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System Message Logging
Understanding System Message Logging
Configuring System Message Logging
System Log Message Format
Default System Message Logging Configuration
Disabling and Enabling Message Logging
Setting the Message Display Destination Device
Enabling and Disabling Time Stamps on Log Messages
Enabling and Disabling Sequence Numbers in Log Messages
Defining the Message Severity Level
Limiting Syslog Messages Sent to the History Table and to SNMP
Setting a Logging Rate Limit
Configuring UNIX Syslog Servers
Logging Messages to a UNIX Syslog Daemon
Configuring the UNIX System Logging Facility
Displaying the Logging Configuration
This module describes how to configure system message logging on your wireless device in the following sections:
•
Understanding System Message Logging
•
Configuring System Message Logging
•
Displaying the Logging Configuration
By default, wireless devices send the output from system messages and
debug
privileged EXEC commands to a logging process. The logging process controls the distribution of logging messages to various destinations, such as the logging buffer, terminal lines, or a UNIX syslog server, depending on your configuration. The process also sends messages to the console.
When the logging process is disabled, messages are sent only to the console. The messages are sent as they are generated, so message and debug output are interspersed with prompts or output from other commands. Messages are displayed on the console after the process that generated them has finished.
You can set the severity level of the messages to control the type of messages displayed on the console and each of the destinations. You can timestamp log messages or set the syslog source address to enhance real-time debugging and management.
You can access logged system messages by using the access point command-line interface (CLI) or by saving them to a properly configured syslog server. The access point software saves syslog messages in an internal buffer. You can remotely monitor system messages by accessing the access point through Telnet or by viewing the logs on a syslog server.
Configuring System Message Logging
This section describes how to configure system message logging in the following sections:
•
System Log Message Format
•
Default System Message Logging Configuration
•
Disabling and Enabling Message Logging
•
Setting the Message Display Destination Device
•
Enabling and Disabling Time Stamps on Log Messages
•
Enabling and Disabling Sequence Numbers in Log Messages
•
Defining the Message Severity Level
•
Limiting Syslog Messages Sent to the History Table and to SNMP
•
Setting a Logging Rate Limit
•
Configuring UNIX Syslog Servers
System log messages can contain up to 80 characters and a percent sign (%), which follows the optional sequence number or timestamp information, if configured. Messages are displayed in this format:
seq no:timestamp: %facility-severity-MNEMONIC:description
The part of the message preceding the percent sign depends on the setting of the
service sequence-numbers
,
service timestamps log datetime
,
service timestamps log datetime
[
localtime
] [
msec
] [
show-timezone
]
, or
service timestamps log uptime
global configuration command.
Table 1
describes the elements of syslog messages.
seq no:
Stamps log messages with a sequence number only if the
service sequence-numbers
global configuration command is configured.
For more information, see the
"Enabling and Disabling Sequence Numbers in Log Messages" section
.
timestamp
formats:
mm/dd h
h:mm:ss
or
hh:mm:ss
(short uptime)
or
d h
(long uptime)
Date and time of the message or event. This information appears only if the
service timestamps log
[
datetime
|
log
]
global configuration
command is configured.
For more information, see the
"Enabling and Disabling Time Stamps on Log Messages" section
.
facility
The facility to which the message refers (for example, SNMP, SYS, and so forth). A facility can be a hardware device, a protocol, or a module of the system software. It denotes the source or the cause of the system message.
severity
Single-digit code from 0 to 7 that is the severity of the message. For a description of the severity levels, see
Table 3
.
MNEMONIC
Text string that uniquely describes the message.
description
Text string containing detailed information about the event being reported.
Disabling and Enabling Message Logging
Message logging is enabled by default. It must be enabled to send messages to any destination other than the console. When enabled, log messages are sent to a logging process, which logs messages to designated locations asynchronously to the processes that generated the messages.
To disable message logging, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Disabling the logging process can slow down the access point because a process must wait until the messages are written to the console before continuing. When the logging process is disabled, messages are displayed on the console as soon as they are produced, often appearing in the middle of command output.
The
logging synchronous
global configuration command also affects the display of messages to the console. When this command is enabled, messages appear only after you press
Return
. For more information, see the
"Enabling and Disabling Time Stamps on Log Messages" section
.
