You can capture additional error messages that are generated by various system processes by modifying the /etc/syslog.conf file. By default, /etc/syslog.conf directs many system process messages to the /var/adm message files. Crash and boot messages are stored here as well. To view /var/adm messages, see "How to View System Messages".
The /etc/syslog.conf file has two columns separated by tabs:
facility.level ... |
action |
facility.level |
A facility or system source of the message or condition. May be a comma-separated listed of facilities. Facility values are listed in Table 38-2. A level, indicates the severity or priority of the condition being logged. Priority levels are listed in Table 38-3. |
action |
The action field indicates where the messages are forwarded. |
The following example shows sample lines from a default /etc/syslog.conf file.
user.err /dev/sysmsg user.err /var/adm/messages user.alert `root, operator' user.emerg * |
This means the following user messages are automatically logged:
User errors are printed to the console and also are logged to the /var/adm/messages file.
User messages requiring immediate action (alert) are sent to the root and operator users.
User emergency messages are sent to individual users.
The most common error condition sources are shown in the table below. The most common priorities are shown in Table 38-3 in order of severity.
Table 38-2 Source Facilities for syslog.conf Messages
Source |
Description |
---|---|
kern |
The kernel |
auth |
Authentication |
daemon |
All daemons |
|
Mail system |
lp |
Spooling system |
user |
User processes |
Starting in the Solaris 2.6 release, the number of syslog facilities that can be activated in the /etc/syslog.conf file is unlimited. In previous releases, the number of facilities was limited to 20.
Priority |
Description |
---|---|
emerg |
System emergencies |
alert |
Errors requiring immediate correction |
crit |
Critical errors |
err |
Other errors |
info |
Informational messages |
debug |
Output used for debugging |
none |
This setting doesn't log output |
Become superuser.
Using the editor of your choice, edit the /etc/syslog.conf file, adding or changing message sources, priorities, and message locations according to the syntax described in syslog.conf(4) .
Exit the file, saving the changes.
This sample /etc/syslog.conf user.emerg facility sends user emergency messages to root and individual users.
user.emerg `root, *' |