NAME

Log::Syslog::Fast - Perl extension for sending syslog messages over TCP, UDP, or UNIX sockets with minimal CPU overhead.

SYNOPSIS

  use Log::Syslog::Fast ':all';
  my $logger = Log::Syslog::Fast->new(LOG_UDP, "127.0.0.1", 514, LOG_LOCAL0, LOG_INFO, "mymachine", "logger");
  $logger->send("log message", time);

DESCRIPTION

This module sends syslog messages over a network socket. It works like Sys::Syslog in setlogsock's 'udp', 'tcp', or 'unix' modes, but without the significant CPU overhead of that module when used for high-volume logging. Use of this specialized module is only recommended if 1) you must use network syslog as a messaging transport but 2) need to minimize the time spent in the logger.

This module supercedes the less general Log::Syslog::UDP.

METHODS

Log::Syslog::Fast->new($proto, $hostname, $port, $facility, $severity, $sender, $name);: Create a new Log::Syslog::Fast object with the following parameters:

$proto

The transport protocol: one of LOG_TCP, LOG_UDP, or LOG_UNIX.

If LOG_TCP or LOG_UNIX is used, calls to $logger->send() will block until remote receipt of the message is confirmed. If LOG_UDP is used, the call will never block and may fail if insufficient buffer space exists in the network stack (in which case an exception will be thrown).

With LOG_UNIX, ->new will first attempt to connect with a SOCK_STREAM socket, and then try a SOCK_DGRAM if that is what the server expects (e.g. rsyslog).

$hostname

For LOG_TCP and LOG_UDP, the destination hostname where a syslogd is running. For LOG_UNIX, the path to the UNIX socket where syslogd is listening (typically /dev/log).

$port

For LOG_TCP and LOG_UDP, the destination port where a syslogd is listening, usually 514. Unused for LOG_UNIX, but should not be undefined or a warning will be emitted under strict.

$facility

The syslog facility constant, eg 16 for 'local0'. See RFC3164 section 4.1.1 (or <sys/syslog.h>) for appropriate constant values. See EXPORTS below for making these available by name.

The priority value is computed from the facility and severity per the RFC.

$severity

The syslog severity constant, eg 6 for 'info'. See RFC3164 section 4.1.1 (or <sys/syslog.h>) for appropriate constant values. See EXPORTS below for making these available by name.

$sender

The originating hostname. Sys::Hostname::hostname is typically a reasonable source for this.

$name

The program name or tag to use for the message.

$logger->send($logmsg, [$time])

$logger->emit($logmsg, [$time])

Send a syslog message through the configured logger. If $time is not provided, time(2) will be called for you. That doubles the syscalls per message, so try to pass it if you're already calling time() yourself.

->send may throw an exception if the system call fails (e.g. the transport becomes disconnected for connected protocols, or the kernel buffer is full for unconnected). For this reason it is usually wise to wrap calls with an exception handler. Likewise, calling ->send from a $SIG{__DIE__} handler is unwise.

emit is an alias for send.

NEWLINE CAVEAT

Note that send does not add any newline character(s) to its input. You will certainly want to do this yourself for TCP connections, or the server will not treat each message as a separate line. However with UDP the server should accept a message without a trailing newline (though some implementations may have difficulty with that).

$logger->set_receiver($proto, $hostname, $port)

Change the protocol, destination host, and port. This will force a reconnection in LOG_TCP or LOG_UNIX mode.

$logger->set_priority($facility, $severity)

Change both the syslog facility and severity.

$logger->set_facility($facility)

Change only the syslog facility.

$logger->set_severity($severity)

Change only the syslog severity.

$logger->set_sender($sender)

Change what is sent as the hostname of the sender.

$logger->set_name($name)

Change what is sent as the name of the sending program.

$logger->set_pid($name)

Change what is sent as the process id of the sending program.

$logger->set_format($format)

Change the message format. This should be either the constant LOG_RFC3164 (the default) or LOG_RFC5424 or LOG_RFC3164_LOCAL (without HOSTNAME).

$logger->get_priority()

Returns the current priority value.

$logger->get_facility()

Returns the current facility value.

$logger->get_severity()

Returns the current severity value.

$logger->get_format($format)

Returns the current message format.

UNREACHABLE SERVERS

If the remote syslogd is unreachable, certain methods may throw an exception or raise a signal:

LOG_TCP
If the server is unreachable at connect time, ->new will fail with an exception. If an established connection is closed remotely, ->send will fail with an exception.
LOG_UDP
As UDP is connectionless, ->new will not throw an error as no attempt to connect is made then. However, if the remote server starts or becomes unreachable and 1) the host is alive but 2) not listening on the specified port, and 3) ICMP packets are routable to the client, an exception may be thrown by ->send; note that this may happen only on the second call, and subsequently every other one. This behavior also depends on specific kernel interactions.
LOG_UNIX
With both SOCK_STREAM- and SOCK_DGRAM-based servers, ->new will throw an exception if the socket is missing or not connectable.

With SOCK_DGRAM, ->send to a peer that went away will throw. With SOCK_STREAM, ->send to a peer that went away will raise SIGPIPE.

EXPORTS

Use Log::Syslog::Constants to export priority constants, e.g. LOG_INFO.

BUGS

LOG_UNIX with SOCK_DGRAM has not been well tested.

AUTHOR

Adam Thomason, <athomason@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.5 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.