To reenable message logging after it has been disabled, use the
logging on
global configuration command.
Step 2
logging buffered
[
size
] [
level
]
Logs messages to an internal buffer. The default buffer size is 4096. The range is 4096 to 2147483647 bytes. Levels include emergencies 0, alerts 1, critical 2, errors 3, warnings 4, notifications 5, informational 6, and debugging 7.
Note
Do not make the buffer size too large because the access point could run out of memory for other tasks. Use the
show memory
command in privileged EXEC mode to view the free processor memory on the access point; however, this processor memory value is the maximum available, and you should
not
set the buffer size to this amount.
Step 3
logging
host
Logs messages to a UNIX syslog server host.
For
host
, specify the name or IP address of the host to be used as the syslog server.
To build a list of syslog servers that receive logging messages, enter this command more than once.
For complete syslog server configuration steps, see the
"Configuring UNIX Syslog Servers" section
.
Step 4
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5
terminal monitor
Logs messages to a non-console terminal during the current session.
Terminal parameter-setting commands are set locally and do not remain in effect after the session has ended. You must perform this step for each session to see the debugging messages.
The
logging buffered
global configuration command copies logging messages to an internal buffer. The buffer is circular, so newer messages overwrite older messages after the buffer is full. To display the messages that are logged in the buffer, use the
show logging
command, in privileged EXEC mode. The first message displayed is the oldest message in the buffer. To clear the contents of the buffer, use the
clear logging
command, in privileged EXEC mode.
To disable logging to the console, use the
no logging console
command in global configuration mode. To disable logging to a file, use the
no logging file
[
severity-level-number
|
type
]
command in global configuration mode.
Enabling and Disabling Time Stamps on Log Messages
By default, log messages are not time stamped.
To enable timestamping of log messages, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Step 2
service timestamps log uptime
or
service timestamps log datetime
[
msec
] [
localtime
] [
show-timezone
]
Enables log timestamps.
The first command enables timestamps on log messages, showing the time since the system was rebooted.
The second command enables timestamps on log messages. Depending on the options selected, the timestamp can include the date, time in milliseconds relative to the local time zone, and the time zone name.
Step 3
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
To disable timestamps for both debug and log messages, use the
no service timestamps
command in mode global configuration.
The following example shows part of a logging display with the
service timestamps log datetime
command enabled:
*Mar 1 18:46:11: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by vty2 (10.34.195.36)
The follwoing example shows part of a logging display with the service timestamps log uptime command enabled:
00:00:46: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Port-channel1, changed state to up
Enabling and Disabling Sequence Numbers in Log Messages
Because there is a chance that more than one log message can have the same timestamp, you can display messages with sequence numbers so that you can unambiguously refer to a single message. By default, sequence numbers in log messages are not displayed.
To enable sequence numbers in log messages, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
To disable sequence numbers, use the no service sequence-numbers global configuration command.
The follwoing example shows part of a logging display with sequence numbers enabled:
000019: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by vty2 (10.34.195.36)
Defining the Message Severity Level
You can limit messages that are displayed to the selected device by specifying the severity level of the message. Table 3 describes the severity level.
To define the message severity level, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Step 2
logging console level
Limits messages logged to the console.
By default, the console receives debugging messages and numerically lower levels (see Table 3).
Step 3
logging monitor level
Limits messages logged to the terminal lines.
By default, the terminal receives debugging messages and numerically lower levels (see Table 3).
Step 4
logging trap level
Limits messages logged to the syslog servers.
By default, syslog servers receive informational messages and numerically lower levels (see Table 3).
For complete steps for configuring syslog servers, see the "Configuring UNIX Syslog Servers" section.
Step 5
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Note Specifying a level causes messages at that level and numerically lower levels to be displayed at the destination.
To disable logging to the console, use the no logging console command in global configuration mode. To disable logging to a terminal other than the console, use the no logging monitor command in global configuration mode. To disable logging to syslog servers, use the no logging trap command in global configuration mode.
Table 3 describes the severity level keywords. It also lists the corresponding UNIX syslog definitions from the most severe level to the least severe level.
