later

   • syslogng-1.6.4-sol9-sparc-local.gz Syslog-ng is a syslogd replacement, but with new functionality - installs in /usr/local. You will need to have the libol package installed. Configuration documentation can be found in /usr/local/doc/syslog-ng.
   • libol-0.3.13-sol9-sparc-local.gz Libol is a library used by syslog-ng - installs in /usr/local.
      
   • cd ~

     mkdir syslog-ng

     ftp both packages
      

2. Unzip and install libol package

   cd ~/syslog-ng

   gunzip libol-0.3.13-sol9-sparc-local.gz
   pkgadd -d  libol-0.3.13-sol9-sparc-local.gz | tee ~/syslog-ng/libol.log
    

3. Unzip and install syslog-ng package
   
   gunzip syslogng-1.6.4-sol9-sparc-local.gz
   pkgadd -d  syslogng-1.6.4-sol9-sparc-local | tee ~/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.log
    

4. Create the directory /etc/syslog-ng

   cd /etc

   mkdir /etc/syslog-ng

   chmod 755 /etc/syslog-ng

   chown root:sys /etc/syslog-ng
   
    

5. Copy configuration file into /etc/syslog-ng and link it to /etc/syslog.conf

   cp /usr/local/doc/syslog-ng/doc/syslog-ng.conf.solaris /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf # Use attached script

   chmod 644 /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf && chown root:sys /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf

   mv /etc/syslog.conf /etc/syslog.cong.orig

   ln -s /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf /etc/syslog.conf
    

6. Copy startup script into /etc/init.d. That changes all links to /etc/init.d/syslog in rc0.d ... rc3.d and rcS.d (in rc.0, rc.1 it's kill actions K40syslog,  in rc.2 it's start action S74syslog )

   cp /etc/init.d/syslog /etc/init.d/syslog.orig

   cp /usr/local/doc/syslog-ng/contrib/init.d.solaris /etc/init.d/syslog # get solaris startup script

   chmod 744 /etc/init.d/syslog && chown root:sys /etc/init.d/syslog

7. Check the correctness of the configuration

   /usr/local/sbin/syslog-ng -v -s -f /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf
    

8. Shut down the orig syslogd .

       /etc/init.d/syslog.orig stop
    

9. Remove executable bits from the original syslogd.
   
       chmod 644 /usr/sbin/syslogd
    

10. Edit /etc/logadm.conf:

    cp /etc/logadm.conf /etc/sysadm.conf.orig

    vi /etc/sysadm.conf.org

    then replace all

        'kill -HUP `cat /var/run/syslog.pid`'

    to

        'kill -HUP `cat /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.pid`'

    using for example vi (or ed) command  :

        g/\/var\/run\/syslog\.pid/s/\/var\/run\/syslog\.pid/\/etc\/syslog\-ng\/syslog\-ng\.pid/g
     

11. Start syslogd-ng
    
    /etc/init.d/syslog start   
     

12. Check is it created /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.pid
     
13. Send test message using logger 

    logger -p daemon.crit syslog-ng test

    Check tail of /var/adm/messages. It should have  a line like:
    
    Feb 17 18:37:55 tivoliada daemon: [ID 702911 daemon.crit]

Supplement 1:  Modified /etc/init.d/syslog

Supplement 2:  Modified /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf

Last modified: February 28, 2008