Issues on setting up NXLOG to accept syslogs on Windows

Tags:

#1 CBMT

Hi!

I'm new to NXLOG so sorry if this is a dumb question.

So I have a Windows 2012 server that I'm attempting to set up to accept Syslog messages from an outsourced proxy system. I've been able to get NXLOG accept the logs and dump them to a flat file which our SIEM tool can pick up. However it ends up being a gigantic file... 

I'm trying to refine this now.

Instead of a huge file that we purge out every day, I'd like to have NXLOG limit the log dump to something like 200MB, copy the now older 200MB file to a different directory appending a time stamp to it, then start collecting in a new file in the original folder. The catch is, the live log that is in the original folder needs to keep the same file name, otherwise our SIEM tool won't know what to look for.

I've tried to have a PowerShell script do this and it works, however, if the NXLOG service is running, the log dump file is locked. We could get around this by disabling the service while copying the old log file to a new location, however we'd lose 10-30 minutes of logs in the file copy (not ideal).

Going through the reference manual I see a few ways to limit file size, starting a new file, and copying files over directly in the NXLOG config file. However it's turning out to be a problem condencing all of that into one configuration file that works on Windows. I've only been able to get a 1 of 3 pieces working at one time.

 

I appreciate any help the community can provide! Let me know if there are any questions or if something isn't clear.

 

#2 b0ti Nxlog ✓
#1 CBMT
Hi! I'm new to NXLOG so sorry if this is a dumb question. So I have a Windows 2012 server that I'm attempting to set up to accept Syslog messages from an outsourced proxy system. I've been able to get NXLOG accept the logs and dump them to a flat file which our SIEM tool can pick up. However it ends up being a gigantic file...  I'm trying to refine this now. Instead of a huge file that we purge out every day, I'd like to have NXLOG limit the log dump to something like 200MB, copy the now older 200MB file to a different directory appending a time stamp to it, then start collecting in a new file in the original folder. The catch is, the live log that is in the original folder needs to keep the same file name, otherwise our SIEM tool won't know what to look for. I've tried to have a PowerShell script do this and it works, however, if the NXLOG service is running, the log dump file is locked. We could get around this by disabling the service while copying the old log file to a new location, however we'd lose 10-30 minutes of logs in the file copy (not ideal). Going through the reference manual I see a few ways to limit file size, starting a new file, and copying files over directly in the NXLOG config file. However it's turning out to be a problem condencing all of that into one configuration file that works on Windows. I've only been able to get a 1 of 3 pieces working at one time.   I appreciate any help the community can provide! Let me know if there are any questions or if something isn't clear.  

I've sent you the relevant section (log-rotation.pdf) from our upcoming user guide. Hope that helps.