1. Using Wildcards
with rsyslog’s
File Monitor
Rainer Gerhards, rsyslog project lead

2. Prerequisites
● kernel with inotify support
● at least rsyslog v8.5.0
● if not available in your distro
o use rsyslog package repository (recommended)
o build from source
● imfile module (usually in base package)

3. State Files
● rsyslog needs to know how much of a file it
already processed
● upon shutdown a “state file” is created with
this information
● stored in rsyslog work directory
● let rsyslog generate the state file name
automatically!

4. Restrictions
● wildcards are support at the file level, not at
the directory level
o /var/log/applog*.log is valid
o /var/applog*/logfile.log is invalid
● subdirectories that match the wildcard are
not processed
o if /var/log/applog-dir.log is a directory, it will not be
processed
● wildcards do not work in polling mode

5. Base Config Sample
global(workDirectory=”/home/rsyslog/spool”)m
odule(load=”imfile”)
input(type=”imfile” tag=”applog”
file=”/var/log/applog*.log”)

6. Sample: Remote Forwarding
global(workDirectory=”/home/rsyslog/spool”)
module(load=”imfile”)
ruleset(name="infiles") {
action(type="omfwd”
target=”server.example.net”
protocol=”tcp” port=”10514” )
}
input(type=”imfile” tag=”applog”
file=”/var/log/applog*.log”)

7. Notes on Remote Forwarding Conf
● forwarding happens totally independent from
rest of logging configuration due to use of
ruleset
● module() statement must occur only once
● workDirectory
o is used for all rsyslog work and state files
o must be set only once (usually at top of top level
rsyslog.conf)