syslog not writing to /var/adm/message & no dmesg

[raggmopp]

Hi all:

Solaris 8 Generic_117350-35 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
Here is a copy of the /etc/syslog.conf file
========================================
#ident "@(#)syslog.conf 1.5 98/12/14 SMI" /* SunOS 5.0 */
#
# Copyright (c) 1991-1998 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
# All rights reserved.
#
# syslog configuration file.
#
# This file is processed by m4 so be careful to quote (`') names
# that match m4 reserved words. Also, within ifdef's, arguments
# containing commas must be quoted.
#
*.err;kern.notice;auth.notice /dev/sysmsg
*.err;kern.debug;daemon.notice;mail.crit /var/adm/messages

*.alert;kern.err;daemon.err operator
*.alert root

*.emerg *

# if a non-loghost machine chooses to have authentication messages
# sent to the loghost machine, un-comment out the following line:
auth.notice ifdef(`LOGHOST', /var/log/authlog, @loghost)

mail.debug ifdef(`LOGHOST', /var/log/syslog, @loghost)

#
# non-loghost machines will use the following lines to cause "user"
# log messages to be logged locally.
#
ifdef(`LOGHOST', ,
user.err /dev/sysmsg
user.err /var/adm/messages
user.alert `root, operator'
user.emerg *
========================================

I am not getting messages to the messages file. I am getting authlog entries, I am getting maillog entries, but no message entries. I can use logger -p user facility and I get an entry in the messages file.

No dmesg or messages otherwise

 

[daFranze]

never seen this...
I suggest to change the startup of syslog in /etc/init.d/syslog. Add the debug flag and redirect stderr and stdout to a file. Afaik syslog with debug flag does not start as a daemon, so you might need to add an ampersand. Please doublecheck manpage.

Have you had a look at sunsolve.sun.com, whether anybody had similar problems? What about patches. Did you doublecheck if there is a syslog patch newer than installed?

Best Regards, Franz
--
UNIX System Manager from Munich, Germany

 

[coffeysm]

Has anyone deleted the file since the system booted? I have seen sometimes where if that file is deleted then re-created it stops logging to it. I always had to reboot for that change to affect.

You could also try changing the syslog.conf to point to a different file then /var/adm/messages, just to see if it will still log.

 

[ponetguy2]

go to /etc/init.d and run the following:

# ./syslog stop
# ./syslog start
syslog service starting.

see it that helped.


"Not all OSs suck, it's just that some OSs suck worse than others"