The software generates four other categories of messages:
•Error messages about software or hardware malfunctions, displayed at levels warnings through emergencies: these types of messages mean that the functionality of the access point is affected.
•Output from the debug commands, displayed at the debugging level: debug commands are typically used only by the Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
•Interface up or down transitions and system restart messages, displayed at the notifications level: this message is only for information; access point functionality is not affected.
•Reload requests and low-process stack messages, displayed at the informational level: this message is only for information; access point functionality is not affected.
If you have enabled syslog message traps to be sent to an SNMP network management station by using the snmp-server enable trap command, you can change the level of messages sent and stored in the access point history table. You can also change the number of messages that are stored in the history table.
Messages are stored in the history table because SNMP traps are not guaranteed to reach their destination. By default, one message of the level warning and numerically lower levels (see Table 3) are stored in the history table even if syslog traps are not enabled.
To change the level and history table size defaults, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Step 2
logging history level1
Changes the default level of syslog messages stored in the history file and sent to the SNMP server.
See Table 3 for a list of level keywords.
By default, warnings, errors, critical, alerts, and emergencies messages are sent.
Step 3
logging history size number
Specifies the number of syslog messages that can be stored in the history table.
The default is to store one message. The range is 1 to 500 messages.
Step 4
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
When the history table is full (it contains the maximum number of message entries specified with the logging history size command in global configuration mode), the oldest message entry is deleted from the table to allow the new message entry to be stored.
To return the logging of syslog messages to the default level, use the no logging history command in global configuration mode. To return the number of messages in the history table to the default value, use the no logging history size command in global configuration mode.
Setting a Logging Rate Limit
You can set a limit on the number of messages that the access point logs per second. You can enable the limit for all messages or for messages sent to the console, and you can specify that messages of a specific severity are exempt from the limit.
To enable a logging rate limit, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Step 2
logging rate-limit seconds
[all | console]
[except severity]
Enables a logging rate limit in seconds.
•(Optional) Apply the limit to all logging or only to messages logged to the console.
•(Optional) Exempt a specific severity from the limit.
Step 3
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Note Some recent versions of UNIX syslog daemons no longer accept by default syslog packets from the network. If this is the case with your system, use the UNIX man syslogd command to determine what options must be added to or removed from the syslog command line to enable logging of remote syslog messages.
Step 1 Add a line such as the following to the file /etc/syslog.conf:
local7.debug /usr/adm/logs/cisco.log
The local7 keyword specifies the logging facility to be used; see Table 4 for information on the facilities. The debug keyword specifies the syslog level; see Table 3 for information on the severity levels. The syslog daemon sends messages at this level or at a greater severity level to the file specified in the next field. The file must already exist, and the syslog daemon must have permission to write to it.
Step 2 Create the log file by entering these commands at the UNIX shell prompt:
$ touch /usr/adm/log/cisco.log
Configuring the UNIX System Logging Facility
When sending system log messages to an external device, you can cause the access point to identify its messages as originating from any of the UNIX syslog facilities.
To configure UNIX system facility message logging, follow these steps, beginning in privileged EXEC mode:
Step 2
logging host
Logs messages to a UNIX syslog server host by entering its IP address.
To build a list of syslog servers that receive logging messages, enter this command more than once.
Step 3
logging trap level
Limits messages logged to the syslog servers.
Be default, syslog servers receive informational messages and lower. See Table 3 for level keywords.
Step 4
logging facility facility-type
Configures the syslog facility. See Table 4 for facility-type keywords.
The default is local7.
Step 5
Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
To remove a syslog server, use the no logging host command in global configuration mode, and specify the syslog server IP address. To disable logging to syslog servers, enter the no logging trap command in global configuration mode.
Table 4 lists the 4.3 BSD UNIX system facilities that the Cisco IOS software supports. For more information about these facilities, consult the operator's manual for your UNIX operating system.
Displaying the Logging Configuration
To display the current logging configuration and the contents of the log buffer, use the show logging command in privileged EXEC mode. For information about the fields in this display, refer to the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Command Reference for Release 12.2.
To display the logging history file, use the show logging history command in privileged EXEC mode.
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